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| kylesimokovich |
 Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 5:10 pm |
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Joined: 03 Sep 2007
Posts: 5
Location: just south of heaven, ohio
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Im 15, and ive been skating for about 2 1/2 years. Since ive started skating, it has taken up my life. I used to be the kid who thought he could make in in skating, but now i realize theres no way. im just not good enough.
Since ive started, Ive always wanted to open a shop in parma. the city i live in. there are no shops around and theres hundreds of skaters all around. You have to go 20 minutes away to just go to a proshop and all there stuff is overpriced. On a average day, a group of 20 to 40 kids go around the stairs and ledges just messing around, and usually getting kicked out of every where they go.
I am already thinking of opening a shop right out of high school. I just wanted to see if any shop owners had any advice on how i should go at this.
there are a couple things i dont get though.
1. The legal stuff of opening a shop.
2. Where to get the boards really cheap. like big distributors names and such.
3. How long it takes to get a good shop going.
4. Rough estimate on how much it costs to get a pretty decent shop going.
and if you have any tips on what you did wrong and how i should go at this.
Im dead serious about this.
i already have 10000 dollars saved up in the bank just for this.
thank you and your help will be greatly appreciated. |
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| auragreg |
| Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 7:10 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 2382
Location: Highland, Michigan, USA, Earth
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OK - first question.... You're 15. There may be problems trying to open a business being a minor. I'm not sure, but you may have to check.
What you really need to do is buddy up with a local business owner to help you start the business stuff - all the legal crap. That's the easiest way to do it. They've been there before and will give you the best direction and who to get in contact with (local people) to help you.
I would guess you will need at least $30,000. Depends on how much work your space will need to get opened up.
ok - here's the very simple truths:
1. The mark up of skate hardware is between 30-40%. So to sell a $100 complete, it will cost you anywhere from $60 - $70 to buy.
2. Just to get ONE brand of shoes will cost you $2500. That's right ... $2500 PER SHOE BRAND TO START.
3. Shirts and other miscellaneous stuff is around 50% markup. So take the prices at your local shop and take half of them ... that's what you will pay to get in your shop.
4. Most distributors will not even work with you until you have an actual store front. Distributors are easy to work with because you can get a number of different brands from them. Places like Eastern Skate Supply, Smoothill, AWH, TGM, South Shore, VK Skate (they have shoes). Most have a minimum opening order.
5. RENT .... this is what killed me. I was paying $2100 a month.
Good luck ... it's a crazy thing. You're young, so that will be a challenge alone. Getting some adults to give you the time of day may be tough. |
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| Lincolnz |
| Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 11:48 am |
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ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 05 Jun 2005
Posts: 11215
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auragreg wrote:
5. RENT .... this is what killed me. I was paying $2100 a month.
That's what stopped me. A perfect little location here costs $7000 a month.........no thanks, 7 g's in sales a month just to pay the damn rent.  |
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| auragreg |
| Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 12:08 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 2382
Location: Highland, Michigan, USA, Earth
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Lincolnz wrote: auragreg wrote:
5. RENT .... this is what killed me. I was paying $2100 a month.
That's what stopped me. A perfect little location here costs $7000 a month.........no thanks, 7 g's in sales a month just to pay the damn rent.
and that's why the internet is killing small shops. building owners just arent making it even viable to compete with somone who has no rent overhead. On the main strip in the town is $4k ... the only ones who make it there have been there for ages and own the building. Kills all new businesses. Why can';t they see that new businesses BRING IN new business!?!?!
It frustrates me so bad. Partially becaseu I miss my shop so bad. |
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| script |
| Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 3:57 pm |
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Joined: 09 Aug 2007
Posts: 7
Location: Connecticut
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Hey Kyle,
Good news.
I got started in High School too. I was 16 when I took a computer class and as a project they wanted us to start a business. It was just supposed to be a fake business. We were supposed to make up an inventory and stuff.
Well I really liked it and went all out. I wrote letters to skate companies and stuff and put together a pretty good proposal. My parents liked it enough to invest $10,000 in the business. That was a long time ago, so it's probably more like $15-20k now.
One thing I did was I looked through all the magazines. Some of the smaller skate companies have ads that say things like "dealer inquiries invited". That means they're looking for small shops to help them get the word out. So you can write these guys a letter and let them know your situation. They may tell you to go away, but some of them will probably send you a pricing list and stuff.
Also in the magazines you'll begin to find some of the wholesale companies listed. Some distributors like Smoothill advertise in the magazines. I found a few distributors this way. Distributors are cool to work with cause they carry a wide variety of brands and products and you can mix and match an order. If you order directly from a skate company you need a minimum order. Let's say $250 but maybe you only needed a couple of decks. You don't wanna have to buy 8 decks just to place an order. That's why it's easier in some cases to order from a distributor because you can buy a couple decks from one brand, a couple decks from another brand, and a bunch of t-shirts from someone else all from one order.
As has been mentioned by others the biggest hurdle you face is that many companies won't work with you unless you have a store front. They don't want to sell to everyone, they want to limit the number of people that have access to stuff at wholesale prices. That way some joe schmo doesn't start selling gear out of his car.
One final word of caution.
You mentioned you wanna sell skate stuff because you think the prices at the local pro shop are to high.
I thought the same thing when I launched my shop so I tried to keep prices low. In fact it hurt my business. I was looking at the costs to do business and realized if I just raised my prices a little bit I'd have been able to break even or make a profit instead of loosing money every month. That might be one reason your local pro shop charges so much. So be careful. I know you think it'd be cool to have cheap prices but it might not make much business sense. |
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| brianzig |
| Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 12:23 am |
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Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Posts: 342
Location: South Carolina
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Yeah man, listen to the words of wisdom posted on this site. There are a bunch of threads on this subject in this section. I would really recommend reading each thread. Tons of info from people who have been there, done that and who are a lot smarter than me. LOL.
Now..there are a lot of ways you can go. The legit way is, as everyone has already stated, to get a storefront. It's the only way to be taken seriously by everyone involved. Including customers. You can always go a little off the beaten path and save some cash since you are starting up. My shop is located off of main street, but has ample parking and cheap rent offsets the fact that I'm not on the main street. If you are the only shop around, you will benefit from the "build it and they will come" saying. It won't matter much where you are, skaters will find you.
Now, you could also go the less popular route (at least with vendors) and setup a market type of booth. Low overhead as well, but not always convenient for the customer since hours are usually only weekends (but also good for you since you are still a student and you wouldn't have to wait until you graduate to run it) With that type of setup you won't have to worry about a lease and a slew of other business related overhead fees(fixtures, racks, displays, slatwall, carpet, ect). If you are asking my opinion, I would say go this route. At least for now. It's better to cut your teeth and make your mistakes in a setting that wouldn't be as costly to your bottom line. "But how will I get inventory?" you ask. Ah young grasshopper, with the beauty of the internet, all things are possible. I know you have a myspace, right? I must get at least 5-6 requests a day from random startup skate companies from all over. Every one of them requesting that I look at their products and buy, buy, buy. I agree with the post from script, the smaller the company the easier it may be to get in with them. As far as the big distribs, well, they won't go for you in this type of situation. At least the major players won't. Again, there are some smaller distributors out there that may work with you after you show some initiative and progress. You can also go the ebay route. I find some killer deals on product sometimes. Occasionally there is even large lots of product. You've just got to search and stay on it, but it will pop up. The more I think about it, the more I think that this type of scenario would be the most beneficial to you, at least to start. We even use something similar to this with our Mobile Unit. It's a small trailer with our logos, a 12' canopy, small tables, portable deck and wheel displays, some 3x5 banners, portable clothing racks, and a portable work station. We use it for contests as well as local fairs, parades, and festival events when we want to get some good PR for the shop. Something to think about.
Any other questions, fire away.
Either way you go, make sure to get a myspace page setup to provide information on the shop. It's the best way to build a following.
Edited to say - you've asked some good questions. But don't forget to start laying out in writing what you want to do and how much it will take to do it. Essentially...a business plan. It doesn't have to be an elaborate twenty five page report, and you will modify it as you go(my first one is laughable now). But it will help to have it all laid out in front of you to look at. Expenses vs. how much you need to make to make it all work. |
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| DomitianX |
| Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:52 am |
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ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
Posts: 2473
Location: Faribault, MN
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You might have a hard time getting accounts with companies if the closest shop is 20 minutes away. Most of the companies try to limit the number of retailers within a given area. Depending on population density and all that, you may be out of luck and get cock blocked by the "local" shop.
Unless you are going to be a big softgoods shop I wouldnt worry about being on the main drag. Our first location was in the basement of a building with the access through the alley in the back. It was a pretty cool place. Kind of dungeony. Had a nice vibe to it. Rent was super cheap. Skaters found it. It was like a bunch of bloodhounds looking for fresh kill.
If there is a skateshop local and they hear about it, they will try to find it. Then the word spreads.
Moms may have a hard time finding it unless they get good directions from your customers and you wont get alot of walk by window traffic, but skaters will find you.
Once you get going and make some money, get an established customer base, then scope out a new location.
Also, advertise wisely. In my area advertising in the paper was like throwing money out the window. Even the student newspapers. The target audience has probably never seen a real live newspaper in their life and the student newspapers are more for people seeing themselves than checking out ads.
You need to go about it gorilla style. Flyer cars, hand out stickers, post flyers at local skate spots, etc. Walk through the mall and drop flyers randomly, post flyers at local shops that let you, get some dudes to hand out flyers along the main drag to people. Give them a free deck or something for doing it.
The other thing to do is get a team up and going as soon as you can. The team is your in to the local scene. They will help spread the word for you. Make sure that most, if not all, of them are locals and skate locally alot. That way they will spread the word locally. Even if they are not the best skater out there, they will help spread the word through the schools, skate spots, etc. Once you get going then you can change up the team with some rippers. Start small so you can add on when the rippers come through.
You dont need a lot of money or resources to get a small shop going, you just need to keep your overhead low and spread the word as cheaply as possible. |
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| scuzzo84 |
| Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 6:21 pm |
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Joined: 10 Nov 2005
Posts: 76
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| dirtyhabits |
| Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 9:07 am |
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Joined: 13 Aug 2007
Posts: 40
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i am goign to trow my 2 cents here. just to said that listen to this guys cause everithing that they said makes sense, this are people that either own a business or just to own one, i have been reading this thread and learning and writing down as much info posibble.
I am also in the process of opening a shop, i own a screen printing,embroidery and sign business for the last for years i have been doing good...but i nthis last year we slow down a bit too much..it could be the way the market is out there,but i have a potential buyer thats is really interesting into expanding.
I already have 2 distributors accounts open.....my idea is to open a skateboardshop but incorporating inside a small skate park...i mean a couple of small half pipes, some benches, and rails...to atract the youngster now they will be limited to a 3 hour maximun of skateing....i dont think that they should be there all they...also having sign a liability form by there parent in case of injuries...i saw a shop that have this setup they charge $3.00 for 3 hours...isnt a way to make money is just a way to bring a crowd cause none of the boardshops here have a setup like that!!! what u guys think??
I also wanted to know how much money you shop business owners
think i can invest??? i was thinking about 25k to 30k to stock uo the whole shop???? |
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| pinche |
| Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 11:07 am |
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Joined: 11 Jul 2006
Posts: 12
Location: Houston, TX
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Quote: 5. RENT .... this is what killed me. I was paying $2100 a month.
Anyone ever though of building a steel building in a less than ideal location and housing a mini ramp, manual box an a slide rail next to your shop? steel construction is alot cheaper than most houses (6000 sq ft for less than 30k. If you assemble it yourself) much cheaper monthly expense than paying premium rental fees. section off a part for your sales floor and only heat/air condition your small space.
you end up with an asset to sell once you want to move on, you draw people to you site by being one of the few places to skate when its too hot/cold/wet outside, and you make $$$ on concessions with an easy markup from sams club. maybe even host all ages punk shows on the weekends.
just a thought. |
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