Got a business idea I can't shake

I've been haunted by an idea that I can't shake. I'm in NO position to move on it, but I wanted to do the entrepreneur form of bench racing here and see what the hive thinks about it.
Indoor R/C car track. I used to go to one when I lived in SE Michigan. It was great. There was a small hobby shop up front (perfect! You breakify your car and walk 50' to buy the stuff to fix it). There was a room with benches for working on your car, I'd say enough space for 50-65 people easy. Then there was the carpeted track. I'm guessing 100'X75'??? The track was laid out using 2X4s with bumpers so as not to destroy the cars. This method allowed the track to be reconfigured easily.
The place had a racing league and the warehouse was vented so he could even run gas cars with the door closed. It was great. He charged $6 to enter, and you could play all day for that much. I dont know how the racing leagues were handled. He provided the transponders and related stuff.
I really, really liked going there. Here's my additional thoughts. Build a off-road track outside do increase your customer base seems pretty simple. But, with what's going on today, you could have designated days that are for indoor drone racing! Hang foam hoops from the ceiling to create 'gates'.
Doesn't seem like your daily overhead would be all that much. Am I missing something?

we have had a number of those come and go around here. Most lasted less than a year. I think it had a lot to do with where the locations of a building that big would be located and then factor in not many people seem to "play" like that around here anymore. When they first opened, they were all jammed, but it did not take long for the people to dwindle away.

Today: there is not even a hobby shop within an hour of here, and the closest one deals mostly in trains

Find a place with indoor sand valleyball or indoor soccer and try get a race league started there. Start the want for the business without buying any property. If you find its getting busy, then buy a spot, or your events will just dwindle and all youve lost is some depreciation on some of the equipment and the like.

The RC guys around here use big parking lots.

May be cheaper to do this outside, then erect a temporary shelter over it for the winter. Rent for a large building would be expensive.

In reply to Kramer:

+1

The issue is that you'll have a huge overhead in heating and cooling the space when it isn't used as many of your target audience will be in school or at work.

So evenings, weekends, summers and holiday periods will be your bread and butter, the rest of the time you'll be trying to drum up business and keep the lights on.

Brett_Murphy wrote: The RC guys around here use big parking lots.

I used to do that. It tears your car up something fierce! Next time you're walking an autocross course look at each bump, seam, and crack and pretend it's 10X bigger.

one benefit of doing it outdoors.. flood a section of the lot and do R/C iceracing!

DrBoost wrote: I used to go to one when I lived in SE Michigan.

When I used to live in SW Michigan, I went to Blockbuster Video a lot.

That doesn't mean it would be a good idea to open one now.

In reply to EvanR:

Ouch! Touché though. But ouch!

DrBoost wrote:

Brett_Murphy wrote: The RC guys around here use big parking lots.

I used to do that. It tears your car up something fierce! Next time you're walking an autocross course look at each bump, seam, and crack and pretend it's 10X bigger.

I used to race electric 10th scale pan cars when I was younger. We raced outdoors in parking lots, worked fine with the foam tires we ran.

Courses were setup using 4" L material that was bolted together using bumper bolts and wing nuts, corners were usually bent pieces of steel flat stock covered with pool noodles. Sandbags or old tires were used to hold sections down. A set of portable bleachers were used in reverse as a driver's stand, but eventually it was modified to have a larger top step. If you weren't running you were watching, wrenching or working the course.

Cars got tore up more from crash damage or catching a corner of track material than from surface issues. The fiberglass and carbon fiber chassis worked as springs and soaked up a lot of punishment. Solid axle rear ends and short front control arms meant you didn't have a lot of leverage to rip things off (it still happened though). Bodies were tough and very flexible providing a bumper effect, especially when backed by foam and plastic.

Had some gas guys run with us too, their 2 speed cars were insane, plus they hurt when they came off the track and hit you in the shin (or the crotch).

That said, the cars are much faster today, the suspension tech is also much better.

There is a guy here with a massive slot car track, and a bunch of video game screens. It's always busy in there, but that doesn't mean he is making money. He does a lot of birthday parties.

There is an indoor dirt track grand blanc! Just off the highway on dort. 10$ run all day! And indoor carpet track up in bay city, for road cars. Also an indoor carpet off-road track out in Shelby, I think! Text me for more info! I think there is a market....

I am a big fan of the business plan. In preparation for doing one, I like to start by listing every single parasite that is going to be eating off my table. I call them parasites because it gives me a head start on hating every single one of them before I even start to deal with them. No need to put a cost to them right away, just a list of everyone you are going to hate six months after opening because they suck the life out of you.

Bank

landlord

accountant

Insurance

every trade that you use

county regulatory

employees

power company

phone company

internet provider

advertising people

holidays ( the worst, cause everyone eats for free but you)

your suppliers

your customers

your partners

tax collectors of any kind

inspectors you have never heard of

friends and family who want "A deal" cause you are of course getting rich

Parasites get to eat before you do. The cumulative amount they consume is going to exceed what you get to keep for yourself. A few of these parasites are like AIDS because even bankruptcy won't get you off the hook. (Taxes and wages owning and most likely the lease)

As an "owner manager" I like to put down 10% of the money that comes is as my paycheck. From there I back-fill the parasite cost and work out how much I am going to have to charge the customers to play so that we all eat.

The concept of a "small" business is pretty much dead in NA because much of the parasite load is fixed and unsustainable unless you launch a business with enough critical mass out the gate to survive the blood-sucking from your cash-flow. The parasites do however, still make a good living off the naive who keep trying.

And thanks to NoHome for today's inspirational message!

of course, I'm not saying you're wrong either...

DrBoost, message me and I'll pass along one that I'm trying to hatch with much larger potential, but the hurdles in terms of development and design are greater. It's a similar target market and the end product is related.

EvanR wrote:

DrBoost wrote: I used to go to one when I lived in SE Michigan.

When I used to live in SW Michigan, I went to Blockbuster Video a lot. That doesn't mean it would be a good idea to open one now.

That cracked me up. True statement, but made me laugh. Good point.

In reply to NOHOME:

My new business idea, become a parasite. Thank you

How about this, find a facility that would work that you could use like one day a week. For instance In my area there is a indoor go kart oval track that would be big enough to set up a course and the business is similar in nature. Talk to a place like that, see if you could make Tuesday night RC car night. You supply the necessary stuff to convert the track, they supply the building, split the take in a previously agreed upon proportions. Dump some money in targeted advertising to get the word out.

I have ideas like this, but rants like Nohome's in my own head always make it way unprofitable. Some people are still making money doing things, but I am not sure how.

In reply to DrBoost:

I'm not going to be the Debbie Downer some of the guys are being here. Yeah they're being realistic, but you said you are bench racing, so let's keep up the fun of the idea. I have an idea for a themed restaurant, but I have no experience in being a restaurant owner and no capital, so that idea is exactly that, an idea.

You definitely need a variety of tracks for sure. One of the types of tracks that seem to be popular are professional slot car tracks.

Yeah, it's not exactly RC, but it would bring a ton of business, especially if you have parts available for purchase. These tracks are still popular, but are slowly dying out, because most of them are in the back room of hobby shops that are barely staying in business, but with the idea of having a variety of tracks, that would be somewhat more successful than just a hobby shop.

Also, NOHOME was talking about parasites, but as in life there are also good parasites along with the bad. You'd be surprised how many people would volunteer their time to help manage the place to get some free track time, especially retirees that have nothing else better to do than relive their preteen years.

I have seen so many of these open and close quickly in the last 15 years between Tulsa/OKC/Stillwater, I can't imagine it being a solid business idea.......in any way, shape, or form.

I think the real money is in finding a way to make it a better spectator sport. Nevada might be an interesting place for such a business, so that spectators could gamble on the races.

My friends dad just sold out after 17 years of running/owning an indoor rc car track. Car counts were up but the costs of the track and building were also going up. Seemed like alot of work for very little profit.

z31maniac wrote: I have seen so many of these open and close quickly in the last 15 years between Tulsa/OKC/Stillwater, I can't imagine it being a solid business idea.......in any way, shape, or form.

The only way I can think of it working is as a bar. It has to serve alcohol.