Want to open a sporting goods / general store?

[roadrunner]

First thing you need to figure out - your salary/wage is an expense the business model must support. If it doesn't, don't do it. The most you should rely on in savings for the bridge in startup wage for yourself is 3 months. After that, your business should be turning enough revenue to pay yourself.

Three concepts to learn: P&L Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement.

Working for free will be your own education as you learn business and investment concepts and the leg work in setting up and funding the business.

If you're working for free while working at your business, you merely own your job and the employer is chicken at best in treating its employees well...

 

[LostArra]

I really liked the local Sportsman's Warehouse.
When it went out of business in a hunter friendly state like Oklahoma I realized retail sporting goods is a tough gig.

I do not understand how the local Cablela's and Bass Pro stay in business on jerky and soft baits.

 

[Shadow14]

Ouch

I'll be honest, the first year or so of having my shop. It would not have been possible to support anybody but myself.

Build up a good savings before you go for it. End of the month, doesnt always mean you get a paycheck

Ya that what I’m hearing. This might be something I can’t do for 10 years or it might be something i can do sooner if the right opportunity presents itself. Until then tho I wanna prepare for it and figure out the steps i need to take to get there. I’m just getting by as it is and that’s with a decent paying job and insurance and retirement

 

[Shadow14]

Is there another income in your household or nest egg of some kind?

No sir we are traditional in that sense. And no nest egg ti speak of yet

 

[Shadow14]

Is there another income in your household or nest egg of some kind?

I’ve worked at a fly shop some and a deer processor. I understand that everything becomes work at some point. I love talking with folks and envision a place that’s a little more than a store. A place my kids can help run and take over one day. An old school place where folks can hang out and swap fishing stories and such. A small kitchen that served biscuits and coffee could go a long way too….

 

[Marbles]

Knowing very little, my guess is specialization, rather than having lots of product, is the key. You cannot compete with box stores on variety and price. You can compete by having items they don't carry.

You could rent high end packs, so people can try out an Exo, SO, SG, or Kifaru. You could specialize in western hunting and as you are in the South see if you can attract people from a hundred plus miles away.

Keep in mind, that advice is worth about what you payed for it.

 

[fngTony]

Make a separate space in the corner that you rent out. That could be a snack bar, coffee shop or whatever but the idea is to offer a chance for another business a place to operate in exchange for rent. The upside is you don’t have to manage anything there, if it’s ran bad or lost its attraction you simply bring in something new. This also eliminates the initial investment in equipment and product to operate that side gig.

Another idea (if it’s a thing in your area) get a food truck rotation that comes in on the weekends or maybe breakfast burritos in the morning. You charge a small fee to set up on your property plus it gets your name out there.

 

[def90]

Whatever you do you need to find a way to set yourself apart from the rest of the sporting goods stores.

Start asking anyone and everyone you know what they like / dislike about any of the other stores.

You won't be able to compete with the online and big box stores so don't even try, provide a service and experience that you can't get online or at a big box store. Don't try to be the be-all end-all shop, specialize in something that's missing locally.

Around here one of the local fly shops that does pretty well hosts weekly events at their shop such as fly tying classes and so on as well as during the winter months they offer "Bugs and Brews" fly tying events at local micro breweries. In the winter months they also host "fish a longs" where you go as a group to a local river and fish for the day with the shop owner and a few of the shop guides and then they BBQ in the parking lot afterwards. All of these things they offer for free and it drives a lot of traffic and loyalty in to the shop.

 

[Shadow14]

Dunno what its like around your area. But storage units and rv/boat parking areas are stuffed full soon as a new one opens up around here.

Hell even parking for equipment and semi's. I know of about a 12 acre lot right now thats stuffed full of logging stuff. $300 per truck or machine per month!! An its just a dirt lot with a gate.

Lol my buddies and i have talked about this many times!

 

[Shadow14]

Make a separate space in the corner that you rent out. That could be a snack bar, coffee shop or whatever but the idea is to offer a chance for another business a place to operate in exchange for rent. The upside is you don’t have to manage anything there, if it’s ran bad or lost its attraction you simply bring in something new. This also eliminates the initial investment in equipment and product to operate that side gig.

Another idea (if it’s a thing in your area) get a food truck rotation that comes in on the weekends or maybe breakfast burritos in the morning. You charge a small fee to set up on your property plus it gets your name out there.

Good idea

 

[Shadow14]

Make a separate space in the corner that you rent out. That could be a snack bar, coffee shop or whatever but the idea is to offer a chance for another business a place to operate in exchange for rent. The upside is you don’t have to manage anything there, if it’s ran bad or lost its attraction you simply bring in something new. This also eliminates the initial investment in equipment and product to operate that side gig.

Another idea (if it’s a thing in your area) get a food truck rotation that comes in on the weekends or maybe breakfast burritos in the morning. You charge a small fee to set up on your property plus it gets your name out there.

Knowing very little, my guess is specialization, rather than having lots of product, is the key. You cannot compete with box stores on variety and price. You can compete by having items they don't carry.

You could rent high end packs, so people can try out an Exo, SO, SG, or Kifaru. You could specialize in western hunting and as you are in the South see if you can attract people from a hundred plus miles away.

Keep in mind, that advice is worth about what you payed for it.

agreed!

 

[Shadow14]

Whatever you do you need to find a way to set yourself apart from the rest of the sporting goods stores.

Start asking anyone and everyone you know what they like / dislike about any of the other stores.

You won't be able to compete with the online and big box stores so don't even try, provide a service and experience that you can't get online or at a big box store. Don't try to be the be-all end-all shop, specialize in something that's missing locally.

Around here one of the local fly shops that does pretty well hosts weekly events at their shop such as fly tying classes and so on as well as during the winter months they offer "Bugs and Brews" fly tying events at local micro breweries. In the winter months they also host "fish a longs" where you go as a group to a local river and fish for the day with the shop owner and a few of the shop guides and then they BBQ in the parking lot afterwards. All of these things they offer for free and it drives a lot of traffic and loyalty in to the shop.

Yep! Something like a big buck contest would be sweet too

 

[2ski]

Do you see many sporting goods stores that aren't a chain? I don't. I think that's your answer. I had the same dream at one point. Contests. Bs-ing with customers. But that doesn't make money. You see gas stations with tables mixh anymore? You know who sits at gas station tables? Old men that drink coffee for hours. They buy one cup and drink free refills the rest of the am. You don't make money off them.

If you figure something out man I'll be the first to congratulate you.

 

[Boarmaster]

Hard not to follow your dream. Small retail is a loser for most. I am in the commercial space business. I used to be in retail leasing. I saw people all excited to open a retail business then I saw them after all the money was gone. Not pretty. My business shifted to Industrial thankfully. I hated seeing people lose their life savings. A descent retail location is expensive to lease and maintaining the business is brutal hours. These day everyone thinks you should be open 8-am -9m 7 days a Week.

If I was going to do such a thing I would do more of an online thing like go-hunt or other online only suppliers. No expensive store front, no slip and fall lawsuits, better hrs As well as cheaper warehouse space.
I would specialize rather than be general. Especially at first. That way you get to be involved in the outdoor thing without the huge risk.

 

[def90]

Do you see many sporting goods stores that aren't a chain? I don't. I think that's your answer. I had the same dream at one point. Contests. Bs-ing with customers. But that doesn't make money. You see gas stations with tables mixh anymore? You know who sits at gas station tables? Old men that drink coffee for hours. They buy one cup and drink free refills the rest of the am. You don't make money off them.

If you figure something out man I'll be the first to congratulate you.

You see them all over Colorado. The mountain towns all have small sporting goods stores along with even in the Denver metro area / front range.

I have friends that have operated a used sporting goods store in Steamboat and have been successful at it for over a decade.

 

[Rich M]

A couple thoughts:

Guy i know used to own grocery store, he worked in grocery for years before he moved, bought a small grocery and then later a big one.

As part of your plan, include working at one for a couple years. You can do part time.

Also, get an MBA. Its good training. Teaches how to think.

I had my own business and it failed during 2008 recession. Had a net worth of negative when all was said and done. Have an exit plan.

Got my MBA after losing business. Now trying to make it to retirement without any more setbacks.

 

[cck311]

I hate to be a party pooper here, but I kind of feel like you are yearning for some good ol' boy relic of the past. What you are explaining sounds great to me and appeals to my emotions, but understanding the realities of the modern world makes it hard for me to see how it will be profitable.

 

[CorbLand]

I will throw this out there. My dad ran a gas station until he died in 96 and then my uncle ran it until a couple years ago.

When my dad took it over in the early 80s, people would come in for lunch, buy stuff, shoot the shit for 30-60 minutes and then go back to work. By the time he passed and my uncle took it over, that had pretty much changed. There were a few that still did but not like it was. The only stores I see that happen at anymore are ran by older timers that have basically retired and are running a social club more than a business. My experience is that guys that do come hang out and socialize do just that and dont buy shit.

I will never discourage someone from creating their own thing/legacy but remember you are starting a business, not hanging out with friends.

Another thing with a sporting goods store is you would need employees. Do you really want to deal with employees?

 

[Ferrulewax]

Since I see you are a GA guy, I’ll give some more input. I mainly know the fly fishing industry so that’s what I’ll speak on. Every fly shop in GA that I know of is owner or was started by someone with another job. There have been some other shops but they have come and gone. The only shop I’m aware of started ground up is the fishhawk, but from what I’ve heard Gary still used his “college” money to start it- so he didn’t exactly start from zero. They almost don’t count because they are in the absolute perfect location.

That being said, the Hunting/conventional fishing/camping market is much more sizable than flyfishing but you have many more competitors too.

As an example of competition, AO started out as a flyfishing/hiking/outdoor store, but I think they only saw real success once they decided to focus on fly fishing. That alongside competition from REI and online probably drove them into being solely a fly shop.

We have a few very successful gun shops in the area, most I see are going for sales volume over making a high margin. Today’s customer are so savvy you pretty much have to be. FFL gives gun shops a slight advantage because people can’t purely price shop once you account for the transfer fee.

As a specialized shop, employees are harder to come by too. The average highschool or college student doesn’t have the in depth knowledge needed. At the same time, you typically can’t afford to pay a ton either.

 

[CorbLand]

As a specialized shop, employees are harder to come by too. The average highschool or college student doesn’t have the in depth knowledge needed. At the same time, you typically can’t afford to pay a ton either.

This as well. I work at one of the big box stores and people always complain that the employees dont know anything. They are not wrong but its hard to get people that do know anything or keep the ones that do when you pay them 10-12 bucks an hour.