Our local hobby store has gotten shut down for awhile now and the closet places are 45 minutes away. I was thinking of opening my own shop for the guys to play but im guessing its a lot of money and im not sure where to start and im pretty sure you dont get paid to well. does anybody have any suggestions or books to help me get started? because I sure as heck dont. thank you so much in advance.

Sounds really expensive. If you just need a place to play you could rent a hall out at some banquet hall. If you want to sell then you need a lot more stuff to deal with. You could probably get a lease on one of those small closed shop. Then for tables buying a bunch of 4 foot by 4 foot boards of ply wood, 2X4s and nails. Then get sand, fake trees, a building or two, and maybe a cool trench table (every gaming store needs a trench wars table). For more tips on scenery go to the scenery and modeling section.

No idea on the money, it sounds like it will be an out of pocket thing.

If you're in the U.S. then I would highly suggest starting here http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html.

Starting a small business is a large task, and if you decide to do it, I wish you the best of luck. I would second Jaffar in that using a rental hall might be better if you wish to have somewhere to play. Also consider getting together with your friends and renting a small office space, splitting the cost a bit and playing there.

Tekore

If you're in the U.S. then I would highly suggest starting here http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html.

Starting a small business is a large task, and if you decide to do it, I wish you the best of luck. I would second Jaffar in that using a rental hall might be better if you wish to have somewhere to play. Also consider getting together with your friends and renting a small office space, splitting the cost a bit and playing there.

Tekore

we tried doing that for just Flames of war but not enough people chipped in so it didnt turn out well. but Im going to try and do most table top games so we have more people. the problem is I dont think you can make a living out of it so I might have to work two jobs or something.

45 minutes thats not that bad the closest hobby store to me is about an hour away and after that none for about 2 hours

I hate living in a small town = (

Rent a booth (space, whatever) at a flea market. Usually cheap, real cheap and you can maybe attract a following. Of course you might have to carry your terrain and stuff with you, but most are like little garage areas that you can lock up when you are finished. Then check with local property management at real estate office for small rentals

45 minutes? The closest GW store is 8 hours drive for me! We do have a model shop that stocks a small amount of product, but the majority of the stuff we buy is over the internet. Really, 45 minutes driving is nothing - hell, I have to drive for an hour both ways to get to where we are currently working from the office, every day

the only reason I made a big deal of it is really because its a games workshop I guess and theres this one guy who power plays space marines and swears every two minutes. The drive itself is not to bad I guess but how much does it cost to rent out your own office? i just need an estimate if thats okay.

to clarify, what are your goals here - to get a place for your friends to play games, to open a shop / make money or both?

if you are just trying to setup a shop / make money, your in for a long haul. doing so is a fulltime vocation, not to mention the fact that you will need or orgnise a significant amount of money and time to set it up. A gaming forum is not really the place to get much information on this sort of thing unfortunatley. to answer the 2nd question, Office rent can be pretty expensive, but also varies a lot!, where are you located? a small storefront in a one horse town is going to be nothing compared to the same floorspace in a major CBD.

If your goal is just to play games, Kudos! you are becoming a true veteran gamer (in my eyes at least) you are now ready to play games of your own accord, rather than at a store. depending how many "guys" there are, there a a couple of different options, but all in volve you acquiring your own terrain & tables.

1. small group (2-6ish) go to someones house regularly, maybe only have 1 or two tables that are set on the dining table etc.

2. medium groups (6-10ish) get someone who has a big house or big empty garage, and start a small psuedo club. you can go buy some cheap tables or sawhorses from the hardware and store the tables against the wall or something. (this is what my friends and I do, ad we find it quite good. the floorspace is about the size of a mdeium GW store, but we make the rules! PM if you want some help with this...)

3. Big groups (10 +) scout out community halls, schools etc, for halls to hire and start your own club. you'll need to organise not only the gaming materials but also official memberships and paying the rent etc. it can be a bit of a hassle to do but once setup properly will really hum along well. (IMO you seem like you want to do a bit of organising and seriuos setup, so i reccomend this path).

Office rent can be all over the place. My company is paying about as much for my cubicle as I do for my house on a monthly basis.

Think real hard and decide, why did your local shop go out of business, what do you have that they didn't that would keep you in business? =)

Sometimes you can luck onto some space with commercial zoning that is entirely undesirable, like a basement unsuitable for retail that isn't being used for storage. That's essentially what we have for our club here. The lease is owned by a local business owner who's done well enough for himself that he can let it run on a more or less break even basis. There's some retail stock and we try to buy our paints and things there to help out the club, but it's mostly run by membership fees and soda/snacks. So, how many potential members do you have, and beyond your circle of friends how much room is there for growth in your town?

Looks like everyone kinda beat me to it with comments, but a couple quick observations:

Like IA said, why DID the other store shut down? Do you know the owners/employees there? Track 'em down and ask. Yes, they can tell you what went wrong, but even if that doesn't discourage you, keep in touch with them. Arguably no one (especially on these forums) will know more about the ins and outs, and most importantly the potential problems of starting up a hobby store in your own community than someone who's been there and done that. Rents do vary a LOT, so why not ask someone who paid rent in your town for a while?

Also, I would agree that you should think long and hard about whether you want a STORE, where you can sell stuff AND play, or just a place to PLAY. If you have that many players who want to play, but you don't think you could financially swing starting up a store, starting up a CLUB will be loads cheaper, and might ultimately be what you really wanted in the first place.

As has been said, check with friends who might own a shed/garage/basement space somewhere, or scout out local community buildings, including schools, community centers, even churches (as long as they don't think 40K is blasphemy, but that's for another thread). Following these routes, you will very likely find a space dirt cheap or free.

If you're really lucky, you'll find a space that permits a permanent setup, which gives you lots more possibilities, such as decorating (40K posters are kewl. Maybe the guys who closed their store have some?), or permanent, more "solid" gaming tables. Otherwise, be ready to make something that can be put away, such as large table platforms set on sawhorses.

Good luck!

the reason they got shut down was I think because the people who owned them tried to make it a profit type of store when it obviously wasnt that type of store and they werent making enough money. thats why I want to be serious and have my own place to have all the guys play and btw I think I have about 8 players who I have known since middle school and then theres like 12 probably more guys that played at the other store. so im not sure if renting will even be enough at this point unless we go big I guess