Hello all,

I am new to this site! Currently Active Duty Army, and leaving the military after 12 hard years. I am moving back to Tennessee and looking forward to persuing my own business in owning a COMMERCIAL SLOT CAR business.
I am really looking for some advice in where to start, and possibly some thoughts on whether or not this venture will be profitable. I am following a dream more than anything else so profit is not my motivation. If you are currently running a commercial track, I could use some advice on where to begin, and how much capital I will need to consider for a start-up.
My desire would be a 1/32 multi track business. Two road courses, a drag strip, and dirt oval. I have been looking up some track builders, and considering building my own as well. Any advice you can give me will be more than welcome, and happily accepted.

Thanks for your time!

i bought an HO scale track from a commercial shop that went out of business, moslty becasue the operator lost his lease after 20 some years. he had an HO scale track as well as 1/24 scale track. had a 1/32 track also but that didnt get much use. store stocked models and paints as well, and i heard it said that the sale of models and paint helped keep the store a going concern.

ive heard store owners say HO only is hard, becasue people have room for HO scale at home. i think HO in addition to other scales could work, unless you have a truly special HO track (like the one in LA near the airport, Racer's Edge or something like that).

i would think to stay in business you need to have racing nights all the time, to bring people in. when you sell parts you need to be reasonably competitive on price, as almost anyone can buy online. if your prices are just a bit more than online prices plus shipping most racers will pay a reasonable surcharge for convienece and to keep you going. also some slot track owners have online stores that propably help cover overhead expenses (niels wheels in texas comes to mind).

another cool thing ive seen people do is have portable tracks to take to special events, like a sports event, a festival, or a nascar or dirt track race.

something ive always thought would be fun to do (open up a slot business). best of luck to you.

mking,
Thanks for the response! I appreciate it very much. This adventure seems to be something more than just track racing. It seems all of the commercial tracks I have been in, it is the relationship between clients / owner that help greatly as well. I appreciate your writing me and thank you for the best wishes.....

Darrin,

First off, Thank You very much for serving your country For 12 years, second good luck in all your future endevors. To start, you might want to get a set of books from Parma about starting, building, and keeping a Slot Car business going( actually just a couple of short pamphlets). If you can't find them locally, you can get them from Parma PSE or on Ebay. Don't overpay on Ebay though as they are quite inexpensive from Parma.
I am currently building an H.O. track for my own use (using MDF and routing out lanes) and have helped my two brothers build theirs. I will also build a 1/32 and 1/24 track for at home. Just check out all the different websites from a search on your favorite search engine. There is gobbs of info out there. Again Good Luck!

I would say call some of the track builders,also some of the slotcar distributors and ask them for advise.But a lot of tracks make there living off birthday partys and some racing.It is a cool business and can be good but you need a good customer base or population to work from.I would call other track owner and ask them for advise on start up.In different parts of the country its just a phone.
Good Luck and thanks for your services to our great country
Coro Kid

I gave it a little thought myself at one time. There's an interesting catch 22 that you'll have to figure out too....and that is the fact that a lot of the legit wholesalers wanna see your business license, lease, and a picture of your storefront before they'll even send you a catalog. But how do you get started if they won't sell you anything to stock your shelves with on opening day?

This is what made me think the hobby industry wasn't for me.

I know the reason they do this is to try and foil some of the basement operations that severely undercut the brick and mortar shops, but it aint helping the brick and mortar guys if new ones can't get even get started.

I can speak as a former shop owner (but not a slotcar based one) I can add is that you have to figure out as many ways to bring in $$$ as you can, because you probably won't make it from the track itself...the track is more like a centerpiece. Unfortunately its a really BIG centerpeice that eats up a lot of the square feet that you'll be paying for.

Forget any notion of it being a hobby for you. Its a business and you have to run it that way. When youre in business, its GOT to be about the money. If thats not the attitude you can go in there with then you're probably better off just building yourself a really nice track and starting a club. The guy that used to run my local 1:24 track did just that and he loved it, cuz it wasn't about the dough.

Not meaning to sound negative, but there is a reality that I can speak of from experience, and that is when your hobby becomes your business, then it often stops being fun, so be wary.

Anyway, I ramble.

Trev

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There are a lot of good books about starting your own business in different states. I looked into this pretty seriously about 10 years ago, all the way down to advertising planning and costs. Hobby stuff and slot cars fall under the entertainment industry. That industry's survival is based largely on the economy fluctuations. During tough times people will cut their budgets for entertainment purposes first. It's a risky market. And there's a lot to be said for location. Store fronts with big windows and good locations can be pretty pricey on $$/sq footage/MO. But getting a spot near or in a strip mall is a big advantage with other stores drawing people in. Somewhere near a movie theatre or ice cream shop would be ideal.

Depending on what kind of tracks you choose, how many, and the amount of inventory you plan on stocking, you're likely looking at a minimum of a $25,000-30,000 investment from the start. You have to consider a lot of things. The track most likely won't pay even a small part of the lease from what I have read. Most guys dreaming of opening a slot shop have these big figures in their head of all the money they can get from renting the track lanes. It is not reality. Some clever ideas are the punch membership cards where you sell a customer a set amount of time from the start at a slightly lower rate. Then the customer gets his card punched every time he wants track time. Offer a free hour or something with every card filled. That way you've got the money up front and the customer sees a benefit to the upfront payment program. You'll need workshops planned to teach newcomers how to tune their cars to be competetive. You'll need to be open at night a lot also and probably all weekend. Not a lot of people are willing to give up their weekends for their main business. For birthday parties and such there will be a lot kids using the facility and tracks. That takes a lot of patience! You'll also need help and help needs to be paid. You also have to plan on this being a seasonal hobby/interest. Nobody wants to be inside in the middle of summer unless it's 95° and you provide A/C. You might need to sell scooters or skateboards during summer months. Also, having video games onsite is a good idea.

Some guys in California have had a very successful slot car business. Gary Cleverly was one guy I knew who told me his story. These are all just ideas I gathered when considering this venture. I had a great location lined up through a friends' father. Small shop inside an old business strip in the center of town. The guy backed out feeling I would take up all his parking spaces for his "other" tenants. He also felt it would fail from lack of interest. I gave up after not being able to afford the lease any place else in a good location.

I still get the urge every time I see a store front up for rent... :cool:

Hello! I don't have any advice for you but I just wanted to say thank you for your military service and I wish you nothing but the best of luck in your dream/venture. I hope you have massive success.

About 7 or 8 years ago there was a track/store in our area. He's no longer in that location if he's in business at all elsewhere but he had all 1/32 scale racing. He had enough room in the location he was at for a Daytona style tri-oval complete with nice banking, a large road course, and a dragstrip. I don't know why he closed up but he did shortly after moving into his larger location in which he had what I just described.

He also had video games in his establishment like was mentioned. He would offer to build a dragster for those interested (for a fee of course) along with selling cars and parts. He also sold entry level kits complete with a car, controller, and some extra parts all in a nice little carry box. I believe the boxes said Parma on them.

In his old location he had an HO track but it didn't see much action due in part to being an unchallenging Indy style rectangle.

One of the members (Joe C.) of our HO slot car club(HO Slot Car Club of NC) opened up a place in Maiden, NC recently. His web site is www.pitstopraceway.com (http://www.pitstopraceway.com/) They are doing pretty well with three tracks in their location. They have one of the new Wizzard sectional tracks and it is very nice to race on. They are in a "small" town so the rent is not too extreme. A and H Hobbies(John Nicola and myself) are still searching for a decent, affordable location here in the Winston-Salem/Clemmons area of NC.
The 1/24th scale track that was here on the south side of W-S closed down recently. I went over there on a few occasions and just "hung out", checking out the racing scene. Unfortunately, it was not impressive. There were a couple of evenings that I went over there they were closed, even though they were SUPPPOSED to be open. I have heard that the 1/24th raceway in Cary, NC has added an HO scale track, but there isn't any racing being organized for it. Our club has an event in Raleigh on Saturday so I may head over to the Cary just to check it out.
One of the things I have noticed in the 20+ years I have been doing organized HO scale racing is that for a "store front business/raceway" to survive is MUST be done on a professional level with a clean, friendly atmosphere. I have seen many "dives" that were not presented/run in a professional matter. They never lasted too long.
We are getting incouragement from other hobbyists to open up a "real" hobby place here in NC. It is sort of like real estate...location, location, location. And product knowledge is very important, too. We are being very dilligent in our quest to find a decent location.
One bit of sound advice I'd give you is to keep the entry-level racers interested. I've seen a few places kill their racing programs by making the classes more expensive. It's the old motto: K.I.S.S.(Keep It Simple, Stupid). You want to have a class where a guy walking in off the street can buy a car, a controller, and a set of tires "off the shelf" and have as good as equipment as everyone else.

Keep the questions coming.........

Bob Weichbrodt
"Rawafx"
A and H Hobbies
W-S, NC

Man this is a HARD business. I used to live just outside of DC. When I moved there some of the best hobby stores you could find were in the area. They all closed but a hole in the wall place called "The Track" in Gaithersburg is still there. This place broke all of the rules. Here is how they survived.

1) They didn't rent out an expensive store front down town. They went to the industrial park and rented cheap out of the way space next to other businesses that would not complain about noise, parking, or odd charachters going in or out.

2) They combined slots and RC racing. At one time you could get anything you wanted for hard core racing there. HO and home set stuff was there but not featured. The prices sucked.

3) It was a family run business. I'm not sure where they were from but like so many immigrant businesses they employed all available family members to keep it going.

4) The facility was presentable and well laid out if not squeaky clean.

5) They catered to the hard core enthusiast that would be there week after week. They had club races with a high level of organization.

I don't think the hobby business is much of a business. There are easier ways to go broke.

Man, you guys are good. The info you all sent me is right on the "money". I have been having some doubts, and realize more and more that this is going to be a very expensive hobby more than anything. I am a bit excessive compulsive, so if I do dive in, I am sure it will be all or nothing. However, your input surely will help me try to avoid some simple issues I should pan out before getting started.
Thank you all for the kind words about my service in the military, I appreciate the thoughts. It has been a very tough 12 years, and I have all the scars and PTSD for one lifetime! That is why I am shifting focus to enjoy the rest of my life!
I have been in touch with a few folks as all of you have advised in your replys, and plan to continue as I go. What you do you think about starting a "commercial" home business in a 60 X 120 steel construction building on my own property to begin with. Capital for this is not the issue. I have been saving :rolleyes: , just wondering if I should shift focus on making this a part time endevour and see if it grows into something relyable!

Give me your thoughts on that if you would!

Thanks again for all your input!

Darrin

Hey man, its been apparent to me that online and mail order is the way to go if ya wanna start in this kinda biz. Unfortunately (or not) having a walk-in retail store forces you to markup your stock too high to compete with the Eb@y and basement/garage mail order guys. (although there are some that seem to thrive doing both...Bud's would be one I can think of...he's got a retail shop and a good mail order biz)

If you've got a 120 x 60 spot that you don't have to pay retail rent on, then you're laughing. All you need to do is get someone who can set you up for toll free phone or online ordering, proper credit card processing etc. (not Paypal) And you'll probably have space for a groovy track setup!

Just remember that you have to charge enough to make this all worth your while. Starting part time may be just the ticket.

Like I said in my other post, it may take awhile before some distributors may deal with you, but I'm sure you can get started with some Artin and Racemasters stuff. (theres enough of that stuff out there that I'm only assuming they're pretty easy to deal with)

Anyway thats my 2 cents. Best of luck to ya and let us know when youre open for business.

Trev

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Very true what has been posted here as far as jumping in and the enjoyment of the hobby as opposed to running a full time or part time business.
I would have to say that you have hit a particular place in my mind reserved for my concern level. I am looking into some schooling of course as in how to manage and maintain a business. However, you are right in one thing, I do not want to spoil my opportunity to enjoy the sport.
That would be the to me the most inportant question to ask...... Will opening a commercial endevour take away the love for the product...... hmmmm need to keep this in mind.
Thank you for all of your input. I do take it to heart and will use every bit of advice to consider my choices.

i had a hobby shop back in the mid to late 80s and it was like everyone said it became a job and not a hobby anymore and i eventually burned out and left its very hard to do both have business doing something you love but if u can do it on your own property withoout any over head as far a rent goes thats most of the problems solved right there the next thing is if u have some help like a wife or kids that could help ya so you can have fun also like when its race night can you race too or do you have to run the show thats where it gets to be job and the fun leaves cause your not playing with your toys so to speak your runnning the races and selling parts . also parts are a important thing someone has to be there to sell parts while the raceing is going on because if you have a road course night someone is going to come in and want drag race stuff and vice versa on the drag night . the racers dont think about it they just want to get parts to build or fix there race car for race night .i hope im not bummming you out and i wish you well which ever way you deside to go with this and my best wishs to you . theres always room for another race place

You should go and have a look at other tracks. I have thought about opening my own club once before. I got most of my ideas from SCALEX WORLD it has 9 tracks and has almost anything you need in stock. It was realy great to see it's site try www.scalexworld.com. after much consideration I decided against starting my own track but I am now a life time member of scalex world. I go there every modays, tuesdays,wednesdays, and fridays. onother thing you might want to think about is the location and what kind of croud it is going to attract (you dont want a bunch of low lifes). Regards, Timo

To all who have answered, thank you. I appreciate your input, and your kind words of encouragement. I am usure at this point if I am going to venture down this road. I hope to but, I cannot say for sure. Thanks again for all of your wonderful responses.

Darrin

Sorry a little late with a reply, heres my idea, I have 1 4x8 oval, another 4x8 track i'm building, probably inverted tri oval,and a 3rd track in planning. the 1st 2 are ho scale, the 3rd one will probably be 1/43 scale( very cheap). i have about 2000.00 in both tracks including 2 power supplies, computer, plastic track, lumber,controllers,over 80 cars, and misc other. both tracks are portable and the 3rd 1 will be too. I'm looking at an enclosed trailer at home depot 6 x 12 for about 3000.00. I'm about 3 weeks away from starting. i plan on trying car shows, birthday parties, dirt track,and corporate events. My advertising will be word of mouth, fliers printed on my computer, business cards on my computer, and a local ad paper my wife works at. also gonna try commercial exhibits bldg at local fair.right now all said maybe 2500 total investment and will jump up depending on trailer i choose. my 1st track i have had for about 2 years . do i think this will work, " yes" because i have done some test runs at my sons cubscout pack and the kids love it. I know i talked alot any futher info you need contact me bigun3026@cox.net. Hope this helps. i also hang out at home racing world forum.

if you can keep startup costs cheap you can make it work