I'm thinking about starting a field... [Archive]

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mgitlin

01-19-2006, 04:52 PM

So, yeah, like the title says... I want to start a field. I was driving by a building that used to be an old "Stockman's" (sells farm/ranch gear) like I had many times, but was drawn by the Lease/Sale sign this time. I thought the building would make an excellent indoor paintball arena, and had a decent location (on the edge of the main city, but within reach of nearby towns).

So, I called the guy in charge of selling/leasing, and am awaiting a call back about pricing. But here lies the problem:

I have no money, and limited/no experience running a field. So, I was wondering if anyone can offer advice about how to get funding, necessary equipment, etc (including what equipment is absolutely necessary). I have to guess that there are people out there that have started a field purely on loan/investor money (based on a business plan presented to a bank). Also, how long did it take you to get your investment back?

as far as equipment, I would imagine the following is a first-priority necessity:
-Airball Field
-Netting (depending on situation)
-Air Compressor
-CO2 Bulk Tank
-Rental equipment?

Any help/ideas would be awesome :tup:

viks

01-19-2006, 04:59 PM

Don't forget insurance...
but Good luck with this

Oh and I think that N.P.S has some kind of starter kit for fields or stores...
So check that out too if I find a link I'll post it

Found it Link - http://www.nationalpaintball.com/html/startfield.asp

Minkus962

01-19-2006, 05:01 PM

All I can tell you is to keep the paint prices affordable, I'd rather go to a place that charged $50 dollar entrance fees and $30 paint than a place with $10 entrance fees and $60 dollar paint.

And I'm sure that Tippy's will do for rental equipment.

Good luck. :tup:

PeYToN-SS

01-19-2006, 05:05 PM

You're probably not going to make much money. Paintball fields are money pits.

Ditto

01-19-2006, 05:08 PM

I dont run a camp, but I was reading in a paintball page that the franchise of that camp was between 20-30,000 dollars (depending on the size), including publicity, equipment, training courses for the refs and mechanics, guns, masks, other protection gear and paintballs...The page said that you would get that investment back in more or less 6 months. But well u need to buy the land first...I hope that was useful...And good luck with ur camp

PeYToN-SS

01-19-2006, 05:16 PM

I really doubt you would get the investment back that quick. Initial investment is huge (Insurance, land, rental equipment, field supplies, netting.) Paint is still not cheap, even for dealers. Air is not cheap either. Nitro bottles cost around $100, and that doesn't last very long. If you go for a compressor instead, thats going to be another couple of thousand dollars. Don't forget about paying employees along with the rest of the bills.

Ditto

01-19-2006, 05:27 PM

Yeah, that price I listed up there is just for guns, protective equipment, 9oz CO2 tanks, fill station, training, publishing, some cases of paint, and escenario set up. But you need to buy the camp first, insurance, Co2 tanks, paintballs, employees, and other supplies. But they assure youll get the money of the franchise back in more or less 6 months. But ALL the initial investment will take more than that to get it back

viks

01-19-2006, 05:30 PM

just one question?
Where is this going to be?

mgitlin

01-19-2006, 05:31 PM

just one question?
Where is this going to be?
Sioux City, IA Population:100,000ish

EDIT:
it's speculation now, until I'd get some rough prices, and an estimate of market demand. Like I said, I don't have really any money (was hoping this would help supplement) to fund it yet.

A-5best

01-19-2006, 05:38 PM

Id hit up RCX, he has helped some people with this before. Just be aware it will cost A LOT of money, but im sure you already know that.

Hiryuushige

01-19-2006, 05:46 PM

Getting the insurance will be the hairiest part of the process. Good luck with this. I always thought it would be awesome to own my own field. I hope everything works out.

GranDream

01-19-2006, 06:17 PM

I would suggest at least going to a community college and asking about taking classes towards a business certificate/degree. Without the proper knowledge, you're doomed to fail. I also recommend it because you need an investor because you have no money, and they won't be impressed if you show up asking for tens of thousands of dollars to start a business that likely won't start showing a profit for quite a while if at all unless they feel like they can trust you.

ase

01-19-2006, 06:20 PM

We started out with $60,00, and $40,000 was gone within 2 weeks. Indoor will probably be cheaper though, because you don't need to level any land. About 30+ rental guns will do, depending on the population of your area. Just remember that if you add everything up you think you will need, add about $10-$20,000 because there will ALWAYS be unexpected expenses. For the first year or two, every dime you make from that course needs to go straight back into it, making it better.

You don't really need to worry too much about employees, you can ALWAYS get a young high schooler to work and ref for discounts on stuff. Then once you get going and put together a field-spondored team, make them work for their discounts. You won't make any money for the first 6-12 months of being open whatsoever, so make sure you have a stable weekday job.

Remember to appeal to the newbie scene before the tournament scene always. You will make more money off of newbies, I promise. Have a field with natural obstacles first, then worry about an airball field if/when you have the cash. You can usually find decent natural obstacles for cheap to free. So to start off with:...

30+ Rental guns (~$180 each with tank and hopper)
30-80 natural obstacles, depending on field size, price varies.
30+ rental masks (~$20 each)(remember to have more masks than guns)
2-4 200lb Co2 tanks (~$200 each)
1-3 Bulk HPA tanks (same price)
Netting (not sure on prices, measure the dimensions of your field)
Insurance (no idea on cost)
Building/land maintenance (can vary from nada to infinity, depends on your setup)

Time.

Find prices of other local fields and make sure you are the CHEAPEST. My field does $10 entrance + $7 all day air. And paint, I know you can get XXX RPS stuff for like $12 a case (even buying it in llike 20 cases at a time, I'm sure you can get it way cheaper if you can buy by the pallet), so there's no need to charge $45 for it. You can make good money selling that stuff for $25/case. You can't find cheaper than that on the net.

Don't do FPO. FPO is for tournament scene. Newbies like to buy their own paint for some reason, that's why you see hardly any at FPO fields. Making it FPO will encourage them to go out to "the ranch" and playing without masks on, which is not a good thing for paintball. So you will end up making more money, and doing something good for paintball by having BYOP. But if you sell paint for $25.case, people will buy a lot of paint from you.

Just remember to be extremely strict on the mask and barrel plug rule. have "2 strikes, you're out" policy. Don't tolerate fighting or bad language. Try to get barrel plugs made with the name of your field on them, and sell them for what you pay. And if someone doesn't have a barrel plug, don't be too tight about, hand over one of yours. They're advertising for you, anyways.

The rest is just common sense, I guess. Get a team together to represent the name of your field all around your state and eventually country.

Wallify

01-19-2006, 06:20 PM

Ive seen some good info on this on the nation forum. Im not looking to do it myself, but I read a post about someone trying to get rid of a whole field worth of crap for like 20K

slaminator3323

01-19-2006, 06:44 PM

Id hit up RCX, he has helped some people with this before. Just be aware it will cost A LOT of money, but im sure you already now that.
QFT.

mokalman

01-19-2006, 07:02 PM

When I was wondering about this a while ago, I asked rsecks for an estimate on how much it'd cost. He told me that with insurance and everything, it'd be upwards of 10,000 moneys.

My brother's best friend's mom used to work at Stockman's. He'd get all sorts of cool stuff, like spiked dog collars and stuff.

pbrascal37

01-20-2006, 05:22 AM

I can't believe you guys forgot to mention chrono for chrono station: 100 bucks + a handheld (they always come in handy escpecially on busy days ($86)

rcxpaintball

01-20-2006, 08:52 AM

Getting the insurance will be the hairiest part of the process. Good luck with this. I always thought it would be awesome to own my own field. I hope everything works out.

Insurance is easy, just provide three items and fill out two and a half sheets of paper and write a check....thats all you need to do. You just need to know who-to talk to.

And IM me or PM me [aim sn: rcxpaintball] I can help you out on keeping things within your budget. After being around for many years most of my suppliers give me "buddy pricing" for being loyal to them, so in many cases I can actually beat wholesale prices.

rcxpaintball

01-20-2006, 09:01 AM

FYI- Try this for starting...

$6,200

1 - 5 man Inflatable Field- Bunkers carry a 1 year manufacturer warranty on materials and workmanship. Also includes a patch kit.

2 Rolls of Netting- Each roll measures 12ft.X 300ft.

6 Boxes of Snap Grommets- Each box contains 100 snap grommets.

20 Gun Package-*20 Tippmann Custom 98s *20 Rental Masks*20 12-ounce Aluminum CO2 tanks *20 Squeegees *20 Barrel Plugs *20 200rd. Hoppers *20 Parts Kits *20 Gun Oils

2 Handheld Radar Chronographs

3 Referee Masks

1 Deluxe CO2 Fill Station with Digital Scale

mgitlin

01-20-2006, 12:06 PM

rdm3000

01-21-2006, 09:26 AM

if you have no experince dont do it, quite simply you will fail.

..SilentAngel..

01-21-2006, 09:54 AM

I assume MWP brethren don't have to pay field fees? :dodgy:

CapnCrunch

01-21-2006, 10:40 AM

if you have no experince dont do it, quite simply you will fail.
:rolleyes:

Crede777

01-21-2006, 11:57 AM

There's a good chance you've been here: http://www.pbnation.com/forumdisplay.php?f=369
But if you haven't I'd read up and ask some questions.

I would also factor in things like plumbing, internet (if you want computers at the field), heating, lights, etc. Turf will be another big investment.

A way that many indoor places aid with the turnaround is that they have a proshop as part of the field and a snack bar. Proshops are definite helps with budget. If there is a local proshop near you, or chain of proshops, I would talk to them and ask if they'd like to rent store space from you in your field. They can set up a shop in your building and pay you to have it there.

Also, you must figure out a way that you plan on cleaning off the field. Some fields have drains in the middle for paint and water run off. My local field doesn't but I don't know what they do to clean off the paint off the turf. They use white paint too, so the walls don't get stained.

mgitlin

01-21-2006, 01:24 PM

if you have no experince dont do it, quite simply you will fail.

That's rather presumptuous of you to say. I have good business sense, and understand the rules and concepts of paintball. For you to say that it WILL fail, is a highly flawed speculation since someone had to pioneer it at one time or another. How do you explain the first public paintball field? Obviously the owner could have no field ownership/management experience, yet somehow the business caught on...

I assume MWP brethren don't have to pay field fees?
If I start the field, and any MWP'ers come out, consider it free (you pay for paint only ;))

There's a good chance you've been here: http://www.pbnation.com/forumdisplay.php?f=369
But if you haven't I'd read up and ask some questions.

I would also factor in things like plumbing, internet (if you want computers at the field), heating, lights, etc. Turf will be another big investment.

A way that many indoor places aid with the turnaround is that they have a proshop as part of the field and a snack bar. Proshops are definite helps with budget. If there is a local proshop near you, or chain of proshops, I would talk to them and ask if they'd like to rent store space from you in your field. They can set up a shop in your building and pay you to have it there.

Also, you must figure out a way that you plan on cleaning off the field. Some fields have drains in the middle for paint and water run off. My local field doesn't but I don't know what they do to clean off the paint off the turf. They use white paint too, so the walls don't get stained.

I haven't visited that forum, but I'm looking now. Thanks :tup:

Also, as far as keeping the field clean, I planned on floor drains located around the inside of the playing field. Also, I plan on hanging netting about 1-3 feet off the walls to avoid painting them.

A-5best

01-21-2006, 01:28 PM

Or you could be like cousins paintball and just dont cleam the paint off the field :tup: :rolleyes:.

Seriously though, i have seen a setup where its a pvc pipe as a handle and then a t fitting and two pvc pipes that come out from the t-fitting and then 2 45* fitting with a short piece of PVC coming out of those from either side of the pipe, it acts as a paintball pusher, let me attempt at showing you.

|
|
|
|
______
/...........\

verticle lines=handle
t-fitting would connect the verticle and horizontal lines
45*fitting would connect horizontal line and the small slashes.

*disregaurd the dots*

not too shabby if i do say so myself.