# Can i survive?



## Meatbag (Dec 12, 2011)

Hey i understand all of your comments and i am taking all of them with great respect but i fell like i am at the front of the room and having a crowd of people throw garbage at me!!!! This was a thought process that's all. There has been a lot of things i ve never seen in business only to have someone else do it and prosper, You don't know til ya ask! As far as zoning Ive checked it its fine Jesus Christ i didn't crawl out from under a rock yesterday I am not some yahoo who got a FFL and thinks i am gonna own the world but thanks for all your input i appreciate it.


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## Meatbag (Dec 12, 2011)

Quack Wacker said:


> IMO in this economy in MI, you are going to need a very solid business plan in addition I would not recommend limiting yourself to just High End guns, but maybe mid to high at least. That way you have a larger pool of people and when you get them into a midgrade gun typically they will eventually be a return customer and move up down the line.


 This was my thought process from the beginning.


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

Meatbag said:


> Hey i understand all of your comments and i am taking all of them with great respect but i fell like i am at the front of the room and having a crowd of people throw garbage at me!!!! This was a thought process that's all. There has been a lot of things i ve never seen in business only to have someone else do it and prosper, You don't know til ya ask! As far as zoning Ive checked it its fine Jesus Christ i didn't crawl out from under a rock yesterday I am not some yahoo who got a FFL and thinks i am gonna own the world but thanks for all your input i appreciate it.


:lol:


In all seriousness, it's a tough racket to crack... Any kind of name recogintion is going to take yeeears to develop,,, by that time most businesses are broke and all packed up. 

If you're going to make a run at this, you're going to need more than just "guns"... CCW classes, gunsmithing, custom engraving, etc.


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## Cpt.Chaos (May 28, 2006)

Meatbag said:


> Hey i understand all of your comments and i am taking all of them with great respect but i fell like i am at the front of the room and having a crowd of people throw garbage at me!!!! This was a thought process that's all. There has been a lot of things i ve never seen in business only to have someone else do it and prosper, You don't know til ya ask! As far as zoning Ive checked it its fine Jesus Christ i didn't crawl out from under a rock yesterday I am not some yahoo who got a FFL and thinks i am gonna own the world but thanks for all your input i appreciate it.


OK, we're all wrong, good luck!


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## MEL (Jul 17, 2005)

Meatbag said:


> Hey i understand all of your comments and i am taking all of them with great respect but i fell like i am at the front of the room and having a crowd of people throw garbage at me!!!! This was a thought process that's all. There has been a lot of things i ve never seen in business only to have someone else do it and prosper, You don't know til ya ask! As far as zoning Ive checked it its fine Jesus Christ i didn't crawl out from under a rock yesterday I am not some yahoo who got a FFL and thinks i am gonna own the world but thanks for all your input i appreciate it.



I see no one here "throwing garbage at you". I see lots of concerned sportsman giving you honest, thought out answers to questions that YOU asked our input on!!!

If you would have went into more detail about yourself, your location your expirence, we may have been able to see that you "didnt crawl out from under a rock". How where any of us supposed to know what your research has been to this point?
Again, everyone here just tried answering questions, giving input to you.
Dont like the answers? Dont want to feel like people are throwing stuff at you? Then next time look elsewhere for advise!!!


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## Swamp Monster (Jan 11, 2002)

Meatbag said:


> Hey i understand all of your comments and i am taking all of them with great respect but i fell like i am at the front of the room and having a crowd of people throw garbage at me!!!! This was a thought process that's all. There has been a lot of things i ve never seen in business only to have someone else do it and prosper, You don't know til ya ask! As far as zoning Ive checked it its fine Jesus Christ i didn't crawl out from under a rock yesterday I am not some yahoo who got a FFL and thinks i am gonna own the world but thanks for all your input i appreciate it.


Well, by the sound of your response to guys giving you honest advice, your customer service skills will kill your business faster than any bad business plan. You asked for advice, learn to accept it like an adult or don't ask.
I find it ironic you purchased a Remington 770, arguably the cheapest center fire on the market, then admit you don't know much about rifles, yet you're close to obtaining an FFL to sell high end guns. 
I honestly wish you luck, more gun shops is a good thing.


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## doogie mac (Oct 24, 2010)

MEL said:


> I see no one here "throwing garbage at you". I see lots of concerned sportsman giving you honest, thought out answers to questions that YOU asked our input on!!!
> 
> If you would have went into more detail about yourself, your location your expirence, we may have been able to see that you "didnt crawl out from under a rock". How where any of us supposed to know what your research has been to this point?
> Again, everyone here just tried answering questions, giving input to you.
> Dont like the answers? Dont want to feel like people are throwing stuff at you? Then next time look elsewhere for advise!!!


 Have to agree.
You asked,and as I went back and re-read this post-everyone was very respectful and informative as per your request.
Perhaps you should pursue your dream and see for yourself.... 
As Mel and others stated here,we are just trying to help.


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

If you don't want the peach's.......... then don't shake the tree.


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## Meatbag (Dec 12, 2011)

I bought the 770 for my 10 year old as a first deer rifle i was unfamiliar with them not all rifles. The only reason i haven't said anything about a location is because lets face it you don't know whose on here who a competitor is and who my neighbor may be that doesn't want this next to them. Fact of the matter is i have picked up a few bow manufacturers, yes i am completing my cpl instructors course as well as my hunters safety instructors course so that will be another class i will be doing in house. I want to do adolescent classes because i feel kids get to much wrong information from " X Box" and TV i want to do classes for people who are interested in firearms but never pick one up ( range time ) i fell there are way to many people who have purchase firearms without enough education about them. Again i took all of your comments to heart and to say i wasn't being adult about couldn't be further from the truth. There is no one on this earth that takes criticism better than me i know i am not perfect and when you stop taking criticism ya quit learning!!! My FFL is not in for at least another 5-6 weeks so i am way early but i am doing my " homework and research " to figure out what can work and what wont. My location is a upper class area just north of Detroit with a median income of about a 100 grand a year. I know now that coming to a forum as fresh as i was is probably not the best choice but when i reply to a thread i assume that the person wants the information he asked about so i give it to him. I don't sit and ponder over his intentions or wonder his background is because i see a lot of people post for other people. So i dont judge someone from a previous post because that may not have anything to do with the person posting. My customer service skills are second to none i treat all my customers the exact same way i want to be treated all the way up to a full refund if that's what it takes. Fact of the matter is the economy has **** can a lot of business segments in this area but the economy takes a crap people buy more firearms and when its good people buy firearms. Its good business and Ive wanted to do it for quite some time now but wife was very apprehensive around firearms with my two kids John age 11 and Zach 10. I put them on the junior target team out at Detroit sportsman congress and they excelled quite well till my schedule changed and i couldn't make it out there on Friday night anymore. Over the past couple months John my oldest has really lost interest in firearms so I picked him up a compound bow a Diamond razor i had to get from Bass Pro shops cuz the service from the " big box stores " blows. Which lead me to believe that if ya had a good store with nice firearms and bows with exceptional service you probably do pretty good. Bow profits are great but the firearm markups are for crap so just thinking hey maybe if i carry a higher line it would be a little easier to make a rent payment every month. My point being if the store is known for carrying a little higher line of firearm i could cut down on but not eliminate the occasion of the guy trying to beat me up over 5 bucks < sarcasm so with that being said i hope this helps you with a little background about myself and my intentions. I would really like to open a new range but if i had that cash i wouldn't have to work lol. So i am sorry if i offended anyone or took your responses out of text like i said and i meant it i appreciate all your input. The only thing that gets frustrated is when one person says it will never work it seems like everyone just follows with that response just reworded and that's why i got upset.


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## Rootsy (Nov 1, 2006)

Are you going to reply to a customer who questions you on the same way?

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


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## GuT_PiLe (Aug 2, 2006)

To me honestly, 

A gun shop is a gun shop. Whether it has a beautiful showroom, or it's a whole in the wall "buzz me in". I don't really care. 

If they don't have what I'm looking for, but can get me what I'm looking for within a week or 2 or 3 and at a good price, then you got a deal.

However!...and this is a big however, what separates one gun shop from another is customer service. 

If they act like they've swallowed every piece of knowledge about firearms and treat every customer like a first time firearms owner or as if we are some drooling moron that rode in on a short bus, I'm out, you lost my buisness. Make an attempt to know your customer.

If you try to tell me the firearm that I'm interested in is junk, and force feed me your BS opinion, I'm out. People want what they want because ______fill in your reason. 

If you don't acknowledge a customers existence because they don't "appear" to be purchasing and just looking. I'm out.

I would rather drive 50miles and pay more then to give places such as this a dime of my money.

I think this is a pretty common request by most.
A little respect, a little customer care, a little "above and beyond" and you'll have lifetime customers and word of mouth customers.

Otherwise, your just another gun shop.
I think that's what matters most. 
What you have in stock be it high end or low end isn't as important...(to me at least) as long as you can get it.


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## doogie mac (Oct 24, 2010)

Cant say it much better than that, Guts. 
Im so loyal to my local gunshop because of what he does for me.


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## Critter (Mar 3, 2006)

You know how to get a million dollars in the gun business? Start with 2 million.


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## Burksee (Jan 15, 2003)

Critter said:


> You know how to get a million dollars in the gun business? Start with 2 million.


Ah, you beat me to it! I was reading thru all the posts and this was the first thing/saying I thought of! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Not everyones gonna end up the likes of Red Jacket or Gunsmoke.


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## Supa Roosta (Jul 1, 2003)

Burksee said:


> Not everyones gonna end up the likes of Red Jacket or Gunsmoke.


Quite to the contrary.
I think the Poster would be a Perfect Fit!
Has the same knowledge and attitude!:yikes::lol::evil:

_*"If you can Dream it, We can Build it!!!"*_
Not all Dreams end good, Most turn into Nightmares,,,, Such is the case with Red Jacket...

They opened a Gunsmoke Shop down here, friend reffered me for thier Programming,,, lets just say, we didn't see eye to eye (even with a Spotting Scope)....


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## Meatbag (Dec 12, 2011)

Hey the last thing i wanted to do was offened anyone with this post, so if i did i appologise. The last thing i wanna do is invest a ton of time and hard earned money into something that will by your reactions fall on its face. I certainly don't wanna be the punchline of a joke! Thanks for all your time and feedback.


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