University Cinema

[Kaizen]

thanks mate!

[awayoflife]

You need to find an effective way of spreading the word also! You may need some others to help you manage it, especially if there are some drunks there. If all goes well and there is more of a demand then maybe you could get another lecture hall!?
Maybe charge 4 or 5 pounds or membership for the year at 3 pounds per week. So as to guarantee the cash flow?

[Kaizen]

Membership is a great idea, though perhaps monthly membership seems more sensible?

These guys are students after all and getting them to hand over more than a tenner isnt easy!

Great idea though, thanks very much. There are plenty of ways to tell people about it - student newspaper/radio/tv even. Then the standard posters and word of mouth (which is perhaps the best way)


K

[TylerBakerllc]

If it was me, I wouldn't take on a partner (in terms of them being entitled to 50% of the profits), for this type of venture. The profits will be too small, once split, to make it worth your time and resource investment.

If it will hurt you too bad to absorb a loss of 600 yourself, then consider finding someone to loan you the money and pay them interest (like a typical bank loan but from a relative or friend)... Or even get a partial loan of 200-300 to help minimize your exposure (we call it VAR, value at risk). Tell them you will pay them back in a week and give them 50-100 in interest for helping.

Just my thoughts, but the less ownership that you have to give up, the better you will be in the long run should things take off. Use the profit from your first showing to finance the next showing, and so on... I would consider selling water, soda, coffee, and small confectionery items to help offset costs as well.

Take care! -Tyler

[Kaizen]

Haha, I had an idea about confectionary.

The other day I bought my 12 year old sister three 27p bars of sainsbury's own brand chocolate and told her I used to do the same and sell them at school. She got £2 EACH for them! We re-invested her profits and I think she has made about £25 now.

To a 12 year old thats some serious money to make in a few hours!

I figured I could do something simmilar at this cinema thing. Water is a very good idea though because its another high markup - as it popcorn. Not sure if I can be bothered with the logistics of coffee however. Good ideas though mate thanks!


K

[awayoflife]

I agree with Tyler, it would be best for you to fully own it and maybe employ someone to make sure things dont get out of hand! I agree for all the reasons that he stated.

Yeah monthly membership sounds much better! I still think that you should be charging 4 or 5, preferably 5. With the membership you offer an incentive, a deal, because its cheaper. That is something that everyone is on the look out for nowadays! Especially students, even though is only 2 pounds!!
Maybe have a sign outside the lecture door or building with your cinema and whatever movie is showing and another one with advertising for some extra £££, although mightnt really work too well. Im sure you could find some way for nightclubs in the local area to sponsor your costs for some type of advertising. Maybe drinks in cups with their name on it etc. Any ideas on this?

[Kaizen]

I don't know how happy the university is going to be with the advertising issue - the union certainly hates the idea, as they compete with nightclubs for student money (there is a union club on campus). For that reason I've dealt with the university directly and I'm hoping it won't be a problem, though I'm anticipating a fight of sorts.

Thankfully I've done my homework - the university mission statement says quite a bit about promoting entrepreneurialism for the betterment of society, and I'm sure if it ever came to it I could argue that the union practices were anticompetitive (which they are - you arent allowed to mention other clubs in the area in the student newspaper - talk about freedom of speech!)

Financially, advertising sounds great - I could put "sponsored by XXX" at the begining of the film whilst everyone files in or like you say, I could use cups with their names on them.

Market research leads me to believe that £3 is the most people are going to want to pay for these tickets.

I've thought about using a branson-esque distribution method of selling books of 20 tickets at £2.50 each and letting others sell them for 50p profit to give me a more secure income, but then i really lose a lot of money.

[TylerBakerllc]

The logistics of making coffee pale in comparison to the potential profits... Just a thought, I dont take it personal. In the convenience store/gas station industry, coffee has the highest profit margin of any item.

I hope this helps, take care! -Tyler

[OffbeatGenius]

400 seats is a lot of people!

[Kaizen]

Offbeat - All I can say to that is that I know and I cant wait to see if I can do it!

Tyler - I now see where you're coming from - I rememeber in young enterprise we tried to sell coffee and tea because they cost about 10p a cup to make (They wouldnt let us though because of health and saftey...grrr). Maybe it is worth the effort?

What does everyone else think?

[awayoflife]

Definately worth the effor if people buy them, but not many drink coffee and tea in the cinema. That may be because it is not usually sold in cinemas but I dont think it is a drink of choice for cinema goers. You would have a larger market for the coffee if you had a stand outside the room or building where you sold the coffe. Because you wont really have any rent and have a larger consumer base (outside the building) then you could offer it as a place for students to go to for a break from studies etc? If in a sheltered place with some benches then it could become a "hangout" if you managed to find someone to work there, selling some other things aswell, like smoothies.
Sorry, I kinda went of the point

[TylerBakerllc]

At University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, we had kiosk type stands set up throughout the communal areas of campus... They sold everything from smoothies to sandwiches. All you had to do was register with the university and pay some fees of course (Some student programs operated them as a student project. Seasonal of course!

If you have the time, I would see if that is possible in your area. You could sell high margin items to make a decent return and use the platform to drive traffic to your movie showings (posters, word of mouth, campus blogs, etc.).

Once again, a little off subject, but just giving you some ideas... Your situation may differ obviously... Anyway, I hope this helped! Take care.

-Tyler

[mthomas]

Thanks for the advice.

I think I can find someone in that capacity - to underwrite half of the costs for the first screening. And maybe I could get them to sell tickets for me as well?

It is in their best interest to help you sell the tickets, so they may assist you, but I'm not sure if they will do ALL of the selling for you. I guess it just depends on how the conversation goes. Generally if this person is going to do most or all of the selling, you would be investing the greater share of money.

[TheBigIdea]

mmm, so have you started the biz ? we're anxiously waiting to see how it'll turn out!

support from us, you will get!

[Kaizen]

:-S I'm trying to get the money. If I can negotiate with the Uni (who im hiring the hall from) to let me pay them on the day then I can afford to do it (providing I can sell enough tickets)

Aside from that, its just the fact that I dont have a chequebook thats holding me up. Once I get a cheque sent to the distributor, I can open an account, and once I have done that its just a case of advertising and selling selling selling!

Apparently banks can do individual cheques though so I'm going to go in this weekend, or maybe tomorrow.

Wish me determination guys!