J-Bar
Member
Don't let your buddies sit around in the store, taking up your time and talking with customers. Greet everyone who comes in within one minute.
Know your expenses. This is important. Know how much it cost for you to be open every day, and that you need to make that amount to break even. Rent, utilities, the guy you hire to sweep the floor, everything, know what it costs on a daily basis. You don't have to be exact to the last penny, but you do need to be pretty close. Let's say you need to make $100 every day to break even. Late in the day you've only made $50. A customer comes in and wants to buy a gun, but the price is too high. You can lower the price to make the sale or you can stand firm and lose the sale. Might be the difference between breaking even that day or falling short.
Yep. I think he also owned a boat…LOL!Have fun with it, but don't expect to become rich ...
Did you hear about the Millionaire who owned the gun store? ... he used to be a MULTI-Millionaire ...
Being out from under onerous City taxes will also help control your costs, too.
I had a retail store for a while, not a fan of it to be honest. Always something, went to sleep thinking about, dreamt about it, woke up thinking about, always another problem.
When you own it, there’s no calling in sick, and forget weekends.
To the OP, my biggest gripe locally is hours. Most LGS in my area open at 1000 and close at 1800. Figure out the clientele and when they can shop.
I've run a couple of businesses before--there's an old adage about being self-employed, that "It's easy, you only work half days--the first half or the last half, Every Single Day." Somebody has to answer the phone. Now-a-days, somebody better answer emails, and right quickly. If that person is you, it can be right tough to have to take a sick day, or a vacation day, or go to your kid's sports tournament. If it's your employee, you have to plan for when they have to do any of those things
Few things as illuminating as signing a PO for $90K for lumber the same day you buy an excavator (to stop renting them), and have to balance the checkbook to see when you can pay the mechanic $150 to fix your ride.had enough to live comfortably, if not well
how to tell some one a $1200 Smith and wesson 29-2 can't be sold to me for $1200, without sounding like I am trying to take advantage of them
What I don't understand is how to tell some one a $1200 Smith and wesson 29-2 can't be sold to me for $1200, without sounding like I am trying to take advantage of them.
don't skim off the good stuff
I have to give you money and then tie that money up until the gun sells. Pay the bills, employees, insurance, and try to make a profit. I'd love to give you what I can eventually sell it for, but I won't be in business long that way. I can give you 60% of book so I can sell it for 80% of book and end up breaking even. You can shop it around and see if anyone will give you the $1200 for it, but your time has to be worth something and that's really all I'm asking...sell it to me at a price so I can pay for my time and expenses reselling it.
BTW, You're not going to make 30% on average. Maybe 10 on guns. Where you make profit is on all the other things you can mark up 80% and sell.
Back in the 70's in New Jersey, I knew a guy that ran a retail gun store in his basement. Very well stocked, reload equipment, accessories, but only sold new guns at the MSRP. He was retired from Bell Telephone, had a great pension, house paid off, so he didn't need the money. He would not budge a penny on his price and would brag he wasn't a discount store. If you went in a couple of years later, he would have the same guns collecting dust, but would jack the price up on a 5-year-old dusty new gun, if the MSRP went up on that particular model. I would go in there, because he was an avid big bore handgun hunter (stuffed animals everywhere) decent gunsmith, specializing in custom honed Colt Revolvers, and 1911's. One time he had The Shotgun News laid out on his counter, back then a major source of gun discount for FFL's. He saw me glancing at it, got nervous, and quickly pulled it away. Lol, he didn't want me to see what he was paying for the guns. I had eventually moved to California, and googled him several years later, he had died, and someone had bought out his entire inventory from his estate.When I moved here 43 years ago there was a well established family owned LGS that bought guns for 1/3 to 40% of retail price. This was before the pawn shops took that business. When he went out of business every inch of wall space was covered in unsold long guns. Display cabinets full of pistols. His mistake; sale prices at full retail. He bought cheap and instead of making 10-20% of something he got all of nothing. Joe
Paying what its worth to you is not taking advantage of anyone. Lying about the value would be. Make a sign "We pay no more than 60% of retail value on used guns". You can always explain how the owner could go about selling that firearm on their own, using GB, online gun forums, etc....What I don't understand is how to tell some one a $1200 Smith and wesson 29-2 can't be sold to me for $1200, without sounding like I am trying to take advantage of them. I expect a $400 profit on a 1000 dollar sale.
Write a business plan.Other than providing support and services that other shops do not How do you think I can stay ahead in the game?