All Serious Entrepreneurs: Listen Up

**yungentrepreneur** · 04-21-2006 11:43 PM

Im Looking To Open A Pool Hall. Though Im Young, I Feel That My Drive And Knowledge About This Business Is Very High. If You Have Rich Parents With Good Credit, Lets Do Business. Also, If You Know Anything About Angel Investors, Give Me The Feed Back.

**akula** · 04-22-2006 01:18 AM

Originally Posted by yungentrepreneur

Im Looking To Open A Pool Hall. Though Im Young, I Feel That My Drive And Knowledge About This Business Is Very High. If You Have Rich Parents With Good Credit, Lets Do Business. Also, If You Know Anything About Angel Investors, Give Me The Feed Back.

that's great. sounds very exciting. you might be ready for success. have you had many failures?

here's the feedback you asked for:

recruitment: Doesn't work well on forums. To achieve best results, open yellow pages, get list of pool halls, call the managers, ask for an appointment, do you pitch, ask them if they know anybody who wants to get this off the ground. You'll be introduced to a bunch of people, and you'll have developed a network of contacts you can draw on for resources...particularly funding, because investing in a new pool hall is a tax deduction for pool hall owners. they can either give the money to you, or give it to the government. with you, they'll at least get a thank you.

as a rule of thumb, with this approach, your recruitment results will be much better compared to what you are currently doing.

the point: call up a pool hall and say, "I have a way for you to pay less tax". That'll get anybody's attention.

angels: Yes, you can ask me questions about angel investors. I've worked with a few personally, I've done my own angel investments and I've participated in academic studies which explore who the angels are, how to find them, how to pitch them and how to work with them.

again, as in recruitment, there are things you can and can't do to maximise/minimise your chances of success.

finally: you ought to probably ask, "what can I do to recruit A players and suitable angels for my venture?", and you'll get an answer.

**F360** · 04-22-2006 08:51 PM

Originally Posted by yungentrepreneur

Im Looking To Open A Pool Hall. Though Im Young, I Feel That My Drive And Knowledge About This Business Is Very High. If You Have Rich Parents With Good Credit, Lets Do Business. Also, If You Know Anything About Angel Investors, Give Me The Feed Back.

Firstly, not every word needs a capital letter

Secondly, im not sure a pool hall would be very profitable. Ive crushed the figures on it and threw the idea away. Here is a quick example of what I mean:

Lets say you charge $10 per hour to have a table, and assume each person buys a $2 drink (which is $1 profit for you) So all up per hour, per table you will make $12.

Now assume you are open 6 days a week, with most of your money made friday and saturday night. You have 20 tables. When you are open, your will normally have 6 tables in use (on average). Lets also assume your business hours are noon to midnight, or 12 hours 6 days a week.

That results in income of $864 per day, or $5184 a week. Now take away $1400 for salaries ($700 per week for 2 employee's) leaves you $3784. Now subtract rent, power, repairs etc and your left with about $2000 profit per week.

Now it would take 45 weeks just to pay for all your pool tables, plus another 15 or so to pay for setting up the location. Thats 15 months before a profit.

Also,if your offering alcohol, thats alot money to get a licence.

Woops I made that a bit long - all figures based on NZ prices/conditions.
Short answer - No.

But I get the feeling you might be 16 - 19 years old and just want a small location with 2 or 3 tables. If so, pretend you never read this

Later,
F360

**turbooo** · 04-22-2006 10:41 PM

F360 id have to disagree with you on somethings. putting aside estimates, the potential for any business has really no limit imo. i personally know a buddy of mine who owns and manages a pool hall in las vegas and does great. the pool tables themselves seem to bring the players in but small adds to the pool hall seem to bring in most of the money.

example: most pool halls do not allow outside food or drink contents, hence drinks can be a bit over charged and players will buy them. if the pool hall does not start off with an alcohol beverage license the targeting crowd should be younger so adds like arcade machines maybe just 2 or 3 can also bring in a good amount (many arcade vendors will actually place the machine in a location for free and split profits!) another great money farming technique is from music juke boxes, start by playing 2 or 3 songs for free but have them stop at some point, the crowd will all notice and someone will eventually feed the juke box with money.

my 2 cents on the idea... -turbo.

**F360** · 04-22-2006 11:13 PM

Good points there turbom I never thought of jukeboxes and/or arcade games - mainly because this is not what I have seen here in New Zealand.

Could you please explain this? the pool tables themselves seem to bring the players in but small adds to the pool hall seem to bring in most of the money..

Yes I agree every business has potential, but I would think there are more profitable ones than a pool hall, although I could be wrong (and it sounds like I am

)

**turbooo** · 04-22-2006 11:34 PM

The pool tables are what brings the first time visitors along with repeat visitors in but i meant "small adds" as in minor additions to the pool hall such as music juke boxes, arcades, maybe a room sectioned off with its own private room for private held parties or birthdays etc., high-end professional pool cues (pool sticks) for rentals to drive in the more experienced players... these are just some examples my buddy in las vegas has done. a ladies night (ladies playing for free) not only brings the ladies in but also massive guys! i meant these as small adds that seem to drive massive amounts of customers inside and have them continue to come back. =D

again this is just my 2 cents on the topic. =D

**F360** · 04-23-2006 12:18 AM

Good points, thanks.

It was a good 2cents worth

**yungentrepreneur** · 04-23-2006 10:03 AM

turbo, where are u located? i would love to have a chat with u, i mean, u seem to know alot about this stuff. the main prob that im having is funding. by the way, im 20 years old. and f360, i respect ur opinions, but remember, this is the US. it different from nz...

**Franakapan** · 04-23-2006 10:39 AM

I assume that you would be thinking of running pool tournaments as well as normal, everyday pool? (Charging a fee for entry etc.) Might be good for local newspaper coverage?

**yungentrepreneur** · 04-23-2006 10:50 AM

Yeah, someone had mentioned that on slow days (usually mondays, tuesdays, and wednesdays) schedule tournaments, happy hour, and ladies nights. You know, things and events that'll bring in the crowd. I agree. What do you think?

**Franakapan** · 04-23-2006 11:06 AM

If I was going to start a pool hall, tournaments would feature in some way. I'm not sure whether simply running tournaments and taking a profit from the players would bring high financial returns... Some sort of strategy to get the players to spend more money on the tournie night, or getting people in to watch the games, might result in better profits.

Another idea - as well as the pool hall, how about getting bands to play in a separate area to the pool tables to bring in people who pay for drinks etc.

Just to let you know, I have no experience in running pool halls or bars... These are just some ideas I though of and I wouldn't be sure as to whether they are feasible or not

**yungentrepreneur** · 04-23-2006 11:34 AM

i totally agree. and your points are great. bands would bring in more income. in addition, do you think if i rented the spot out for private pool parties that it'll bring in more income? keep the comments and suggestions flowing!

**Franakapan** · 04-24-2006 02:36 AM

Yeah, renting out tables for private pool parties is definately something to consider! Would you rent out tables from the main pool hall or from separate rooms with just one or two (or however many) tables in? I wouldn't know if there would be much of an advantage either way...

Advanced booking is definately something you should look into as it would bring in some extra money per table in the form of a booking fee.

I'm at school at the mo so when I get home I might have some more ideas when I've thought about it

**Franakapan** · 04-24-2006 04:32 AM

http://www.restaurant.org/rusa/magAr...?ArticleID=428

Might be of interest to you, mentions some things that you could incorporate into your pool hall

Another bit of advice, visit some pool halls and see if you can talk to owners about running a pool hall. (Might want to visit some away from your immediate location as they might be a bit hostile if you are setting up in competition

)

Some questions you might want ask will probably stem from the link above...

**Wowzerz** · 04-24-2006 11:03 AM

BTW - good luck having 2 employees at a pool hall. They always end up being ghetto with a lot of the "trouble crowd" and you'll need a security staff. It's a good idea, but it needs to stay an idea. All the pool halls (and there have been MANY) in my town are dead, they don't last 3 months.