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A buddy and I have been methodically preparing for launching a small business. We have built out our expectations, strengths, weaknesses, skill sets etc... to form the basis before starting to run concepts through the hopper. We are now at a point where we are evaluating different business ideas in a methodical manner beginning with whether we can be fully invested in the subject matter or idea.
We've come up with an idea that we both believe we would enjoy and that scores around a 71% in our "viability hopper"...mostly because of the fact that it is retail so the score on overhead and startup costs are a little lower than say a home web design business.
I wanted to see what you thought as other business owners and also as consumers.
It would start as a small retail store front. We would sell survival/preparation gear specifically for "doomsday" preparation (a departure from hiking or sporting goods). Things like bulk storable food, MREs, water purification systems, multi-tools, knives, archivable plant seeds, tactical gear, ammunition, ammo reloading, etc... We also have some ideas for some products that we could have manufactured or simply re-badged and re-purposed plus partnership ideas for added services (bomb shelters, gunsmithing, etc...) but I'd like to keep those relatively on the downlow. The eventual evolution would be online sales and then FFL for firearms sales, but since that requires a storefront these days, we would get it going with the prep stuff and then use the firearms to draw in more customers and make money on selling trade-ins.
My questions: as a consumer, would you consider buying such products given the state of the country's debt and the growing popularity of emergency prep?
As a business owner, do you think this is a viable concept? In terms of competition, there aren't really any one stop shops like these around here with the exception of one maybe 30miles from the area we are considering.
I'd research whether there is enough of a market within reach of such a targeted retail operation. I would think the survival market is more suited for online business.
There is a store similar to what you describe near me and they seem to be doing a lot of business. The funny thing is it is located 45 miles south of Nashville off of I-24 and the nearest populated area is 12 miles north of them with around 100,000 people. You would not think they would be as busy as they are....
I think you could get a good idea of what they are doing by visiting their wen site. I am not going to post the link but google "The outpost armory" in Tennessee.
I think the Key tho their traffic is that they carry a large assortment of assault rifles, Military rifles, combat shotguns and sniper rifles. These toys drive traffic without any doubt and once you get people in the store you can sell them on other products.
Now as a disclaimer there is some connection to Barrett firearms as the factory is right next door to the store. I do not know what level of involvement Barrett has with the store but the store does stock a lot of Barrett firearms.
If I were going to do a retail survival store I would make sure I had an FFL and that I stocked a large assortment of military style weapons, magazine, ammo, reloading gear, "tacticool" military gear, maybe even body armor . This stuff would draw people into the store.
I would also carry long term storage food, first aid gear (even some advanced first aid) and really think about alternative energy supplies.
I would say the peak of the "doomsday is imminent" crisis is behind us, so the timing may not be great. I'm not saying there aren't a lot of people who continue to believe it, but the peak is behind. Especially among mainstream consumers. And the thing is, those who firmly believe in such doomsday scenarios, and who have been promoting them for a while, are probably already stocked and loaded. There are too many others who have already been milking this cow enough so that there's isn't much left, especially considering the target audience is not big.
I honestly think focusing on sports, camping, survival in the outdoors, etc gives you a much larger target audience, even though there is also a ton of competition there (but those stores would be competing against you anyway).
But isn't that the wonderful thing about the Internet? Anyone can start up a online store/business with minimal expenses...for as long as there is no doomsday.
I don't know where you're located but if you are in rural/red parts of the US I agree with others who say include firearms/ammo in your sales if possible. I know the store Wartrace was talking about and it is always extremely busy (but so are all gun stores - and pawn shops that sell firearms in this region).
One stop shopping sounds great and convenient but ultimately for me it would depend on the price of your gear. There are plenty of camping/outdoor/army surplus stores, and chains like Wal-mart offer a decent selection of the same kind of equipment. I would make a couple of trips to a couple of stores if need be to get decent gear at decent prices.
Re: the whole doomsday thing. There is a whole market for "end of the world" scenarios but I wouldn't market solely to those folks. There are plenty of more likely scenarios where food delivery services/hospitals/police services could be compromised (think Katrina or the tornados that hit down south last year). Many people only in the last few years have lived through such events and were not prepared for the service disuptions that followed.
We were thinking of firearm sales to spur traffic but after doing a lot of research, that is going to add a whole different element of costs and compliance to our effort. This one isn't dead yet but we'll keep on thinking. We talked about online, but that is a pretty competitive space so I don't see how we would be able to enter the market and compete, especially on price. Locally there is little to no competition for such a store but you are right that it would compete with online as well but then again what local retail doesn't compete with online? Maybe retail should be crossed off our list.
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