EddScott

Here is my dream.

As long as I can remember, I've always wanted a car model shop.

In the states where space isn't a premium I've seen a shop located in a reasonably large wharehouse which has its own permanent track and pits area and the shop itself under one roof. The RC track would run most nights and there could also be a small cafe to provide food for the racers too.

A slot car (scalextrics) track wouldn't take up that much space and it would encourage more people to the site and to try something other than RC car racing. Slot car racing is cheaper for kids to get involved with and doesn't need parents to delivery kiddie and boxes of RC stuff - slot cars just need a small fishing tackle box so easy to carry on and off a bus.

I've spoken to a few people who agree that in theory it sounds great. Not all want to go straight home after work and not all want to go to the gym. What better way to unwind than to spend an hour or two down the local track - either slot or RC.

The main problem is basing the site within access to a bus stop so kids can make their own way to the site. Problem with this is that it would need to be close to town which means very high rent for the size of building it would need. The building would need to be at least the size of your average Halfords and at most the size of a DIY store (bit too big)

Initial outlay would also be high having to lay a permanent tarmac track - I might get away with using carpet initially (as my local club do now). Building the pit area and shop would be expensive and then the outlay for the slot track building which I could do myself. Plus purchasing stock etc. (this is where it looks like a no-go)

The cost would be huge and convincing a bank to lend the money would be nigh on impossible. The RC and slot industry are season dependent industries being more popular during the winter. School holidays would be a busy time. Not sure whow to make up the shortfall of people during the day. Maybe open 11 till 7 during the week perhaps. I really wouldn't care if it made me a fortune becuase its something I'd love to and not about profits.

I'm well aware that its not the coolest thing to want to do and I'm pretty sure that no bank would touch it and it may well never work but its something I'd love to do and it is being done in the states and very successfully too.

Posts of "Thats a load of sh1te mate" aren't helpeful obviously.

Thanks

davegtt

Id much rather own a lap dancing club

Old_Fart

Concentrate on the mail order/ebay business during the quiet weekday 9 to 5's
Sounds cool.
C

Freak

good idea.....

I agree- mail order/ebay is the way to go

If you have a sound and well though out business plan, it will go a long way to convincing someone to lend you some cash to do it

Jap2Scrap

How about finding a cheap & reliable source for RC & slot parts/cars etc. then funding some of your dream by selling spares and cars at a slight profit? Everything can be ordered from catalogues so you're holding minimal stock. Just a drop in the ocean to what you need maybe but every bit helps. Also look for 'sponsorship' from such companies. Offer to promote their company if they supply some cars etc. You can put all sales enquiries onto them for example. Asking won't cost you anything

EddScott

I've posted this on a couple of forums to get as many peoples opinions as possible before I actually put any time into proper research.

Following the Ebay idea, I'd like to try some kind of mail order system for RC and slot car items and spares too. Online ordering isn't location depedent so being based out here in the sticks of Pembrokeshire shouldn't be a hinderence and floor space is dirt cheap here.

Only problem with that is that there may be not enough people in this area to sustain it.

Freak

Im in a small town- selling records in a physical shop around here wouldnt have been worth it- no market for it.
I sell purely online, at the moment just on ebay, and soon my own site. Sell reguarly to canada and the states and of course all over the uk.
Get the right product, at the right price and sell it the right way and you cant go wrong.

Jap2Scrap

It's not called the world wide web for nothing

Brendan Hughes

I think the slot-car thing itself would make a loss. A technique would be to run a profitable parallel business, eg tyre warehouse, with the slot-car thing as a sideline on a mezzanine.

EddScott

How did you start off mate?

Its more likely to work if it were done in stages. Start off with just a shop/mail order business and then when funds allow move into larger premises.

By doing it bit by bit, I'm building a following and developing regulars to the shop and therefore if the "in house" track was a likely there would be people to turn up and race.

Be nothing worse than to build it all and no bugger turn up

Jye

Hmm, loads of RC model shops about and you can usually deal with importers etc. They do seem to go out of business quite a bit up my way.

Surely anyone serious about RC cars and racing them is in a club and the club will usually have a track they all use. It's pretty easy to set up a track for electric cars (I presume this is what you mean) but a lot harder to get a nitro track sorted. In Scotland racing nitro cars is dire, no 'real' tracks are available. I had to travel to Halifax to race my 1/8th scale Serpents. Move up north and bring a JCB and some tarmac

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

I thought most indoor RC clubs rent a hall every now and then, all the members chip in to fund venue hire, trophies etc. Usual self funding society with treasurer, secretary etc.

How are you going to get these type of people regularly through your door when they are already paid up, and compete/hang out elsewhere?

paulr

Sounds a good idea,there's a local wargames model shop where every day its full of kids playing games.i'm sure that helps sell them too.
the only thing with your idea is as you say,the large space needed might incur a pretty high business rate/leccy/insurance and all that palava,which might make it uneconomic.
the other thing is trends,mostly i see model shops closing,not opening.

Sbradley

Fackin Scoobynet ate my reply

Anyway.

Think outside the box a bit There's loads of businesses looking for corporate events - team building, hospitality, launches and so on. What better than something where there is some healthy competition, a bit of adrenaline, where drinking and driving is positively encouraged and where you don't have to get into a scuzzy second hand helmet and overalls, where you can still have a conversation with your prospect/staff/clients and where you can do something a bit different to boot? Get the word out to plenty of companies, tell the local paper and have a big launch. Make sure that you have a decent hospitality area and fit a good sound system, lights and so on.

Get magazines involved. How about a 1/12 Max Power shootout? Most bling on an r/c car? How about building a 1/32 Nurburgring and racing slot cars around it? OK so you need 500m of track and it'll be 10m off the ground at the highest point but what a circuit!

Make it big enough for r/c and you can have minimoto as well.

Be happy to chat offline if you want, especially about magazine stuff as I'm editor of a mag and may be able to give you some ideas...

Cheers,

S(imon)B

ScoobyDriverWannabe

Iv always wanted to set up a taxi company, but not a ordinary taxi company.

One were the cars are Imprezas, Evos etc driven by damm fine sexy women.

Its bound too make money who would u rather be drivin around by som fat bearded bloke in a mondeo or sexy female in a Scoob

All i need now is som capital to get it off the ground any takers ?? lol

GaryK

Edd,

I think its a great idea, maybe you could just do the slot racing first in smaller premises and as said the models mail-order until you get established, if you can get away with not having a shop front you will pay alot less in rent and business rates.

SDW - thats crackin' a guy round here used to run his own jag xj6 as a taxi service, do pre-bookings only and charge just slightly more than a normal cab, used to get lots of referral biz, dunno if he still operates or not. I think you may need to run it as a 'member' service though just to protect the ladies in case of any unwanted attention but I like your thinking! 'I'd buy that for a dollar........'

judgejules

Edd,

I think the best thing to start up would be to organise a track weekend/night in your local area first. Check out all the competition first, see how they're running, what they're doing etc, what nights etc, then Beg/borrow/rent a suitable track for RC (school hall etc) or car park/field/gocart track for Nitro. Charge no fees so you get maximum following in a short space of time, subsidise it all from your regular day job at the moment Build up a visitor base by people coming along to your track meets while you run a "spares out the back of your car" type business (along with the online stuff). Stuff always breaks on the night, see what the "in" models are and get key spares for those, tyres, hop ups ets. Doing this you build up a rep for your spares etc and you become known to the locals while you can tout the wares off your site/ebay.

When this is all cooking with gas, or failing miserably, you'll know wether or not you can make the leap to the custom built premesis with your loyal customer base in tow.

Good luck, sounds like a cool idea

Jules