I'm looking into starting up an FLGS, with a lean toward Minis and TCGs.
Priced out a number of things, but now I'm trying to get a handle on how various shops set up their events. Entry Fees/Rewards.
Most of the competition is 20 minutes or further away from where I plan to set up, with the exception of one small store that no one likes and is tiny and cramped.
good luck turning a profit
If you intend this to be your primary source of income, I implore you to reconsider.
Also you'll likely want to start at free entry for your events, at least early on, you need to attract people and freebies just work
If you have the advantage of proximity you can set your prices pretty much equal to your competitors with little worry.
As you are most likely aware LGSes are assumed to be small, cramped, dirty, and full of belligerent players/employees. Make sure your gaming space has room to breath and is well cleaned. Foster a culture of cleanliness; employees who promptly clean up wrappers and packaging set an example for the other players. Also aim to hire employees based on charisma and professionalism, there is essentially no need for them to be a "nerd" or heavily into a traditional game. Nerd shit can be taught but being a good human being is much more difficult. Have a set of posted rules that cover all the obvious "don't be a dick" things and be absolutely ruthless about enforcing them. Nerds are pathetic pushovers and if you make an example of one asshole in front of everybody they'll understand that if they want to play in your store they'll treat each other like human beings. This is also important if you plan to have any events full of minors since parents that like your store will be happier spending money of hobbies.
>aim to hire employees based on...
That is disastrous advice. OP should plan on being his own sole employee.
Presently, I am. With some possibility to bring a friend onboard to help run the place during the startup phase.
Once it's survived a couple years and I have a better idea on cash flow, I can maybe start hiring people.
Don't.
Yeah, I'm sure he can handle running the store while running an event and judging
Place I go to runs events half the time with one.
They bring in 3 for yuge events like prereleases, but 9/10 it's one person in the evening.
The events practically run themselves with pairings being the extent of the major interaction between store employees and players, and judge questions tend to be yes or no with minor elaboration.
I'll accept it man, just from my experience in New England I've never seen a store owner run events, at the very least they have part-timers who run events while the owner manages the counter.
It's way easier if you go in with a friend or a few. That way you can get personal income doing other things. You get less profit but you spend less time and money starting it.
Honestly OP, if you don't have a significant amount of business knowhow / experience, don't. I have seen literally 5 FLGS start and go out of business by people who were hobbyists that wanted somewhere to chill.
That said, a few bits of advice based on what one of the old owners told me:
- Don't get a massive amount of stock in advance, see what people like, ask new customers what sort of stuff they'd like to see, stock from there
- Don't buy a shittton of GW products, same reasoning as above but even more so because it's very unlikely to get a casual purchase
- Check with any retailers you want to run events with to make sure you're fully aware of any requirements / procedures
>I'm looking into starting up an FLGS
Don't.
Just... fucking don't.
Well it's very very easy to make a small fortune by opening a FLGS all you have to do is
Start with a large one
> a lean toward Minis
you're already fucked
My FLGS has most of it's events organized/judged by volunteers who get little or nothing in exchange for their service. My store is also lucky enough to be big enough that it's started to attract a lot of companies street teams or whatever they call them.
Another thing the shop has going for them is they are loyal to no product, if something stops selling and they no longer see it played in the play space they dump that shit asap to make room for something new or expand on something popular.
You have multiple stores within 20mins and you said "hey, what people need is another one".
Really?
Awesome OP! I wish you the best, i have a great FLGS and hope you succeed if you do this. However, I bet it will be a challenge, these places bite the dust regularly it seems. Mind if I ask in what area?
I would also like an answer to this.
Are the other places not good for minis? If so, then I understand the appeal of setting up shop with terrain.
Don't do it user- you'll be happier in the long haul.
This is total bullshit
Judges are often volunteers or brought in from outside, either paid in cash or product.
props for least readable chart I've seen in a long time
There was a very successful gaming store in my city. It was in a commercial/residential condo (from a converted warehouse). The prices were 30-45% lower than other retailers. Everyone went there. The staff was friendly, there was an excellent selection.
The store space was also his condo. He lived in the back.
He became quite successful, he got a bigger location. The old staff left, new less friendly staff was hired, prices increased.
I rarely go anymore, there are other stores that are better staffed, since the prices are basically the same now.
I don't know why I mention this, maybe to drive home how are it is to break even.
You will not make money.
The guy this user is talking about did everything right and will fail finally in 5 years.
Don't do it.
citation needed.
>Most of the competition is 20 minutes or further away from where I plan to set up, with the exception of one small store that no one likes and is tiny and cramped.
Please be in upper NJ.
Are you sure 20 minutes is enough? Most people aren't going to live in your store, and FLGS tends to have a lot of loyalty. People are more likely to drive 10-12 minutes to their usual place than 8-10 minutes for somewhere new.
You can find players/people in the community who will do that for you, actually. I ran the DBZ tournaments at my store. Another guy does YGO. There's a girl that runs Pokemon. D&D Adventure Leagues was me and another guy. None of us are employees.
Yeah, well aware that folks will drive and be loyal to their gamehall of choice.
Friends all drive 40+ cross town to play Warmachine.
20-25 is one that owns their own building, giving them enough room to have 80-100+ MtG prereleases that I've attended.
They've got what is easily 1500-2000sqft as their main floor, with a few tables. That has a basement that has another 15~ tables, and they own the next building in the strip as well, giving them another 20 tables. They thus generally have at least two evening events a day.
The one my friends drive to seems to be 2000sqft or so, with maybe 5 tables. But I've not been there personally.
Major Midwestern City, sorry.
Seems like he did everything right, until he expanded, at which point he stopped doing things right.
Readability aside, this does seem to line up with what I've come to expect. Though Advertising & Payroll are far from fixed costs.
But yeah, the lion's share goes to the manufacturer. Working with an estimate of 40~% gross profit per sale. After which, taxes and everything else must be pulled from to make ends meet.
Secondaries like chips and soda are a bit higher profit, depending on sale price and method of supply. Are regular impulse purchases, but also will add to maintenance costs from spills and such.
Op, the fastest way to earn 1 million dollars is to invest 2 Million in opening a game store.
That a cheeky way of saying you'll lose half your money?
Cause, honestly small business is always a risk. 90% of them don't last a year.
I ran a comic/table top game shop in a college town for the last 3 years. We cleared anywhere between 10k to 30k a month.
Magic and comic subs are the biggest contributions to income. Unfortunately our source decided we weren't making enough and just closed it down, last day is the 24th this month. So, good luck man.
Was that net or gross?
Cause I'm looking at needing ~$7.5k gross before I pay myself anything. (With 40% of sale price being gross profit.) Which is also assuming I can get the money without taking out loans, and take the cheapest rent I've found, which would be about 1400 sqft.