Posted on 10/28/2010 2:30:25 PM PDT by DCBryan1
As with most businesses, location is vital. So is a steady stream of customers. In this case, I would try to locate at the nexus of several police departments, and talk with them about their officers doing range qualifications at your range, as well as any other gun related special deal they might want to do.
The same thing applies to military guard and reserve units, as well as R.O.T.C. and even the Boy Scouts. A good advertising pitch would be for a “ladies day”, with a licensed gun dealer there to both show first time female gun buyers various models, and to let them test drive a few.
It would probably be a good selling point to have several decor walls: one police oriented, one military Vietnam-Iraq-Afghanistan oriented, one general interest.
If possible, a quiet room or lounge would be a big plus, as a comfy place to hang out between times, and for non-shooters, and maybe have a soda or cup of coffee. The smoking area will almost have to be outside, however.
You can probably pick up a lot of extra bucks by selling paraphernalia, from bumper stickers, t-shirts, special targets, trophies, certificates, hearing protection, gun cleaning equipment, and anything else that sells.
Good luck in you endeavor.
Major in outstanding customer service. Friendly to customers. Even if they’re just shopping around and are going to buy off of the internet. Even if they’re asking you to do a transaction that makes little or no money for you.
Don’t be an arrogant, unfriendly of a jerk gun store owner. There are way too many of those already. Be the opposite.
Most of my shooting is done at night (after 10PM) because I want it to be dark outside. I use a steep hill for a backdrop. Why do I shoot at night? Because I feel that is when I would most likely be the victim of an attack.
How you would set up targets at 10 feet in a darkened range, I have no idea but I do think it has the possibilities of becoming a money making attraction for range owners.
I will suggest backlighting, using perhaps 15 watt lamps. Get it as natural as possible.
Good luck
Added comment;
One reason that I take friends out to shoot with me is so they can see how much fire comes out of the barrel using different brands of ammunition and its effects on your night vision.
I've contacted NSSF and NRA for their range/gunstore conferences and will attend them in the spring. By then, I'll have a kick ass Business Plan. I'm altering one now and have already added 3 pages to my other business in the last few hours.
I agree that a gunstore/range needs to cater to EVERYONE, not be "too tactical", and be clean, bright, and professional. My wife said that she would go to the local range if it were clean and the employees didnt look at her 34-26-34 figure ;) .....that and it's in a bad part of town.
Given the number of folks who use ranges and rent guns, and given the number of folks who use rented guns to kill themselves and/or others (mother and son), I'd say the odds are with the owners.
I've only heard of three or four such incidents in the past several years, all of them here on FR.
I'd want some real, hard numbers before saying there were that many.
I take back what I said. I just did a search on suicides at gun ranges. There are certainly more than just a handful. It would be better to be able to get actual numbers/rates, but from a first glance there have been several - some, however, were counted over several years of the range being open, at a rate of less than one every two years (still too many, but unfortunately, we don’t have control over folks’ intentions). The one thing I did note, is that for most of the stories I read, the folks had used their own guns, and the type of range (indoor vs. outdoor) didn’t seem to matter.
A gun range near us is selling out of women's only defense classes. Don't know about childcare for that facility, but offering kid safety sessions while Mom's earning her CHL will get a lot of working mothers and single mothers into the classes. And teach a whole new demographic that guns are good for lawful self defense.
Offering paintball target practice as part of the range could bring in teens. Organizing paintball excursions and selling the gear could also generate more cash.
I know a gun store where the proprietor is a total, arrogant jerk. Since he’s a total expert in firearms and is “in” with a certain crowd, he stays in business.
I know another gun store where the proprietor thinks customers are a bother, unless they do what he wants them to do and buys what he wants them to buy. Last I knew, his little store was clinging to life.
I know another gun store where the owner is highly professional and runs a very, very friendly, respectful, customer-appreciative, helpful outfit. He also does tons of marketing, and does as good a job on the marketing as he does at customer service.
THIS store is HIGHLY successful.
An added thought: most gun stores seem to be staffed solely by guys. I don’t know how well it would work, but you might also consider the possibility of having one or more knowledgeable, helpful ladies behind the counter.
In any event, I think you’re going to have lots of ideas that you can feed into a good plan. If you execute a good plan well, and if your competition is as sorry as some of the stores I’ve seen, you could end up with a runaway success. :-)
I have not been to the local range in a while. It was small place with a small selection of guns and maybe 4 or 5 inside lanes. I went a bit when Clinton was President. I think in 2 years they had two suicides that I knew about. Sad stuff. Both time they were rentals.
I only have one dislike about gun stores. We have local small store owned by a guy with a couple of employees. There are the usual other guys that hang out in the store just running their mouth. The owner of the store has stools right in front of the hand gun cases. Of course, the other guys are sitting on the stools and won’t move. You can’t see what is in the cases. Don’t put any stools or chairs out for people to sit down.
Personally I think they may have chosen the wrong line of business considering all the competition they are up against. Wal Mart, Gander Mtn., and several more popular privately owned stores.......
One major key to success is inventory. If you don't carry what people are looking for then they will shop where they can get it.......
As a side note, one of the popular privately owned stores that does a ton of business is in a small store front but man it is packed with firearms and usually people too..........but the owner, his wife, his son and several other staff really know their firearms.
Ask anybody in my area where they would rather buy their firearms they will always say Michi-Gun instead of Gander Mt. or the others. And they will immediately tell you to talk to "Bob".......
Where I would expand your idea: Archery. I made my first visit to a shooting range just last month, where my two Scouts were rounding out their Archery merit requirements (it was a troop event, family friendly). In looking at the range patrons, minus those who were connected with the troop, archers outnumbered shooters, conservatively, by 3 to 1.
I've never been more than a "backyard archer"--taking shots at a standard bullseye with a longbow, just for kicks. The visit to the range gave me the chance to try out different kinds of bows, without the need for investing in one beforehand. I was also able to shoot at a variety of targets and received personal instruction from an accomplished archer. I am hooked, can't wait to go back again. FWIW.
Oh definitely an indoor range...and in Omaha would be good. But not actually in Omaha, because of their gun stance, but in Sarpy county which is next to Omaha. And if one could shoot long guns as well that would make it all better.
Wow! Thanks for the compliment. I had the misfortune of starting shooting at one of the best gun shops/ranges I’ve ever seen. The owner has become a personal friend of mine and I drive several hours at a stretch to be able to shop in his store. Then in Virginia around DC, I had the NRA headquarters range and Gilberts, both of which showed how you could run a class operations with little money or with lots of money. Where I am now is simply embarrassing. I drive hours to avoid the local shops even if the gas money will put the cost over what I’d pay by staying local. That’s given me a lot of time to think about what these places could do right.
Around here, it’s not just the old fart. It’s the kind of creepy guy that you feel you should check out on the sex offender database when you get home. My wife won’t even go in that store any more, despite that it’s the only indoor range within 80 miles. It’s hard for her to shoot at the target (as opposed to turning around and telling him to back off because he’s placing her in imminent fear of severe bodily injury or groping) when creepy guy is hovering right over her shoulder telling her how to shoot or complimenting her on her shooting as if he were building up to a pick-up line. Her female friends have had similar feelings and experience there. And I get really annoyed with him hovering over me when I shoot too. Professionalism goes a long way with a service oriented business.
BTW, just noticed the tag line. You watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail in German? It is one of the best German dubs ever, almost all of the jokes came across.
Anyway, good luck on the business.
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