Starting My Own Hobby Store!

[Lemming]

28yoKid - just seen your forum signature, if I have understood it correctly sorry to hear it didn't work out. [Your website still seems operational?]

That is a real shame. Been watching this with interest and really hoped you would have some luck getting it going.

Just curious as to what happened... I thought you were getting some stock in - did that fall through?

All the very best

Steve

[loaded]

28yoKid,

What happens when you turn 29?

:-)

P.

[28yoKid]

Hi All,

I would like to update on my store. Unfortunately I have to report that I have not been successful in getting it off the ground. My main reasons for failure were:

1) Undercapitalisation ie. not enough to commit to fast delivery times and competitive pricing (via buying in volume). Although I carried a small inventory, I did not have enough cars or volume to be competitive. I think this nut can be cracked, but you would need 000's of stock to commit and a very long term view.

2) Lack of fwd planning, I am ashamed to say that I did not plan this business very carefully. I assumed that if I buy at a wholesale price and sell at a retail price, I can make a margin. This is not necessarily the case. The market is so price competitive that any retailers need to be selling in volume to make money.

The experience has been fun though! I have learned search engine optimization, (type 'radio controlled tamiya' into yahoo, Ranking No 1!, 18th in google), and have got my RC bits at cost for a while too

If I had more , I think I could have succeeded, however, with the long timescales for seeing a return on my investment, I have chosen to close.

I still love Tamiya and am enjoying running and building them too. I also have no regrets as it has been a really interesting and fun experience. Just got to try and hide the remaining stock from the wife!

As a side point, the website is for sale + 1 month support from developer included, it can be used to sell anything of course, pm me if interested.

Cheers

28YOK

[loaded]

I think major Kudos is due for making your words into action, so few people actually carry out what they intend, for so many different reasons.

Are you sure you can't make it work? Need some investment?

P.

[hedge]

Business is tough very few work out first time, sit back have a beer and go for it again. You have the entrepreneurial sprit use it.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/interstitial/default.html

Paul

[terry.sc]

Sorry it didn't work out for you.

The market is so price competitive that any retailers need to be selling in volume to make money.

That's where bricks and mortar shops have one advantage, there's passing trade that doesn't search the internet for cheapest prices. Unfortunately it also means much greater costs in servicing a retail store and the cost of filling it. Recently my small local shop closed (the owner retired) and was looking to sell the stock he had left at cost, even after the closing down sale he still had over 20,000 of stock to dispose of. It's the initial investment, then the time it takes to turn it into a profit while still having to continually invest in the business, that kills most businesses in the early years.

The experience has been fun though! I have learned search engine optimization, (type 'radio controlled tamiya' into yahoo, Ranking No 1!, 18th in google), and have got my RC bits at cost for a while too

Well, there's another business opportunity!

[loaded]

You are more like 8th in Google, which makes it to the front page.

P.

[28yoKid]

Dear all, thanks for the supportive replies! I have a long list of 'projects' behind me that haven't come off, but I will always try another bright idea...

I guess the timing is a bit wrong for me as we have our 1st baby coming in June, so although we could have raised the extra investment, it is more a time for saving! In the meantime I am going for a better job to get the pennies in, and once the baby dust has settled I may try something else.

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[28yoKid]

If anyone wants to buy the site from me I can offer it with 1 months free support from the developer and from myself to help you understand how the site works!

It can be used for selling any type of product on the internet.

www.rcmonster.co.uk

also it is pretty easy to use to.

28