need some help

[hammerhead]

right 1st of all im now trying to get my self a unit to rent to open a rc shop ive recieved emails form several distributers saying that they will give me the go ahead to stock theyre equipment once i have a building up and running and a sign is up to show that im all ready to go
the place im looking at is 1000 sq ft and im thinking of sticking a indoor track for electric racing there are a few questions i could do with being answerd first tho so was wondering if any of you lads could help.
1. whats the anual fee to use the track
2. is insurance covered in the anual fee
3. equipment i will need to cator for race meets
any help would be great thanks

[wacattack]

Dont want to put a downer on it but these seems like a venture destined to fail. Model shops at the moment are going under left right and centre, and this is with much smaller premises than you are proposing.

To stick a track in a shop just seems like financial suicide

[sosidge]

Originally Posted by wacattack

Dont want to put a downer on it but these seems like a venture destined to fail. Model shops at the moment are going under left right and centre, and this is with much smaller premises than you are proposing.

To stick a track in a shop just seems like financial suicide

That's the spirit. Who said entrepreneurialism was dead?

[jcb]

I think you should give the BRCA website, www.brca.org a good looking through, as that covers all your insurance and club questions. There are videos and guides on setting up clubs and also a list of clubs by area and what classes they cater for, along with shops to.

From my experiences clubs charge anything between £10 and £100 a year for membership, then there's a charge to use the track on race or practice days, varying between £2 to £10 for a meeting or days practice.

With regards to timing equipment the main one seems to be BBK / AMB while there is also an infra red system that MORErc use with great success and it's only a few hundred pounds compared to thousands. Probably best to pm Benh about the infra red system.

If your running a club within a shop it would be worth while checking out what an insurance company can cover you for.

As sosidge says, you should be the ones working out what people should pay, afterall you'll be the one paying the bills and income has to be over and above expenditure.

In terms of business sense I'd do a load of research in the area you plan to set up your shop. Visit clubs and toy shops and ask how they are doing, how many members they have and how often they race. See what shops sell similar things to you in your chosen area and whether you could supply items by mail order over the phone or via the internet. At the present time any shop that sells stuff relating to expendable income is going through a roungh patch as people generally have less cash to spend on hobbies.

If it were me i'd be looking at the markup on spares and cars and then work out how many you need to sell to make a living, then is there a big enough market and catchment area near you to be able to sell that amount of stock. On tires, which i would guess are one of the most popular purchases from a shop you'd make a couple of quid a pair, so you'd need to shift 10,000 pairs of tires to make £20k and then you've got to take all your bills out of that.

My advice,
1) Find an accountant that will do a free consultation and talk to them about it.
2) Look at the clubs in your area and speak to the people that will be buying the items you want to sell.
3) Look at the competition, and if a model shop is listed as a limited company get a set of accounts off of companies house for £1 and see how they are doing.
4) Work out what you can offer that other shops can't
5) What are the trade account details, can you buy stock on a sale or return basis.
6) Have a back up plan, will a bank back you for a year or two with interest and charge free accounts, or do you have money to invest.


All the best in your chosen venture.

[wacattack]

Originally Posted by sosidge

That's the spirit. Who said entrepreneurialism was dead?

I just dont want to see this guy throw his money away

[fidspeed]

Superb reply from JCB eloquently written and unbiased well done that man

good luck hammerhead lots of research will give you the information you require, as posted previously everyone is struggling in this present economy and i dont see a quick reversal yet.
If you have a house and family dont put them at risk for it , use finances you can afford "to lose"

I wish you luck where will you be based we may even visit if your not to far away

dave

[hammerhead]

im in norfolk in dereham to be exact as i said the nearest tracks/hobbyshops are roughly 20 od mile away from here i have rang a few of them to see what kind of stock they keep and i was very surprised they dont stock the likes of hobao or hpi some dont even have losi or shumacher either. when i first got into the hobby i had a real pain in the arse my savage was well knackerd lol and i needed a few parts for it and both shops that are near to me wouldnt even touch it because they dont stock the parts and to say the least they wasnt exactly customer friendly either witch put me off using them again.
i have been in contact with all of the above suplliers and they have given me the go ahead to stock theyre brands on a no sale return basis so i dont have any massive overheads on the stock department my main out lay is the premisis itself and insurance and bills etc.
there are a few people that use RC cars around here but like i said erlier they dont have anywhere to use them once/if the buisness has taken off i will be looking into renting a plot of land off a good friend of the fam to build a outdoor track also wich will then cator for the larger scale models i.e 1/10 1/8 1/5 both nitro and electric.
hopefully can get this up and running and get more people localy into the hobby

[sosidge]

Originally Posted by hammerhead

right 1st of all im now trying to get my self a unit to rent to open a rc shop ive recieved emails form several distributers saying that they will give me the go ahead to stock theyre equipment once i have a building up and running and a sign is up to show that im all ready to go
the place im looking at is 1000 sq ft and im thinking of sticking a indoor track for electric racing there are a few questions i could do with being answerd first tho so was wondering if any of you lads could help.
1. whats the anual fee to use the track
2. is insurance covered in the anual fee
3. equipment i will need to cator for race meets
any help would be great thanks

I don't really understand your three questions - surely you are the one that will set the fees and arrange any insurances - but I can tell you straight away that 1000sqft is no way near big enough to fit a track in, unless you plan to get one of the small Mini-Z tracks.

1,000sq METRES would be a very impressive space.

[hammerhead]

Originally Posted by sosidge

I don't really understand your three questions - surely you are the one that will set the fees and arrange any insurances - but I can tell you straight away that 1000sqft is no way near big enough to fit a track in, unless you plan to get one of the small Mini-Z tracks.

1,000sq METRES would be a very impressive space.

hi thanks for the reply only reason i ask what the prices are for usual tracks is ive never raced or actualy been to any of the clubs so i dont really know what they chargeor weather the insurance is involved with theyre fees. it would be a small track to start off with then once/if buisness takes off i will expand it.
the nearest track is quite a distance from me and i was hoping to get a shop/track set up in the town where i am as the nearest hobby shop is around 20-25 mile away and would be nice to get some of the local young lads/lasses into the hobby without having to go miles

[dale]

A non-racer trying to set up a shop and track is like someone who doesn't eat Italian food trying to set up an Italian restaurant.

If you're going to be successful at anything in these hard times, you need to be the expert at it, and be the best. Otherwise, how will you beat the competition?

So if you want to be successful at this, you need to start racing. After you've been racing for maybe 5 years and raced each major class (TC, 1/10 off road and RallyX) for a couple of years, you'll have a reasonable idea of what racing involves and what racers want. Along the way you should get involved in a club and help out running meetings, then you'll make a lot more contacts and understand how to organise race meetings.

Until then, invest your money somewhere safer.

[daz]

What a buch of kiljoys Why dont you give the guy a chance and support him, alright it might not workout but with alot of shops closing down we need to give people like this a chance, or in a few years time we will have no shops in the UK, and we will all be moaning about getting stumped for import tax when buying abroad.

Good luck fella, you have at least my support

[hammerhead]

thanks daz for the support i understand where the others are coming from but as you say if so many are closing i think it should be time to start changing that or yes you will get stung with income tax which is what we dont want ok so im no expert on the racing side of it but the track itself is just the sideline part of it as a extra the shop is the main buisness and like i said before you either have to travel about 20 mile away to get the bits your after (if they stock them) or order online and wait x amount of time for them to arrive. at least if theres a hobby shop in our town it might bring more people to thew hobby which then generates more buisness.
i know its going to be a challenge but hey if i dont do it some one else might and if they did and sucseeded id be gutted i didnt make my move first.
the track im on about doing will only be a small one to start that might get some kids off the street and into the hobby with a place to go and use the cars and then later on build it up aslong as buisness is good.
well thanks for all the advice chaps good and bad its all advice needed and once its all up and running id like to think id see some of you there

[shanks]

Don't agree mate

Is stellios a pilot? (easyjet) etc etc

No need to be in something directly to run a business

The question here is how much is the unit you intend to rent??

Originally Posted by dale

A non-racer trying to set up a shop and track is like someone who doesn't eat Italian food trying to set up an Italian restaurant.

If you're going to be successful at anything in these hard times, you need to be the expert at it, and be the best. Otherwise, how will you beat the competition?

So if you want to be successful at this, you need to start racing. After you've been racing for maybe 5 years and raced each major class (TC, 1/10 off road and RallyX) for a couple of years, you'll have a reasonable idea of what racing involves and what racers want. Along the way you should get involved in a club and help out running meetings, then you'll make a lot more contacts and understand how to organise race meetings.

Until then, invest your money somewhere safer.

[dale]

Originally Posted by shanks

Don't agree mate

Is stellios a pilot? (easyjet) etc etc

No need to be in something directly to run a business

The question here is how much is the unit you intend to rent??

He may not be a pilot, but I bet he'd at least flown on planes for a few years before setting up an airline.

[hammerhead]

Originally Posted by shanks

Don't agree mate

Is stellios a pilot? (easyjet) etc etc

No need to be in something directly to run a business

The question here is how much is the unit you intend to rent??

the unit itself is 4k per annum then there is £250 legal fees and a service charge of £270 wich might be reduced due to buisnes rates