The opening and operation of any business, of any type is at once a fulfilling experience and one of the largest headaches ever imagined, No matter how much planning and previous experience goes, ahead of opening day, the education that the new businessman is to experience is overwhelming to say the least. I would like to share some of that education that I received with those contemplating opening their own game store and with the general gaming public to say that while it is fun to have a shop, life on the other side of the counter ain't no bed o-f roses.
Assuming that your dead set committed to this project before you open your doors, you will need to handle the basics of establishing a small business. You will need the following;
1 Capital; Money (Sometimes called the green grass of life).
2- Location: A storefront in a commercial zoned area. You'll probably be leasing a storefront. Go over your lease with a fine tooth comb or have your attorney check it, Best to be real careful, this will be one of your major expenses.
2A- Utilities, electric, gas, water, sewer, and phone. Expect to need to pay deposits oŁ $100-$200_ per utility up front. Utilities are a group you'll really enjoy dealing with as long as you don't miss a payment, Don't expect to see your deposits back for at least two years.
3- Tax ID A !s from IRS, your state and perhaps your local government. Not to forget fire inspections, occupancy permits, merchants license. Remember the wheels of government move slowly so allow lots of time for things to go back and forth in the mail and to be processed. This may be the only time you go into business and is probably real exciting but it's just another form to be handled on the other end by the government and their excitment doesn't match yours, I can assure you!
4- Insurance, both fire and liability including possibly plate glass window insurance. Expect insurance to run about $S00 + up front.
5- Office supplies including file folders, stamps, paper, pens, checks, etc. Business runs on paper, KEEP ACCURATE RECORDS!
6- A company bank account - you'll love dealing with the bank almost as much as you'll love dealing with the government to get all the numbers you need. You may also want to get a MasterCard/VISA machine, great idea, but don't be surprised when you find out that just like the customer you also get charged a percentage, usually between 4 and 6%.
7- A form for your business, corporation, partnership, single propreitorship. If you chose corporate get a lawyer to handle it for you, it costs more, but gets it done right.
8- Furniture and fixtures, things like a front counter, racks, shelves, pegboards (don't forget hooks), are all real handy things to have, You can buy them new (real expensive), used (less expensive), or try to build some (being handy with tools helps). Plan your shop floor plan first before you sink any money into anything beyond a stool to sit on. You'll avoid expensive mistakes. Generally used gondolas run about $40 per four foot section,shelves may be extra. Pegboard runs about $10 per 4X8 sheet but will need to be framed out or attached to the wall (check your lease to see what you can and can't do). I recommend a combination of used counters and pegboards but every store is different.
9- Cleaning supplies, broom, dust pan, mop, bucket, soap, window cleaner, paper towels, garbage bags, etc. A good industrial mop bucket and wringer runs about $50-75, not including the mop. So leave a few dollars aside for these supplies, you gotta have 'em and they ain't cheap.
10- Inventory (the stuff you sell). You'll need to contact distributors, write and place orders, and make ready to receive your first shipments. Go with distributors not manufacturers, selection is better, minimum orders are at least the same if not smaller and your cost of product is less if not the same. You'll be filling out credit applications until you are blue in the face and still have to pre-pay your orders or at best receive them COD for awhile, but that's part of the business. Your new store has no credit rating and expect it to be awhile before you get one, generally six months to a year, sometimes longer. Again, have capital (money) put aside, Your initial order should consist of no more than two of any item. Spread that inventory as thin as you can, you might love 2Smm Colonials but having six packs of each number that SO $ SO puts out doesn't make any sense when one pack of about one-third of the available numbers makes a nice display and you can have an order in for restock or a special customer order within a week.
The above items were almost enough to get your doors opened, Now your product arrived and you'll need to check it in (NEVER believe an invoice till you see the item). Price it (hope you bought price tags), and stock it, Which brings up how are you going to display all the games and figures coming out of those boxes.
Merchandising is the art of displaying products so that it is attractive to the consumer and will sell (that's why you are here). You can just put stuff on the shelf and hope for the best or you can build attractive displays that enhance your products and help them sell., Z learned my merchandising from 13 years in the St. Louis grocery industry. I would recommend anyone that is opening a store get out and visit department stores, small shops, and above all, grocery stores. Look at how things are displayed and take these ideas back to your store. You can just hang figures on hooks on a pegboard or you can hang them up in straight lines, with corresponding rules, references, and paint sets next to them. It's better for your customer and better for you because it sells, Which means you'll be there next time the customer comes in because you pay your bills,
Now that you are open, some other things to ponder
1- Customer Relations; You haye to be able to serve the needs of the people that walk in the door or call on the phone. If you opened your shop just so you could get your figures a little cheaper, close up now you are not a businessman, you are a hobbyist, You may be a died in the wool Historical gamer but many of your customers will want fantasy games and it's your job to take care of them. If you don't someone else will, You have to treat customers with respect, listen to their stories about games when you could really care less and generally take care of them. RULE-OF-THUMB; treat them like you would want to be treated and you should do OK.
2- Security; The biggest problem will be shoplifting (yes, it does go on and it's no fun to see an empty rack where over $100 worth of product just danced out of your store). Check with the local police as to what your rights are when you catch someone taking your products without payment, We generally put 'em in the backroom and call the Police and prosecute. The word does get around if you are an easy mark or will send them to jail. It makes a difference. Another problem is bad checks, they are generally few and far between and when one bounces, it is usually a genuine mistake on the writer's part, but it really screws up your bank account and can play havoc with you paying your bills. Always get a phone number, driver's license on checks, and charge a fee for returned checks (you'll need to post this policy),
3- Labor Relations: If you've got employees, you will have labor relations. When you are not in the shop, the staff that you've hired will be in charge, whether that's one individual or more. I don't know any magic formula for choosing employees and the major corporations in this country have huge departments dedicated just to that purpose. All I can say is get someone you can trust, and you can work with,not in spite of, you've got to get along. I hope you are as lucky as I have been.
4- Discounts; Groups and individuals may from time to time come to you looking for discounts because they are the XYZ Historical Society with hundreds of members and you could do just golly gee a lot of business if they all shopped here. That all sounds real good particularly just after you've opened and business is to say the least, slow (dead is also a good term). If you are convinced that the XYZ group is worth it it might be in your best interest to try and woo them into the store, It could be that the group is only three guys with great stationary who buy one copy of the magazine a month and share that between them. In which case, you are not out a lot, but didn't come near what you'd been told. Take every request with a grain of salt. Ask for a list of members, when they meet because you would be interested in stopping by to chat, and you might ask what have they done for the hobby lately (or at all)? I base my policy on just that; you want a discount, you are going to earn it and I'm the judge. I need games put on in the game room, at the gaming conventions, I need gaming instructors, and tons of other stuff. Discounts can be had, but just because a few gamers get together on a weekly or monthly basis isn't a reason for a discount. There's too much work to be done.
5- Customers Advice: Sort of like customer relations but different. Many a gamer has thoughts on what you should do, stock, and what might make your store run better, Ideas are very helpful and I take every idea I can get my hands on. Most of them don't work for one reason or another, but you should be happy that the customer though enough of you to offer a suggestion. It is a compliment. With this, however, comes the customer that doesn't understand why you use one delivery system over another, why you get your products from one distributor instead of another, what are your sales figures, why you moved a display from one place in the store to another, and a host of things that are really none of their affair. Deal with them tactfully but remember it's your store, not theirs.
6- Advertising: The art of telling 'em that you are here. Yellow pages is probably where to start with advertising. Make up a good ad but don't overdo, The Yellow Pages is in business to make money just like you are. You sell games, they sell space and their space isn't cheap, Expect about $40 per month or more for Yellow Pages. Local newspapers aren't really worth the effort, as the gaming shop business is way too specialized to do much good here., High school and college papers are good for a few ads but don't get carried away with them either. Advertising in the game shop business is by word of mouth, which is cheap but takes a long time, Take care of your customers and hope they tell their friends,
Maybe the new game shop will make it, maybe it won't, The owner even before opening, can expect some mighty long days away from friends and family, He can expect little or no return on his invested monies for a considerable length of time (the Small Business Administration says have at least enough capital for the first six months assuming little or nothing coming in). He will start to look at his personal gaming in a different light, not so much this is fun, but rather, this game will promote sales of these figures and rules. He will spend hours at home doing the paperwork involved, the ad copy, signs, orders, balance the check book, paying the bills, doing the general ledger. He will be at the shop after hours sweeping the floors, changing light bulbs, cleaning up the mess left by gamers in the game room. He will be at the shop before opening restocking, building new displays, calling in to check on orders that are late, fixing broken chairs from the game room, trying to figure out billings from distributors that don't make any sense. He will be there answering the phone during the day, listening to customers whose product is overdue because the manufacturers said it would be available back in November and now it's Mlarch. Trying to keep cool when business brokers offer to buy you out of what you just sank your heart and soul into. Listening to some distributors tell you that you couldn't know what you are doing because you don't order enough of the figures that he wants to sell to you.
But it all becomes worthwhile when you see customers of the other stores in town start to wander in because they heard from their friends, that if you don't have that, you'll have it in a few days. That if it isn't available, you'll still manage to come up with just one more for them. And that most importantly, it's fun to be at your shop, where there's lots of games, figures and rules, and a full calander for the game room.
(Editor's Note: I'd like to thank Kevin for this article. If nothing else, it should give all of us a better understanding of what its like on "the other side of the counter", Since I suspect that most people who run hobby stores with miniatures once, or still are, hobbyists to one degree or another, this article should be most interesting to the MWAN readership. I hope to provide additional articles/information in the future concerning the "business" end of the hobby. I would encourage any "businessman" interested in this sort of thing to submit something to MWAN.
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© Copyright 1986 Hal Thinglum
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