Indoor Paintball Arena Business Idea

[aje963]

For awhile now I've been thinking about various business ideas that would appeal to people during the long winter months here in western Wisconsin. I currently live in Eau Claire and have always been an avid paintballer. One thing I believe that our community could use and benefit from is an indoor paintball arena that would be open year-round and would give other players a place to play during winter when paintball doesn't work the best in cold weather.
My idea is fairly simple. Either I would rent or buy an empty warehouse/vacant building and obviously construct a course out of inflatable or plywood type bunkers. The material and labor costs would be pretty high and the construction time may be long, but after they were built there would be few costs to keep them maintained, apart from course renovations. Of course there are other expenses, such as rental paintball guns, balls, Co2/Nitrogen, tanks, hoppers, advertising, operating costs of the building/insurance, labor costs and many more.
For my town and the surrounding area I believe this indoor paintball arena would be a big hit, especially when paintball is becoming more and more popular these days.
If anyone has any input or knowledge about starting a business like this I would love to hear about it. Thanks.
-Adam

[chem]

I'd check into the insurance soon as possible. I bet it's quite high.

I know paintball is safe but try convining an insurance company.

[4-Knots]

Huge set up costs I'd imagine. How much do you have to invest?

[simplegreen]

floor maintainence. Something no one really thinks about for indoor. You'd pretty much HAVE to have somthing in place other than the hard concrete floor.

The indoor arena i used to play in was filled with beach sand good idea in theory but was just a mess. the only pros. were the face that it was moldable cover. If you were in a tight space you could mold the sand around to cover your body.

but the cons were many. 1) costly 2) messy as shit for the player, not only from the sand all over your body but think about the millions of split balls and paint mixed in with the sand. 3) getting it in there 4) getting it out if you dont make it etc.

I wish there were indoor places around me that werent all speedball courses. I hate speedball im an avid player too but i prefer to get all decked out in camo, sit in a tree and snipe

[Lex]

I play paintball in the winter here in the UK hell even in the Summer when it rains non stop. I think outdoors is the way to go.


I think my aim is second to none in paintball i can shoot the nob off a humming bird at 40ft.

[dre]

I think outdoors is the way to go.

That is what I was thinking. I am in Wisconsin too, the Winters here are not that bad.

[(sha)]

i like your idea. my bro wants to do something like that. he says there are lots of indoor places. your right, it would be a big hit. i dont know anything about starting one though, sorry. but good luck!

[Morpheus]

I know of a place that's indoor airsoft arena, huge warehouse, I'll try and find the link.

[Morpheus]

Here it is, check it: http://www.abqairsoft.com/Facility.html

[riscphree]

Man, whoever was thinking of using sand for a speedball course is insane. Ever hear of turf?

I know many paintball suppliers have affordable rental gear kits in the few thousand dollar range. But I'd have to agree, you will need a nice amount of money to start off with.

[nelsen3000]

i like the idea give me details

[E320]

As also a paintball lover I might add that maybe everything could be made not of dull and sterill plywood, but different more realistic areas, where people would like to play. Just from top of my head, an old cemetery for example, a street and a few abandoned wild west houses, some kind of surreal 3 dimensional area with bunkers, trees ( plywood, camo nets ), sort of tree houses, etc, etc, etc.

[StockTrading101]

Equipment wise you are looking at $5,000+ easy just to get started. You would need 20 - 40 guns (most likely tippman 98s or something that is durable and will last), CO2 tanks, hoppers, masks, etc. You will need a CO2 refill station inside your rental place, along with about 30-50 2,000 round cases of paint at any given time that people can buy (almost all indoor places require you to buy their paint). Then having all the little things like barrel plugs, gloves, grenades, etc. that people can rent or buy would add up.

Other major cost to consider (not taking into account the facility, refs, upkeep, management, etc.) is marketing. No players = no money.

Just throwing some things to think about out in the open. Obviously it can work because there are many indoor places throughout the US, so I wish ya good luck with that! Lemme know once ya open up, if I am ever in Wisconsin I'd love to support the cause and get a few sessions in.

[xjfiremedic]

1. Find out how many people in your community play paintball already, and how many would be interested in playing.

2. Be prepared for some big liability expenses.

3. Alot of the most succesful paintball arenas I have ever been too always seem to combine the actual arena with a pro-shop. Just something to keep in mind. I think many of them help offset the slow times of year by supplementing with retail sales.

[chopper]

A decent indoor paintball arena, you will need sup'air bunkers. For a set of sup'air bunkers for two, seven man teams will cost you thousands.
But you can make money on selling paintballs, when people run out and they need paint, they will have no choice but to pay a little extra for them.