English
We regularly receive inquiries from interested paintball players, investors and other people on the subject of "opening a paintball field". The questions are often the same. – "How do you open a paintball field?", "What do I need if I want to open a paintball field?" or "How much does the equipment for a paintball field cost?". We would like to discuss these and other questions with you today in our blog and thus make the step into self-employment as a future paintball field owner a little easier for everyone who is interested. We hope you enjoy reading it and that you may take some useful information with you for your project.
The most important thing if you want to open your own paintball field is the right preparation. Opening such a field should not be a fixed idea and must not end up as an unthought-out quick shot. Otherwise, an expensive investment often fizzles out after just a few months and the playing field is closed again. So that this does not happen, we have put together a few key points that you, as a future pitch operator, can work your way through in your planning phase.
The search for a suitable terrain for a paintball field is often very difficult. It is important that you take your time and keep a close eye on the market. The site should be of the right size, it must not be too expensive and it must also be located in the right area. – Say not too far off the beaten track, so that potential customers would have to drive too far, but also not so central that residents could be bothered by the noise on the site. After all, we are talking about the opening of a leisure facility. You have to comply with a number of conditions during operation.
Who is your target group? Do you prefer to focus on the loan player who comes to play paintball with his soccer team, or do you prefer to set up a training location for tournament players? This orientation should be clearly defined in advance and not only decides on the later structure of the system, but must also be part of your business calculation. Every customer group is different, has different demands and is also associated with different requirements for the playing field. The type and amount of sales also differ greatly. So make sure in advance which customer group your paintball system should be designed for.
How much does the equipment for a paintball field cost?
This question is one of the most frequently asked and, right from the start, it cannot be answered in general terms. Here, too, it depends purely on the orientation of your system and, above all, on your business model. If your target group is children's birthday parties, for example, then you need kids paintball equipment . – This is 50 gauge and doesn't hurt as much as the big 68 gauge paintball markers. The adults, on the other hand, don't like playing with this equipment that much, because they like it a little rougher and more martial. So if you want to offer both, you should be aware beforehand that you either have to invest twice, or you may lose adult customers if you only offer the kids paintball markers and also let the adults play with them. Benefits of Cal. 50 paintball markers are, for example, less dirt because the smaller balls contain less paint and also somewhat lower purchase costs because the paintbals are cheaper. That means you can possibly make up for the missing customers here through the additional margin. Such calculations are the be-all and end-all in your planning and preparation.
How do I advertise my paintball facility properly? – That is the question of all questions. The types of advertising used vary depending on the region, target group and type of offer. What drives one group of customers to your field in droves can sometimes be completely irrelevant to the other group of customers and does not attract a single customer. It's the mix that counts. Our experience here is that you should never try to use all advertising channels. Many field operators make the mistake of trying to do this. But you just can't shine on all platforms. If you try to maintain your own homepage, Facebook, Instagram, Google, Yotube, various forums, Whatsapp groups and the like in parallel, you will usually not do anything completely and only do a lot half-heartedly. The motto should therefore be to be number one on one channel rather than just mediocre or even below on many channels. Find your own personal passion and fuel this channel with everything you have. The result will definitely be better than trying to dance a little at every wedding.
It is also important that you give your advertising measures time to develop. Some platforms are more sluggish than others. With Google, for example, changes in results in the organic ranking sometimes only become apparent after 6-8 weeks. But you can use this time to make further progress on the channel every day and to generate content. This is then gradually absorbed by Google and the growth increases exponentially. The same applies to Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. You will start with a few likes, followers and subscribers, but these often remain loyal to you and more are added. This is how you gradually build up a solid fan base of future customers. Assuming you would now upload YouTube videos for a week and Google the next week, only to switch to Instagram in week three, many bored users will jump off you in the meantime because nothing has happened on this channel for a while. So again the request – do one thing completely and leave the rest out. If you don't have an independent marketing team behind it that you pay dearly for, then you won't be able to use all channels. Many have tried and it just doesn't work.
Simply opening a paintball field is not enough, now the real work begins. It is important not only to inspire the customer on the first visit, but also on the second, third and subsequent ones. Then, when he's played at your facility a few times in the first year, give him a reason to come back next year. – It's best if you offer him something new. For example, the brand new playing field that was ready just in time for the start of the season, or the new equipment or a cool event. Keep reinventing yourself and your paintball park over and over again, keeping the excitement, the quality of your fields and equipment, and the service level of your facility as high as possible.
Thanks to our many years of experience in the paintball industry, we also work as a consultant. We not only advise on the planning and opening of your playing field, but we are also at your side after the opening with tips and good advice. We also hold regular workshops for pitch operators in our meeting rooms. There we give you useful suggestions for improvement and help with all current and future concerns about paintball fields. Together with our loyal playing field partners, we are taking a step towards a successful future together in this exciting industry.
We hope that you were able to take at least some basic information with you from this text. However, the topic of founding a paintball field is so extensive that we really recommend that you contact us personally or simply attend one of our training courses on this topic. You can take away so much knowledge there in just one day that it will take months to implement it all in your own field. When you're done, the next meeting will soon follow with further suggestions for improvement. Let's get better together and develop the paintball fields in Germany into great amusement parks for our customers that will last for a long time.
