1. I want a place to go to where I can be around geeks with common interest and who encourage my hobby.
2. I want to MAKE a place where other geeks can come and hang out and maybe I can be somewhat profitable.
3. I want to be the one who accomplishes all the above.
Fact of the matter is, it's hard to start a business under any circumstances. More importantly, if you don't get a loan to do it, and you don't have a lot of money to start it up out of pocket, people are going to shoot it down, and question your ability to actually make it a workable idea.
I'm doing it anyway. I figure, "What the heck, if I fail, it's a short failure among many." Because in the big picture, I don't have a lot of money to get it going, so if it flops, it flops, but I didn't lose much because I didn't have much and I can finally say I did one of the many things on my bucket list which was to start a brick and mortar nerd haven. Ultimately, the vision is to have several TVs and several video game consoles lined up and down the wall for console players to "pay to play". That's pure marginal profit once you get the actual stuff set up. But it's not just for electronic gamers. We're also targeting strategy card game players and board game players. The name of the store is going to be "Truehideaway Family & Gaming Lounge".
Naturally, anyone who knows anything about the business industry is going to be pretty pessimistic about getting a business going under these circumstances. Understandably so. One of the biggest downfalls in people trying to start a business is that they try to start it with too little money. My parents don't want me living with them permanently which raises another obstacle. I'm going to be spending a lot of evenings with my head on the desk as my pillow until I can get my business going full throttle. I'm also keeping my current job as a Verizon wireless indirect agent but I'm dropping down to part time. Everyone who knows me has been pretty supportive regardless. "Robinson needs a place that is well-kept and where anyone can go." "If anyone can do it, you can, Shawn." "You've always had a keen eye for business." was some of the more positive feedback I got. Some of the more grounding feedback was, "Do you think something like this will fly? It's a good idea, but it's a small town." "Do you think it's wise to invest in something with not much money?" "You're forfeiting your position at Verizon for this?"
It's time to sink or swim.
So about a week and a half ago, I moved out of my apartment, and back with my parents to save money to put towards inventory and deposits and what-not.
I went into this entire project with about $800. Which is not a lot at all. A forum called GameTZ has been my greatest resource. I've been able to get games for bargain deals, and financially a couple users have been generous enough to loan me some cash.
Then on January, 10th I actually made the deposit on the building. Because there was a lot of stuff that the landlord needs to move out still, all I had to do was make the deposit. I don't actually have to make the first month's rent til February 1st. By Thursday, the electricity and gas was on. The utility bill concerns me a bit. It was an average of $325 a month from the previous tenant. Mind you, the previous tenant wasn't running consoles and TVs like I will be. The monthly rent is $450 a month with a prime location on the local square. For those who aren't familiar with Robinson, IL, it's in the heart of the town, dead center, with great parking. So really, I couldn't ask for a better price. As far as our audience, the town itself peaks a population of around 7,000 people and draws from about 3 or 4 smaller towns that border it with average population of 2,000 people give or take.
Fortunately, the building already had a lot of tables we could use. My friends here locally have all been very helpful and supportive, especially with me not having a car.
I aim to open up in mid-February. My hours for the shop will officially be 3pm to 11pm starting out at least. To help make up some more money, I'll continue to do run my Shawn Mitchell Solutions project which is a web design service I offer. Conveniently, now I will at least have an area where I can set up meetings with my clients and they can come to my shop to sit down and talk about options and what they need from me. Web design is a huge market, but requires a lot of networking. While I have a lot of talent in the subject, I don't have too much clientele right now, or the time to invest in networking. But I may have to find time.
Anyway. That's it for this blog entry. Tomorrow, I'm going to be go into more depth in regards to the actual business plan. What are the plans and what kind of pace do I have set for myself? People have been questioning how in depth I've thought this through. Have I itemized things? Will I legitimately be ready by mid-Feb? Where am I going to actually live when my parents kick me out? God, it sucks being 24.
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