Business Plan

B-Lane · Backside 180 Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 946 City: Towanda

okay im really curious if you guys and girls will think my business will be successful. im planning on opening a wakeskating only business in about 3 years. i live in kansas currently and want the business to be both local and on the internet. i want to carry both the bigger brands(LF, Hyperlite) and the smaller brands. i want to have skates, ropes and handles, and apparel. Im getting ready to go to college for welding classes, so later on if the business is doing well i want to build and sell winches. and if it fails ive still got welding i guess. Comment and criticize all you want, i need input, thanks

mcrainwater · Faceplant Joined: 18 Dec 2006 Posts: 40 City: Griffin

well hey bro thats a good idea of course...i mean it would either fail or do good...wakeskating would just have to get even bigger for you to be able to make a profit off that...you could make winches but make them a little cheaper...cheers

lake weir ocala FL · Backside 180 Joined: 06 Jun 2005 Posts: 1241 City: Ocala

hyfliteskate, talk to pirate...im pretty sure he owns his own shop

B-Lane · Backside 180 Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 946 City: Towanda

as for wakeskating getting bigger i think in three years it ought to be pretty big. the only thing im worried about is the location, but i think the internet should solve that. oh and as for winches, i want to offer a baseline winch that still has good power and pull, then have and intermediate, and an all out pro model. then have the option for people to pick and choose what they want. EXAMPLE: comeone wants a something i dont offer with the other packages, i order the parts build it on my frame, and charge them for the original cost of parts and then for labor. hopefully that makes sense. Wink

jonnyUTAH · Backside 180 Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 1951

The smartest part about this "plan," in my opinion, is going to Welding school. All my buddies who are welders make good money and are rock solid super good dudes. The awesome thing about that trade is that you can work ANYWHERE! It's one of those trades where you can drop down in the middle of Africa, and still find work.

JUST REMEMBER - "A before O or Up you will go!" or "O before A, what the hey!"

The point is....everyone should have a good fall-back plan when pursueing a dream. Everyone needs a way to finance their dreams. So when a business tanks, and someone says .. "Don't quit your day job", you can say "Ok..faw-k face, I won't!"

Everyone on our team have day jobs, and that's what gets you through the hardtimes.

Word

B-Lane · Backside 180 Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 946 City: Towanda

ya, i plan on keeping my welding job while i build the other business, and if the wakeskating business takesoff well i will have to quit my welding job because of the work load. but i hear ya on the fall back plan thats what the welding part is for. and hell i can already screen print so i have 2 backup plans.

brianl289 · Frontside 180 Joined: 07 Aug 2006 Posts: 310 City: houston

i think for you to be succsesful you need to establish a large what i should say "fan base" go to comps, have good deals you know that kind of stuff. but if you want to be remotly competitive you need to sell stuff super cheap and support the sport and make people WANT to buy from you. because ill be honest i could buy from ym local boat dealer and suna nd ski, but id rather buy online from buywake because there customer service rocks, prices are excellent, and of coarse, they hook me up with free stickers Laughing

so basically what im saying is keep your other job too, because for you to make any money in something like this. your going to lose alot at first.
another thing. to stock hyperlite, liquid force, and appearal you they usually require you to make a stock purchase at their set price. for example. at an MX shop i worked at to be a No Fear carrier we had to purchase a stocking order of 10,000$. thats the stuff they give you and you cannot deny it if you want to carry their products. another thing to think about is investors, they can help you alot. go for it dude, who knows if your good enough i might even buy from you Wink

jonnyUTAH · Backside 180 Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 1951

I love Get rich schemes using the Intard-Net

http://nichegeek.com/10_totally_stupid_online_business_ideas_that_made_someone_rich

Million Dollar hompage is brilliant.

Hands down, my favorite is StumbleUpon. Channel changer for the Internet.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/

B-Lane · Backside 180 Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 946 City: Towanda

brianl289, When i first start out i want to try to sponsor some events and things like that to get my name out there. and theres no way i would quit my job before i was established. oh and for prices ws.com members 50% off your first purchase.haha, oh and hopefully im good enough for you to buy from me, haha

electricsnow · cassette Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 10756 City: Jefferton

I would try to talk to as many people as I could when it comes to opening shops and such. They may give you ideas you may not have thought of...good or bad. It's funny, I always thought my shop made a killing, but then you take into consideration shiznackle winters (nobody either a) wants to leave their house or b)if it's too warm, they never really get into the swing of things). Straight up, it's been a horrible winter for selling snowboards in wisconsin (at least where I work). First it was too warm and the season was late, then for the past few weeks it's been effing freezing and sales have absolutely sucked.

Second is fluctuating markets. We originally tried to cater to the lady folk in street wear and sweet snowboarding gear. Trends change and the lady folk are not buying the street wear we have (whether it's not cool to skate or becuase the style is just straight up different) and VERY few have come in for any sort of snowboarding gear. So with that said, know your market, and know what they're ready for (as far as styles and things are concerned).

also, this is the retard inside of me talking, but I never thought of having to pay the heating bills. pretty insane. add in that the building is "mad" old and it's...wait, did I say pretty insane yet?

Finally, you do have to do something that brings in loyal customers and to have some sort of consistent clientele. Nowadays, ebay and online shops slowly kill the local core shop because it's hard to compete with the prices, and for whatever reason, the loyalty is waning. we get kids that buy skateboards online, and then they come in and buy grip tape and have us apply it??? (question mark) And you'll also get the snowboarder that unknowingly buys a blem/lower grade snowboard online, it falls apart, and then they need it warrantied. But if they don't buy it locally, we can't do anything about it. Generally speaking, the last example is usually what teaches them a lesson and they'll start to come in to your shop. I think (or what I like to think) one other thing that's important is the whole shop atmosphere. I remember when my town didn't have a sick shop and it was such a big deal to visit the flying fish in madison. Now that I work at a shop, I kind of think back to that, and it's important that other people who visit get a good impression of the scene. From being knowledgable, to making sure people feel welcome...that's what I try to keep in mind when I'm having a bad day. Some kid could be coming into a "real" skate shop for the first time, and I don't want to ruin that for them. Also, even though you want to become an online source, it's also very competitive.

I would really try to learn from whomever you can and get some sort of business plan together...there's a whole lot to think about when starting up a business. But, if it is what you love, it will be worth it in the end and I wish you the best of luck with it.

and if you read this far, sorry for the long post. Birthday

skatefilly · Posted: Feb 17, 2007 8:32 pm Post subject:

I had to do a huge bus plan, and it was creating a indoor winching park. Thier is quite a bit of research that needs to be done, all the barriers to entry, investors. I needed a huge building so it was like over a mil for the building. But i still think like you do, give it a couple of years it could be prophitable.

Good luck Broski

nick · Posted: Feb 17, 2007 8:45 pm Post subject:

skatefilly, Buy an old home depot Birthday

skatefilly · Posted: Feb 17, 2007 10:05 pm Post subject:

che blanc Hey you think that builiding is under a million? That would probably be a good size builiding. we were thinking like 4 or 6 hives. You guys think runing a hive inside will kill the wakeskaters? that would be shiiity.

Wakeskating.com would you come visit my indoor winching park in wisconsin?

nick · Posted: Feb 17, 2007 10:22 pm Post subject:

skatefilly, Old home depot or a warehouse sounds like your best bet.

Well ventilated to kill the fumes and yes I will come visit when it's done.

skatefilly · Posted: Feb 17, 2007 10:34 pm Post subject:

That means that 500 hundred other kids will come. hahah your my idol nick. haha No but i would have to figure something out as far as some type of venting system. It is a diamond in the ruff right now but it is going to happen.

B-Lane · Backside 180 Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 946 City: Towanda

Thanks for all the input, im ready to get them welding classes over and start planning. thanks a lot guys. Laughing

skatefilly, when does it open is the only real question. haha Cool

nick · Posted: Feb 17, 2007 10:42 pm Post subject:

hyfliteskate, How far from the Kansas cable are you? You could probably get something going with them if you're close by. That's where the Kansas market would be, I assume.

B-Lane · Backside 180 Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 946 City: Towanda

right around 100 miles away. thats a hell of an idea though i never even thought of that. hell ive never been to the park. good idea

Trey · Posted: Feb 17, 2007 11:13 pm Post subject:

The main barrier to entry is a) having the $ (capital) to invest and get going and, b) having a market to support what your doing. I know a guy that owns a board shop and he says he has to front like 10k in merch from the big vendors (LF and Hype) just to get their product in his shop. Just be sure that if you have that kind of money to invest in product, you better have a market to support it, unless you have very rich people to support you. Not trying to burst your buble, just a reality check. Cool

DirtyCracker · Guest

there ant no money in it. if you stay true its so hard to make ends meet. a buddy of mine owns a surf shop right on the beach sells all real brands everything clothing shoes boards everything and can hardly pay rent. the overhead is insane the amount you have to put up for shizzle. an second everyone that used to buy from shops goes online to get a even better deal.

i buy almost all my stuff online just cause its 40%cheaper. ya i go into shops and check out stuff to actually put my hands on it then find it online and buy it. sorry if i was you i would maybe just go the online route.