I need some good opions on why to open a paintball shop.

[Lohman446]

It depends.. my golf involves cart races, mud bogging, cart jumping, adn demolition golf carts. Safety becomes an issue.

[jewie27]

The worst thing I've ever known about that happened at my paintball field is a kid witha broken ankle.

[ColdFuzion]

As far as risks, I think insurance people may be worried about the tanks with 3000-5000 psi of air that we hold to our faces... At my field, I always seem to hurt me feet, but that's due to having an extra bone in each foot and being hit by a fourwheeler 3 years ago... Other than me, the worst that's happen is a guy taking a shot in the valuables...

-Cold

[jewie27]

As far as risks, I think insurance people may be worried about the tanks with 3000-5000 psi of air that we hold to our faces... At my field, I always seem to hurt me feet, but that's due to having an extra bone in each foot and being hit by a fourwheeler 3 years ago... Other than me, the worst that's happen is a guy taking a shot in the valuables...

-Cold

What's worse: a 68 cubic inch 3000 psi paintball tank by your face or a 80 - 120 cubic FOOT SCUBA tank on your back? SCUBA has been around since the late 50's. The tanks are much larger and some now even hold 4350 psi. You don't see SCUBA divers gettin worried.

[Ghetto]

I don't run a business nor am I an expert on small business. But I do have a small amount of insight regarding setting up a field. I just recently acquired a 3 man hyperball field (the black corrugated pipe). The pipe itself cost me nothing I just had to haul it off along with a 10 man spool field. Easy enough I borrowed a 12 foot trailer and made a few trips everyday after work and a full day on Saturday. Got the field to my house( I live in the country on 3 acres) and started setting the field up. Had to buy supplies screws, spray foam ect. Now that I have the field how I want it I've got to buy netting, poles, concrete ,rope and clips. All expenses for what started out as a free field. After all is said and done I'll have about $900 invested and its just a practice field. My point is there's always more expense involved then you think. So if your dad is serious about running a business , as someone said before research everything. When looking at how much capital you will need don't over look the small things they add up fast.

[Lohman446]

What's worse: a 68 cubic inch 3000 psi paintball tank by your face or a 80 - 120 cubic FOOT SCUBA tank on your back? SCUBA has been around since the late 50's. The tanks are much larger and some now even hold 4350 psi. You don't see SCUBA divers gettin worried.

Take someone SCUBA certified to your field once so they can see what happens and you're going to see them getting worried.

Scuba divers generally don't flash fill there own tanks. They don't generally slide around on the ground, dive towards bunkers or the ground, or casually toss there SCUBA tanks around. Many people beleive it is only a matter of time before something seriuos happens involving paintballs (in general) lack of respect for the HPA systems we use.

[Muzikman]

To start a field with a pro shop takes a lot of start-up capital. I hope the family has a large savings, good credit and a good career to fall back on.

I gave opening an indoor field a serious thought about 2 years ago. The total opening cost was over $250K. After crunching numbers I realized that there was no way that I was going to make that money back in a reasonable amount of time. I also figurered I was going to have to continue my normal job just to live. This took all of the "fun" out of my idea, so I gave up.

I also did the same with thinking of opening a blues club and when I realized it was going to cost over 1 mill to start out, I gave up on that too

[Lohman446]

If you are serious about this and realize the risks involved, let me try to come up with an alternative to you.

Perhaps it is better to consider buying an established field or store first. When looking into a business pay a good business consultant to look at costs and income of that business to see what you can expect. It may be easier to analyze risk to return ratios of an established business than a start up business. The general rule of thumb is a business is"valued" at annual profits X seven plus material value of the building / equipment.

If you think that this is a great immediatly profitable opportunity with minimal risk let me discourage you fully.

[AzrealDarkmoonZ]

A friend opened up a field here recently has a hobby, I would put the total cost of what he bought and the initial outlay of paint ect at around 15k-20k, of course he already had a building on the land, he already had land, and its one 7 man airball field. Do I expect he will ever pay off the initial investment...maybe in 15 years. He makes enough to keep it open and support his overhead.

Az

[slade]

It depends.. my golf involves cart races, mud bogging, cart jumping, adn demolition golf carts. Safety becomes an issue.

too bad they took my sig, or i woulda put that in it


opening a field or store will most likely be a lot harder than you think, and it can either be a failure and never gain a profit, or become very lucrative. the owner of my field drives a hummer. enough said.

[paullus99]

I've been told by many that they didn't get into paintball to get rich (and then the joke is, now that they are in the sport, the realize they CAN'T get rich ).

Insurance rates for fields are going through the roof (x3 just here in the Maryland Area & I assume that is the same for the rest of the country as well). Besides insurance, you have field upkeep expenses, staff, equipment, etc. Its a fairly large overhead & many fields are started on land that eventually will be sold to developers (the paintball fields pay the mortgage, then the land is sold for $$$$$$$ after a few years).

Stores are a bit different, but realize that you have a whole load of internet shops to compete with & players that will beat you up day and day out over pricers. Its a tough business - don't get into it for the money.

[CKY_Alliance]

too bad they took my sig, or i woulda put that in it


opening a field or store will most likely be a lot harder than you think, and it can either be a failure and never gain a profit, or become very lucrative. the owner of my field drives a hummer. enough said.

Anybody can finance a car. Like some others have said starting a buisness takes alot of devotion and can put a starin on your family life.It can also get very stessfull, but if you do pursue it, eventually it all pays off and is usually worth it in the end...if you make it.