Bones25

I know alot of you guys are proud owners of archery shops or have been in the past, and this is why I come to you.

I recently moved from the Twin Cities in MN to Lincoln NE, and once I got down here I found that Lincoln has very little for archery shops. In fact the only shop they have is in Scheels, which I had never heard of until I moved here. I have used Scheels for some work needing to be done on my bow and found that they did pretty good work, but I miss walking into a shop talking hunting and knowing everybody by thier first name. Another thing that Lincoln is missing is a public shooting range in town. The nearest one is about 30 miles away and is nice but a little far. We do have a private club in town but I heard the membership is going up to $150 per year.

Since I have started working down here I have heard many people say they would pick up a bow or start bow hunting if they had a shop to get stuff worked on and a place to shoot.

My thought is that possibly I would open something up in my basement, maybe not a full fledge shop open 9-9pm but something where guys and gals could come ask questuions get help and shoot also. I have seen a few shops in the past do the same thing in maybe a garage or a basement and it seems to work just fine. Then as things grew maybe open a fulltime shop, but for now I enjoy what I do and make a descent living doing it.

So to end this I' m asking if any one has thoughts, ideas or tips for such a shop.

I have been shooting and working on a bow of my own for about 19 years and over the past 2 years really developed the knowledge of making an arrow fly straight. I have mostly learned these things from reading and asking questions on this forum. Thanks to all of you.

I would just like to see others get involved in our sport but won' t becuase of the reasons mentioned above.

Huntm Up

If you feel like you can make it than, why the hell not! This is something you have a passion about (as we all do) and if you have the time and the knowledge to do so i say do it. Just let me know cause if i am ever out that way, i might look you up so i have an excuse to play with my bow.

xibowhunter

hey bones you should go for it , we have alot of those home shops around here , but the garage would be better than the basement ,this way you don' t have people going thru you house all the time!

Urban_Redneck

Get insurance and go for it!

When I lived in NH a neighbor built a small gunshop in his barn. He was open a couple evenings and Saturdays and had a nice little business. What was real nice was he' d order anything you needed, priced it fairly, and put the profits back into the shop.

UR

da hunting ace

why' d you have to move from MN? Any way i say go for it... and about scheels the only reason you' ve never heard of them is because you used to live in the land of poor sporting goods stores. In Scheels you can actually pick things up off the shelf in our Gander Mountains you got to ask the jail keeper if he could take the thing out of the high security prison behind the shelf.

muzzyman88

Buddy, I commend you if you do!! Who knows, you may find yourself with a full fledged business in a few years and doing what you love. Thats what its all about. Thats basically how my local shop got started. I guy doing what he loved most. His work and expretise reflect that.

I would love to have that opportunity some day. ....Maybe!

If you give it whirl, I wish the best of luck to you!

Deleted User

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Jeepnut

Sounds like you have the archery knowledge to make it work. If you need any help from a business standpoint I would recommend contacting your local chamber of commerce. They usually have a small business director that can help you make sure you' ve filled out all of the required paperwork before you get started. They can also help point you in the right direction for financing, business plannning, legal advice, etc. The best part is that advice from the chamber is free because your tax dollors have already paid for it.

Rangeball

Jeep, as President of our local chamber of commerce, I have to point out that this statement is incorrect.

Chambers of Commerce are individual not for profit entities formed in each town or city they exist in. Their only funding source is dues from members choosing to join or fundraising efforts they undertake. Our local Chamber continually struggles with our budget, so believe me I WISH what you said was correct, but unfortunately it' s not.

With that said, we do however know exactly where to go to get the advice and helped you mentioned that IS provided by a governmental entity paid for with tax dollars that is " free" to the consumer

Jeepnut

Well, maybe I was a little misinformed. Our local Small Business Development Center works in partnership with the US Small Business Administration and the Ohio Department of Development. I guess that' s why I assumed they would receive tax dollor assistance.

But the chamber does still offer many great services regardless of how they are funded. My wife serves on several committees for our local chamber so I' ve been to my fair share of fund raising dinners. I guess I should' ve made that connection.

When I was about to be laid off from my last job a couple months ago, I attended a small business start-up workshop at our local chamber. I hadn' t found another job yet & was looking at any possible option. Luckily, I' ve since found other employment at a much better company. However, the info I received from that workshop was excellent. It will definitely prove helpful should I ever decided to open my own business.

But my original point is that if you' re looking to start an archery shop, no matter how big or small, you may want to check out the local chamber of commerce because they may be able to provide you with some very valuable information and services. And after they help you get your business started be sure to become a member because they can continue to offer many great services for you.