[Klorissana]

ok
i have no money or previous business running experience, or contacts. etc etc

but ive had a funky idea.
why not open a martial arts supply shop, that i live above, and then on an evening i can shift stock aside and use the shop floor as a dojo as well. id do swords and bogu to order and sell other random crap like gi and keyrings.

does this sound a bit farfetched or is it possible. what dya reckon?
id be my own boss then and can choose not to work with wassacks like the one im working with today.

[mitiaycatq]

It's possible, but then you'd have to familiarize yourself with the whole buisness running thing. Also, since there are already a number of reputable shops that people can go to, you'd also have to show that you are a good place to shop from.

I do like the dojo idea though. Personally, I'd just make a separate area for the dojo cause moving everything to the side will get old after a while.

[Nautilus]

there isnt one in preston. think the closest is lancaster.
true bout the shifting stuff, but im guessing id have to start out by getting a smaller premesis, then move into a bigger one and then take over the world-eh herm

yeah anyways...
ive got basic bookkeeping and accountancy knowledge, and ive worked in enough places to know how to run a shop-kind of. think the whole money and dealer contacts is the main issue.

[beriarele]

Great idea! I know of almost no ofline kendo shops (or shops that even sell anything related to kendo ) in my area. I think moving things aside could be a bad idea though..... I definitely agree that you should think of having a seperate dojo area!

[viawbambutt]

hmmn.

how would i compete with tinternet shops though? surely id end up buying my stock off them anyways, then id have to make profit on top of that.

are there any budo shop owners on kendo world that would know about this?

id sell white judo belts as well-in varying sizes. its sooo hard to get them without buying the whole kit as i found out when i started aiki

[Lvnufcdc]

Well then, I guess the only thing that is stopping you is start-up costs of having a place, getting staff, and getting a stock.

For competing with internet shops, there is one thing that you have that they don't which is being able to try on the stuff personally before you buy it. Also, since you plan on having a dojo down there, that could also get people in. Online shops are convenient, but most martial artists would prefer to see the stuff before they buy it.

[ORDERCHEAPVIAGRASOFTWARE]

hmmn.

how would i compete with tinternet shops though? surely id end up buying my stock off them anyways, then id have to make profit on top of that.

Surely you'd find a whole-salor (sp?)? I don't think you could make a profit if you were to buy stock off the web....

[Opperioav]

For the kind of stuff you want to sell, you couldn't compete with the internet shops unless you became one yourself. Outside of Japan, there's not enough local market to support a solely retail sword-related shop. Any martial arts shop I've seen has had to stock the whole range of stuff for all martial arts, including the cheesy ninjer stuff because that's where the cash is.

To make a go of it you'd have to make wholesale contacts. And of course, no matter how cool the stuff you're selling, you're still working retail and dealing with all the daily crap that implies.

[Kennypor]

For the kind of stuff you want to sell, you couldn't compete with the internet shops unless you became one yourself.

I think Niel-san may be right. The big internet shops have got a name for themselves and that's why people buy from them, though I don't think you'd even be able to compete even if you became one. Bogu and stuff can cost a lot of money and that's why people want to go to an internet shop that they know is reliable. Don't give up hope though

[Galsteinbok]

Guess great minds think alike, because this is something I've been toying around with for a while too! You could petition a couple of the big online shops (ebogu.com, eguchi.com, etc) to see if you could become a regional outlet for them. You could argue that you could be someone people could talk directly to and you would have goods continuously on display so that people could actually examine them first hand rather than having to ship returns and such. Doesn't seem like a bad idea but the one big problem I can think of is the possiblility of a lack of martial arts interest in your area. Best of luck to you!

[sesWaipunsaws]

I think if there is a lot of martial artists around you, you would get some good business. People usually would rather meet the person they are buying from and all that jazz. You would be a very lucky person to have such a great job, I know I would shop there.

[hujdrftgkas]

If you did some sort of a partnership with starting this business with people who were familiar with other martial arts and you could become a knowledgeable shop that sold goods for many martial arts, it could work. Just selling kendo gear may not work, but if you diversify your products for other martial arts AND have a knowledgeable staff, you should be able to draw in enough business. I think the key is to keep your costs down because you aren't going to sell tons of goods, so you better be good at being efficient in cutting costs and running the place with very few other staff members.

As for the dojo thing, line the walls with heavy gear, put the other gear on tables or stands that are on wheels with brakes so they will be stable in one place, but then you can just click and roll them out of the way to convert to the dojo.

Also, don't open a McDojo, we'd all hunt you down for that, but if you did the dojo idea, you could have a schedule for practices in all the martial arts that you sell stuff for at your store, then you could charge a minimal amount to help rent out the store/dojo space. Get a large following of people coming, 5 days a week, bring in sensei so that they have a place to run extra practices, charge a minimal fee for facilities renting cost, and that will help to support the financial end of things. It would be like a local budokan where people will show up to fit in an extra practice here and there. They do that here and random people who show up pay 300 yen per visit, or you could charge a discounted monthly fee for people who become "members" and pay a set fee for the whole month up front.

Combining these two strategies may produce enough cash to break even. Get a large enough following where people keep coming and new students buy their gear through your store and you could do quite well. Just diversify, cut costs, and get some partnerships going with local sensei so you have the qualifications to make a legitimate training center and store. Basic business crap, I'm sure you know more than me, hope this helped.

[asharbiq]

Sounds good try it. Youll have no competition, but youll need some advertizing to get a market, or at least have a showy shop. The dojo idea sounds good, but i doubt youll get enough room, perhaps you could put up a poster and lease it at apropiate times. Youll get contact with lots of martial arts groups, some are even school groups(my friend is doing a judo schoolgruop in sweden he gets like 100dollars(1000SEK) as support from the school, these groups will want to get areas to train, or at least stuff like mats.

[stunnyravytal]

[quote=Greger]Youll have no competition . . . quote]

. . . except for E-bogu, eguchi, Tozando, Chiba-bogu, Kendoshop, Bogu-bag, not to mention the karatedepots of the world.

Seriously, most (not all, but most) people are concerned with only one thing - cost. If you doubt that, ask your local bookstore how they're doing against amazon.com and borders.com, same goes for the local hardware stores vs Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Martial arts really isn't any different from any other retail business, and the first rule is "It's a business". Some of the best advice I ever got was to keep my hobbies separate from my business. It's tough to really enjoy kendo (or any other avocation) if you need to make a living (or at least a profit) from it.

I'm not trying to discourage you, but just want you to realize the difficulties associated with your idea (I'm not even going to touch on the added difficulty of making enough to sustain the lease on a dojo-sized space). Your inventory costs will be significant. If you don't have various bogu in different sizes, what's the point of dealing with someone locally, especially if I can get the same thing cheaper on the 'net. Sure for people buying locally the shipping cost will be less - but who will pay for the shipping from Japan/Korea/China to England? If it's not the customer, that means you are (I doubt your supplier will give you free shipping). You need to have a firm idea of the benefits to the customer for dealing with you, then you will need to sell those benefits to the customer.

Best thing would be to take some business classes, develop a business plan, and see if this could actually be done. Actually it might make an interesting case study for someone's MBA thesis.

Good luck,

RC_Kenshi

[johnlohanmclee]

Well in Britain there are only 2 major online kendo equipment suppliers, emai and ninecircles, also though eurobogu is based in europe it's both reasonably priced and does not charge shipping.

As for actual shops, I don't know of any, certainly none around manchester. I'd certainly travel to preston if it meant I could sift though the shinai bin to find one that's just right. Especially if there was also an array of tsuba, menuki and the like for iai. Maybe you could offer tsuka wrapping.

Would be very hard to establish yourself but if you were to try I would certainly give you a go.

[klnbgqr]

thanks for all the advice encouragement and tips guys.

i think im gonna have to look into costs of starting up, and getting contacts more thouroughly.

then, if it goes ahead, i just need a really catchy name
something a bit less blande than budo-wear or debz martial arts shop
hmmn

oh and the dojo would just be for me and any mates that want to use it-theres 2 martial arts centres in preston already, i dont want to compete with them. but getting people to do exhibitions in the shop could be a good way of building up business.

[NerbuitW]

The point is not to be in competition with the other martial arts centers, but to get a partnership with them. They can't use their facilities all the time, right? Are there days when a club doesn't practice because of a lack of dojo space, because maybe another club is using the practice floor at that time? That's where you jump in. Even if the rental fees you charge are not big, some revenue is better than nothing. They get cheap rent and you get more money to keep the place running and customers to be introduced to the shop. Everyone wins!

[cQT6nmEc]

hmmn very true-if i got tatami then iakido could practice more than once a week-supposing i got a big enough place that was.

so , i really want to do this now. does anyone know how i go about finding wholesalers? or do i start working for nine-circles and steal theres?-though that would be un-samurai-like.

[Dilangfh]

You could find a Japanese Company without a UK franchise (e.g. Tozando) and start talking to them about reselling their stuff.

[errolespopume]

Not a bad idea to associate with a bigger place that sells online if they will let you. Maybe they have some information that would help you to start up and they get their name and goods passed around more. Could be a nice partnership, Johnny's Bogu ya (associate of Ninecircles, or whoever). Although it cuts in on your profits the more people who get involved, but you will probably need more help to get this going if you are going to survive in the internet based markets that most countries out of Japan have to do.