Business Overview:

If you’re a golf enthusiast wishing you could do what you love while being your own boss, you should learn how to start a golf driving range business. Imagine spending your workday playing golf. It’s a dream come true, right? Before you quit your job and pick up your clubs, however, you need to have a solid golf driving range business plan. As you know if you’ve ever been to a driving range, this is not a small business, geographically. Starting a golf driving range requires a lot of land so you will likely need to secure a sizeable loan to make this purchase. Depending on your area, a large piece of land suitable for a driving range may be difficult to find. You will need to outline these challenges and how you plan to address them in your business plan. You should also do some research to see if any driving ranges are for sale in your area. Revamping an already-built range could be much easier than starting one from scratch. However, there isn’t a driving range on every corner so there likely won’t be one for sale that you can grab up. When doing your research into how to start a golf driving range, you’ll need to figure out how to price your services to attract customers and what layouts work best for organizing your range. Marketing your range to set it apart from any competition will be very important so you may want to set up grand opening promotions to attract new customers. Distribute business cards to every golf shop in town and spread the word to all your golf buddies every time you play. You will need to purchase equipment, so finding out where to get golf supplies at wholesale will be important. Finally you’ll need to hire a staff to work for you. Check local high schools and colleges with golf programs who might work with you to hire their students. You will definitely want to hire people with more than a casual knowledge of golf. You could let them use the range for free in exchange for paying them minimum wage. Once everything is in place and you open your doors, this business idea will give you the opportunity to live your dream and spend your days doing what you love.

A Day in the Life of a Golf Driving Range Business Owner:

You will start your day assigning tasks to your employees (stocking ball machines, arranging ball buckets, cleaning the driving areas, etc.). Then you will make a walk through the range to see that everything is in order. You will spend some time marketing your business to other local golf establishments (equipment retailers, golf courses without a driving range of their own, etc.) and placing advertisements online and in local magazines. You will spend a portion of your day visiting with customers and making sure they are enjoying their experience. Finally, you will record the day’s earnings and make sure your finances are on track.

About Your Customers:

Your customers will be golfers at every experience level looking for a top notch driving range on which to practice their skills.

What You Need to Start:

• Business plan
• Land
• License and permit
• Insurance
• Equipment (bags, balls, clubs, buckets, etc.)
• Staff
• Vending machines (or food service if you offer a menu)
• Lawn maintenance
• Cart to gather balls
• Ball distributor machines

The Good:

• For a golf lover, nothing is better than spending your days around golf.
• Once the business gets up and running, it is easy to maintain.
• You should be able to hire workers for minimum wage.
• You don’t have to spend your days in an office.
• You can take time off when you want once your business is well established.

The Bad:

• Golf is seasonal so your profits might go down in the colder months, depending on where you live.
• This can be an expensive business to get up and running.

Resources:

• Golf Range Association of America
• PGA
• USGA
• Wikipedia on Driving Ranges

Technorati Tags: golf driving range business plan, how to start a driving range, how to start a golf driving range, starting a golf driving range

Business Overview:

If you have a passion for parties and event planning and are looking for a new business idea, you should look into starting a casino party business. People are always looking for a new and unique party idea and a casino party is just the ticket. From birthdays and retirement affairs to bachelor parties and office soirees, a casino atmosphere will put your guests in the ultimate party mood. Dice, cards, chips and roulette wheels can pave the way to your financial freedom. A casino business is inexpensive to start and, once you get the word out, your schedule will fill up quickly. A business plan and a marketing plan will be your most valuable tools when starting this business. All the equipment you need is available for you to rent and you can pass the rental costs onto your customers. Essentially your business will plan the event and supply all the casino equipment. You can easily advertise your business in local entertainment magazines and with fliers placed in party supply stores. Perhaps the most time consuming part of starting the business will be hiring employees. Depending on the size of the parties you will offer, you could need as many as a dozen or more people to man the tables, set up and take down the equipment and manage the chips. Most casino parties do not deal in cash for chips but rather coupons or other charity related compensation. It’s not a small operation but it is manageable with a plan and excellent organization skills. Once you have a few parties under your belt, your casino party business will take off and all your weekends will be booked.

A Day in the Life of a Casino Party Business Owner:

Your day will begin with a check of your schedule. If you have a party planned that day, you will arrange for pickup of your casino supplies and make sure your staff is at the party venue on time. You will meet with your clients before the party to make sure everything is set up correctly. During the party, you will keep an eye on the tables and handle any problems that arise. After the party ends, you will make sure all chips and equipment are accounted for and returned to the rental store. You will also need to collect payment, deposit it and record it in your finance software. On days you don’t have parties, you will spend your day making contact with local businesses, letting them know about your services. You will distribute fliers and form new relationships with party supply and rental stores.

About Your Customers:

Your customers will be individuals wanting to throw an exciting party for a friend, loved one or office staff.

What You Need to Start:

• Business plan
• Marketing plan
• Relationship with party rental stores
• Staff
• Truck to transport equipment
• Computer with finance software

The Good:

• Casino parties are in high demand.
• You can run this business part time and from home.
• Once you have a few parties, you will get referral business.
• This business is inexpensive to start up.
• You can charge top dollar for quality casino parties.

The Bad:

• You will likely be very busy on weekends and at night.
• It could take some time to get the word out about your new company.

Resources:

• National Association of Casino Party Operators
• Event Planners Association
• American Gaming Association
• Wikipedia on Gambling

Technorati Tags: casino party business

Business Overview:

If you’re looking for a way to turn your love of anime into a profitable venture, you should consider an anime business. If you are a fan of the anime genre, you are well aware a huge market exists that is constantly searching for more and more anime. In case you are not an anime aficionado, anime is a style of animation made popular in Japan. It has a look and feel that sets it apart from any other type of animation. Most of the characters have large eyes and exaggerated facial expressions. Anime sites have an enormous following. A Google search for “anime” will turn up millions of results. This is why starting an anime business is a great way to turn a hobby into an online business idea and ulitmately into a lucrative business enterprise. The start up investment is low and you don’t even need to have any website experience to create a site and populate it with content. Add some promotional items and advertisements to bring in revenue and soon you will have an anime website business that makes money all on its own. As you learn to market your site you can drive more traffic and increase the revenue. This is a terrific time to put this business idea into practice and share in the profits of anime’s popularity.

A Day in the Life of an Anime Business Owner:

If your site is under construction, you will want to spend some time working on it. After it’s up and running, you will need to concentrate your efforts on populating it with content (videos, downloads, etc.). You’ll want to spend a few minutes each day moderating your website forums and posting comments where necessary. Then you may want to spend some time marketing your site and contacting potential advertisers to try to line up new business. Finally, you’ll want to check your finances to track the revenue you are earning from your site.

About Your Customers:

Your customers will be fellow anime lovers interested in new and exciting anime content.

What You Need to Start:

• Love of anime
• Computer
• Website building software
• Animation software
• Marketing plan
• Finance software

The Good:

• If you love anime, this is a great way to spend your day doing something you enjoy.
• After your site is up and running, it requires very little maintenance.
• The overhead is very low.
• Advertising can bring in large revenues.
• This market is huge and does not seem to be slowing down.

The Bad:

• Getting your site up and running can take some time.
• It will take perseverance and marketing to get enough advertisers to turn a profit.

Resources:

• Yale Anime Society
• Harvard Anime Society
• Bureau of Labor Statistics on Computer Software Engineers and Computer Programmers
• Wikipedia on Anime

Technorati Tags: anime business, starting an anime business

Business Overview:

If you think playing video games is a blast, think about having the freedom to play any time: Owning an online video game store business can make that happen. The market for video games continues to grow, and with the advent of higher-tech games and consoles, the genre is reaching more and more players every year. Getting into the video game store business can be your ticket to doing something you love while earning good money for it. The best part is how simple this business idea really can be, though with so many companies selling games you will definitely want to have a solid video game store business plan mapped out before you invest your money. Your business plan should include how you will sell your merchandise—on your own website, on a site like eBay, or on both. You should also seriously consider where you will purchase your stock from as there are many wholesale suppliers and drop shippers out there. You should have a price plan in mind and a fair policy for returns. Most of all, you have to sell great games and products, but that’s the easy part. From there you can decide how much of the business you want to run, how much runs itself, and whether you want to hire employees and take your business to the next level. No matter how you play it, this online business idea can be as exciting as the games you sell.

A Day in the Life of an Online Video Game Store Business Owner:

An online business will require you to log on daily to keep up with your business. The first thing you will want to do is take care of any new orders that have been placed since the previous day. If you’re using a drop shipper, you’ll have to ensure they are trustworthy and get your orders shipped quickly. You will then want to scan your inventory to see if you need to place an order or take care of any issues. You will also want to decide if you’ll be adding any new products to your inventory—being on the cutting edge in the video game business is crucial to keeping your customers happy. Finally, you will want to track your finances and, if you’re following a solid business plan, watch your profits grow.

About Your Customers:

Your customers will be gamers looking to purchase a new game at a competitive price. They will want access to the newest games in a variety of console formats and they will want fast shipping. You might also get customers who are buying games as gifts for others. If a serious gamer is pleased with your online video game store, you can be sure when the next new thing hits the market they will buy from you, which is why it’s key that you maintain exceptional customer service.

What You Need to Start:

• A computer and a high-speed internet connection
• A seller’s page on a website like eBay or your own website
• Access to a trustworthy wholesaler and drop shipper
• Finance and sales-tracking software

The Good:

• If you love playing video games, this is a great business for you.
• Profits can be very good if the business is well-run.
• Initial investment can be minimal.
• You can operate a small business part-time or build your video game business to include employees.
• You never have to leave your house.

The Bad:

• You’ll be competing with the major retailers and with other online video game stores.
• When you expand your business and hire employees, oversight can be difficult because they will likely be working out of their own homes.

Resources:

• Entertainment Software Association
• National Video Game Association
• International Video Gamers Association
• Wikipedia on the Video Game Industry

Technorati Tags: online video game store, video game store business, video game store business plan