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<blockquote data-quote="rushlight" data-source="post: 1633948" data-attributes="member: 3801">A little over a year ago I watched a friend open a game store.&nbsp; It was his dream, ever since we were in high school.&nbsp; I spent many nights there, and I had the misfortune to watch it all fall apart.&nbsp;My friend had his heart in the right place, and he worked very hard.&nbsp; Unfortunatly, heart and work aren't enough.&nbsp;From my experiences and observations I can tell you some things:&nbsp;1) Have enough money.&nbsp; If you think you do, the double what you've got.&nbsp; You'll spend that and more LONG before you ever break even.&nbsp; You should be able to keep the store running for at least a year without a single penny of profit.&nbsp; That means utilities, rent, employees (if any) and most important: restocking.&nbsp; &nbsp;My friend was counting on revenue coming in to be able to restock.&nbsp; Revenue is a slow trickle - especially at first.&nbsp; He couldn't restock fast enough, so he lost sales.&nbsp; Lost sales meant less revenue - and less restocking.&nbsp; That's a death spiral.&nbsp;2) Keep the store a business first.&nbsp; Run it like one.&nbsp; Many people open a game store because they like games, and they think it will be fun to run a game store.&nbsp; Make money and play games!&nbsp; If you want to play games, then play.&nbsp; If you want to make money, then you'll have to work.&nbsp; Long hours.&nbsp; Inventory.&nbsp; Stocking.&nbsp; Balancing the books.&nbsp; Cleaning.&nbsp; More cleaning.&nbsp; Outside cleaning.&nbsp; If you want to win at the business of games, then you can't play the games (at least not at first!)&nbsp; My warning to you is this:&nbsp; If you want to run a game store because it will be &quot;fun&quot; then you've already made your first (and most likely last) mistake.&nbsp;3) Don't be too focused, but don't stock everything that the distributer will ship to you.&nbsp; Herein lies the skill of truly making the store run.&nbsp; Know what your customers buy and stock lots of it - but don't waste money and space on things they won't buy.&nbsp; The first year will be hardest, since you won't truly know what they want - but use your instinct.&nbsp; Keep careful track of what sells - keep records of everything.&nbsp; Learn what goes at a discount, what goes at full price - and what doesn't go, even if you try to give it away.&nbsp; It sounds obvious, but it's more difficult than you'd think.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;I don't want it to sound like opening your store will be a bad thing - I just think you should go in with your eyes open.&nbsp; I'm sure that if you've put thought and care into your store it will be a rewarding, if time-consuming, experience.&nbsp; With luck, you might even make some money along the way.&nbsp; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink&nbsp; &nbsp; ;)"&nbsp; data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="rushlight, post: 1633948, member: 3801"] A little over a year ago I watched a friend open a game store. It was his dream, ever since we were in high school. I spent many nights there, and I had the misfortune to watch it all fall apart. My friend had his heart in the right place, and he worked very hard. Unfortunatly, heart and work aren't enough. From my experiences and observations I can tell you some things: 1) Have enough money. If you think you do, the double what you've got. You'll spend that and more LONG before you ever break even. You should be able to keep the store running for at least a year without a single penny of profit. That means utilities, rent, employees (if any) and most important: restocking. My friend was counting on revenue coming in to be able to restock. Revenue is a slow trickle - especially at first. He couldn't restock fast enough, so he lost sales. Lost sales meant less revenue - and less restocking. That's a death spiral. 2) Keep the store a [i]business[/i] first. Run it like one. Many people open a game store because they like games, and they think it will be fun to run a game store. Make money and play games! If you want to play games, then play. If you want to make money, then you'll have to [b]work.[/b] Long hours. Inventory. Stocking. Balancing the books. Cleaning. More cleaning. Outside cleaning. If you want to win at the business of games, then you can't [i]play[/i] the games (at least not at first!) My warning to you is this: If you want to run a game store because it will be "fun" then you've already made your first (and most likely last) mistake. 3) Don't be too focused, but don't stock everything that the distributer will ship to you. Herein lies the skill of truly making the store run. Know what your customers buy and stock lots of it - but don't waste money and space on things they won't buy. The first year will be hardest, since you won't truly know what they want - but use your instinct. Keep careful track of what sells - keep records of [i]everything[/i]. Learn what goes at a discount, what goes at full price - and what doesn't go, even if you try to give it away. It sounds obvious, but it's more difficult than you'd think. I don't want it to sound like opening your store will be a bad thing - I just think you should go in with your eyes open. I'm sure that if you've put thought and care into your store it will be a rewarding, if time-consuming, experience. With luck, you might even make some money along the way. ;) [/QUOTE]

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