The guy who owns the shop down the road from my job offered to sell it to me last week. He's got an opportunity to do some artwork for a studio in California and felt it was too good to pass up.

I'd mentioned in the past how I'd love to have my own shop someday, so I guess he kept that in mind when this came up.

He's asking 10 grand for everything. Books, fixtures, shelfs, toys, everything. The only thing he's keeping are a few of the silver age books that he wanted.

The thing that's killing me is do I take this or do the new house thing? He said the store grosses about 80k a year with about 50-55% profit. But that's before the rent and bills and not including the $5000 in working capital he said I'd need. He's got about 70 subscribers as well.

He said when he bought it 5 or 6 years ago, he financed it putting his two cars up for collateral.

If I did do this, I don't think I'd quit my job right off. My sisters boyfriend (who I do trust) is going to school and majoring in Business. We talked about it and I thought it would be good experience for him to run it. He could go to school in the mornings and learn the day to day operations of running a business. I'd come in and do all the difficult stuff, accounting and inventories. Whatever is made after paying him and paying the bills would go back into paying off the loan if I got it financed.

I don't know. I still ALOT to think about. I still need to get more numbers together and look at this from every angle.

What do you guys think? Any advice or thoughts?

(I posted this same thread over at the Bullpen and got some great feedback.)

Well, when folks ask about the logistics about starting a comics store, I usually point to the tried and true bits of advice, foremost among which is getting in touch with Mel Thompson (the only consulting firm specializing in comics/game retailing) to see what insights and services he might be able to provide.

But aside from that, since you've got a very specific situation and since it does seem like you're intrigued by the idea of running this store, let me frame things a different way.

Many years ago, a friend of mine quit his job and started his own company. It was an interesting business idea, but by no means a sure success. Ultimately, he told me, he realized that he was 27 years old. If this company failed miserably in a year, he'd be 28 years old and have run a failed company. He could live with that, and so he went on.

So, my more philosophical question for you is this: If you do this, what's the worst that could happen? And can you live with that if it does happen?

If it should happen that you spend all this time, money, and energy and your venture fails miserably, will you & your family still be able to get by? Could you pick up the pieces and move on in some other direction? Will you still have the relationship with your business-partner/familiy members that you'd want?

There's plenty of nuts and bolts questions and answers about management styles, store decor, marketing, etc. that folks can (and surely will) weigh in on. But in a certain way, I'm guessing that the question to you really is something like:

If you put in this $10,000 and all this time and effort, can you still have the lifestyle you want?

Or, basically, "What's the worst that could happen?" and figuring out if you can accept that risk.

Not too helpful, I know. But I guess I'm in a philosophical mood...

This is why I love the message boards. Thanks for the link, man. I'll be looking more into it this evening.

The worse? I run it into the ground and end up with a register, a computer, some cabinets and shitload of comicbooks. Laura (my wife) and I went by there just a while ago and spoke to Terry. He estimates that there's about 15-20k in inventory, not including the fixtures, shelves, computer, etc.

He said when he bought it, he saw it not as buying the store but he was buying the customer base. He's got 75 regular subscribers and 20 years of time in the same area (it's been moved twice in the last 20 years). Out of everything, it's the time and customer base that catches my interest the most.

I don't plan on quitting my job right off the bat. I trust my brother-in-law enough to run it when I'm not there. Plus, I'm only 5 minutes away, so if for some reason I need to get over there from work, that's not a big deal.

I also like that he's already set up a pretty good system of having his customers being familiar with his business expectations. 10% off everything, anything ordered MUST be picked up within 30 days, credit cards can only be used on purchases $10 and up, etc., etc.


It would take some sacrifice, of course, but I fully believe I can get the $10k back plus pay off a loan for the working capital within 10-12 months. I figured this with only the 75 subscribers averaging $20/week.

No, it's all VERY helpful. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you post.

Well Frank I'd give this some real thought.

10k is NOTHING. You can squander 10k on junk food in a year if you are a sloppy shopper just feeding your family, so don't lewt the investment scare you.

Don't however believe for a minute that your brother in law will "take care of things", what's his salary? How do you control shoplifting, or side deals, how do you control anything, unless you are there.

Outpost had a 200 plus subscriber base, we generally grossed a little more than 2000 a week and after expenses, there wunt much, I'll tell you. Diamond takes more than 45 percent of your gross, and anyone that tells you different is full of it. We would gross 120k in a year and "cost of goods sold" was always more like 60 to 65 percent of it. Maybe other stores order more and therefore get better deals, but we were the tops store in Vermont when I was running it.

The good thing about Diamond is they are pretty meticulous about shipping, at least the Plattsburgh warehouse was.

You'll need to be there fulltime if you want it to work. If you are the only employee, then you'll be setting the hours the store is open by when you are willing to be there.

If you are the only emplyee and you can pull in 2k a week cash flow against 800 to diamond (average) and your rent and utilities average 400 a week, that leaves 4 to 600 for you, if you do the math.

11 to 7 or 10 to 6 are good hours.

Check out Magic/Mage knight/Heroclix activity because if you have a 70 member scrip base, you probably can almost double your profits if you give space to that stuff, in terms of a separate cash stream.

Then there are the modelers. Fuck that warhammer shit, thats a ripoff, but check out getting some paints and some of those pewter d&d figures, and get a few of those hardback books for those guys too, anything that has "d20" in a red and white logo is usually good to sell to the rpg buyers.

Sportsline is a GREAT distributor, they should still be in business, check out those third party guys for cards and clix and stuff, DONT BUY THAT STUFF THROUGH DIAMOND, EVER!

Frank -


ANother thing to consider. If you take out a loan you are paying interest on all the backstock. Do you really want to pay interest on quarter bin books? Or on 85,000 copies of YOungblood #4 and Archer and Armstrong #whatever after BWS left?

Do you want to pay a clerk to work from 9-3 when customers don't come in until after work and school?


-Greg

Laura and I went by the shop yesterday to iron out a few more details.

It was ran as a sole proprietorship, so we won't incur any debts he may have had (which he said were none, beside the bill he'd just received for this weeks comics).

We did ALOT of talking last night and talked alot of it over with my Dad. We talked details, plans, projections and decided to move forward with this. I can't tell you guys how important it is to have your wife standing beside you and supporting you 100%.

She made a big dinner for us and then told me she'd already went to a microlender to get the paperwork started for a loan. We're just going to finance the Capital Money. We'll purchase the actual store with our savings.

I'll be going there this afternoon to sign off on it and pick up the check.

Man, I can't tell ya'll how excited I am about this. And again, I really appreciate all your posts and input. You don't know how helpful it all was.

Remember to do something nice for her, doofus

Yeah, sometimes a pat on the behind just isn't enough, is it?

YO Frank
Yo Frank-

Send me an email with your shoppes' address. I'm gonna send you a case of one of my comics. 250 comics to give away to colleged aged readers or older.

-GAH

Forgot-

Get a subscription to Comics and Games Retailer. It gives plenty of info on the market, and whats selling regionally.

And put a link in your sig to the store's page with hours and directions.