Nerd's Opinion on a business im trying to open

[FABombjoy]

From what I've gathered from other vendors, newer-era game sales will pay most of your bills.

Joe Santulli from Digital Press Games wrote quite a bit on the day to day realities of opening his game store in NJ. I can't seem to find those posts at the moment, but he responded to another person thinking of opening a store in this thread.

When I started my store I decided to focus on the technical aspects and maintenance of vintage machines. I'm not as interested in newer stuff and there is a ton of support there already. To be involved in the business of vintage gaming on terms that would keep me interested meant being Internet-only. I figured I could grow it into a physical store down the road if I wanted, but for now I'm happy to not deal with rent, shoplifters, staffing, cars crashing through my storefront, etc

[timothymoore]

Thanks for the advice so far . I really like the T-shirt idea as well as the others mentioned. I look forward to getting this to a reality and will keep everyone updated. I believe that it can be a success if only ran right. I think I have the ability to run it. we shall see. Its really exciting to think of what could come of it.

[Jonathan]

Good attitude Timothy! Like George McFly once said.... lol.

Seriously though, Henry Ford apparently was quoted as saying "Whether you think you can or think you can't, either way you are right."

If it is something you are passionate about, it has a great chance of succeeding just based on that. Look around at the DeLorean community and you might see some examples of that mindset in play as well. The good and the bad versions.

[Rich W]

In your opinion, what is vintage? in a gaming shop like I plan to open, what would you expect to see in there if you walked in? what kind of environment would you expect it to be like?

http://mashable.com/2013/07/15/nes-m...urce=iphoneapp

[PlutonimicX]

I love the idea of a vintage game shop and especially the idea of a lounge. This reminds me of a place I've been to called Robot City Games and I loved it! A problem might be the initial purchase price, maintenance costs and/or restoration of the various games.

[OverlandMan]

In my opinion you would never make a "killing" in this type of business. Doing an online store would certainly save you the trouble of having to lease a store front and all that entails.

I seriously considered several years ago what it would take for me to open a firearms retail store in my local community. I chose firearms because it's a passion. I quickly realized though that most passions are hard to turn into profitable businesses. After working on the initial research and business planning, I decided to abandon the idea and look for something else that's more lucrative.

All that said, here's my recommendation:

Write a business plan and formulate your anticipated expenses in a proforma-type spreadsheet, this way you can break-down things like expenses, cost of sales, net profits, gross profits, growth, etc. I may have an Excel sheet somewhere in my archive that you can use (all formulas keyed-in and ready for inputs). Let me know if you're interested.

Once you get that done, you'll have an idea of what the potential of the business would be. Take your time with it and expect writing the business plan, filling-out the proforma, and doing all the research to take months, not weeks.

Considering what type of business (ie: LLC, LP, SP, DBA, INC, etc.) is something you would want to research and potentially discuss with your tax adviser or CPA.

You'll also want to decide how you're going to fund the business initially. Are you going to the bank for a business loan? Are you using private funds? Are you going to have a partner? All this will be important and have implications on your bottom-line at the end of the day.

You may know all this already so apologies if I'm coming off too much like a big brother.

[timothymoore]

In my opinion you would never make a "killing" in this type of business. Doing an online store would certainly save you the trouble of having to lease a store front and all that entails.

I seriously considered several years ago what it would take for me to open a firearms retail store in my local community. I chose firearms because it's a passion. I quickly realized though that most passions are hard to turn into profitable businesses. After working on the initial research and business planning, I decided to abandon the idea and look for something else that's more lucrative.

All that said, here's my recommendation:

Write a business plan and formulate your anticipated expenses in a proforma-type spreadsheet, this way you can break-down things like expenses, cost of sales, net profits, gross profits, growth, etc. I may have an Excel sheet somewhere in my archive that you can use (all formulas keyed-in and ready for inputs). Let me know if you're interested.

Once you get that done, you'll have an idea of what the potential of the business would be. Take your time with it and expect writing the business plan, filling-out the proforma, and doing all the research to take months, not weeks.

Considering what type of business (ie: LLC, LP, SP, DBA, INC, etc.) is something you would want to research and potentially discuss with your tax adviser or CPA.

You'll also want to decide how you're going to fund the business initially. Are you going to the bank for a business loan? Are you using private funds? Are you going to have a partner? All this will be important and have implications on your bottom-line at the end of the day.

You may know all this already so apologies if I'm coming off too much like a big brother.

I appreciate your information. It is quite helpful.

As for business plan. I just got my business plan software off ebay today. As for financing, I got a little money that I can invest as well as my potential business partner. We will seek a business loan from our banks we do business at. as we do our research, we will determine whether we do a physical store or a website. personally, I would want to do both but we shall see. ive researched all the licensing that we will need in order to get this show on the road. the only roadblock now is getting a flawless business plan together and gain financing.


and yes, I would be interested in getting your spreadsheet from you when you find it , thanks

[timothymoore]

Not much has been done lately here. I have just acquired 250 PS1 video games and have close to 100 PS2 games in my inventory. I am wanting to get up to a 300 game inventory for those systems then acquire consoles and accessories for both platforms then I will likely expand to the Sega platforms and do the same for them.