Should I combine a store for just stringing racquets to another store?

TNIipc2731500 · Jun 18, 2011

I have an idea that I want to do. First of all, my main career goal in life is to open a tennis store in my city, there's only one tennis store and I want to compete with the store. The problem is, I don't have a lot of money to open a store, so I need to start small.The other person's store has been open for about 23 years.

Since my parents owns a alteration store( a place that repairs or enhances clothes), I want to use the front of my parents store to offer racquet stringing service. Also have my used racquets up for sale, I have 22 racquets from Babolat to Yonex. I will be buying the Wilson baraido stringing machine to string my customer's racquets.

My background is that I am very passionate about tennis. I have been playing tennis for over 8 years, I have been stringing racquets for over 6 years, right now I am using the head wise tensioner on a mutalpower stringing machine. I joined the USTA last year and my customers for racquet string increased more than 1000%. I am stringing for a lot of people from my USTA and doubles teams.

My big question is, should I combine my stringing service store with my parents store? The store is called Alice's Alterations and alterations defines: a change; modification or adjustment, which stringing racquets fits the bill.

The advantages are, no overhead fees, probably pay $50 for electricity per month, wholesale pricing on tennis strings, and I get to string a lot racquets which I do enjoy very much. I will be charging 12.99 for synthetic and nylon, and 21.99 for poly. I will be using brands like Genesis, MSV, signum pro, Weisscannon, and golden set. Which is not offered at the other tennis store.

Thanks in advance. Please give me your feedback on the idea and if you have any suggestions, feel free to share.

F-T-S · Jun 18, 2011

I'd say for just focusing on stringing you don't need more than that at first. Focus on spreading by word of mouth, it really works in the stringing world.

mctennis · Jun 18, 2011

IF you do this you need to have a section set aside just for your "store". Place a sign where it can be seen from the street. Either you are a business or you're not. You can't come across as a "fly by night" operation. If you do that you'll not get more business other than what you get from your USTA leagues. I'd also get into the USRSA and become a "Certified Stringer" or a "Master Racquet Technician" from them. Having passion about tennis is nice and also necessary if you want to make a go with this or any other profession. However, that is just a start. You have to have some sort of plan, not a " build it and they will come" mentality. I'd also get in touch with a member of a local SCORE organization. They have great information and help from business professionals. If this is the goal you have in mind get great help early. Most small businesses fail because of lack of planning and not having a true business plan. Good luck in your business.

Fifth Set · Jun 18, 2011

Yes, I would start out by hitching a ride on your parents' alteration shop.

Leasing your own space to just do stringing and sell a few used sticks doesn't make alot of sense because (1) it may be hard to lease space that small on acceptable terms in a suitable location; (2) people generally don't expect a stringing only shop to have a fancy storefront and (3) the costs may substantially eat into your profits.

A couple suggestions:

First, check your parents' lease to make sure that you can provide services that are not alternation of clothing, can put up any signage, etc. Leases cover many things that would ordinarily seem minor and you don't want to put your parents' business in an uncomfortable situation.

Second, even with starting small, you can still "brand" your service. Come up with a name for your shop. Design a logo. Print some business cards. These are things you can do for little or no money but will still be great stepping stones for growing your business later.

TNIipc2731500 · Dec 30, 2019

This is an update for this situation. Its a long read

In conclusion, thanks for all the advice you all have given me.

I opened a tennis store with a business partner that did not know how to run the tennis store industry. We got too big of a space because we thought clothing will sell a lot and it didn't.( We should of focused on shoes).

I had to dissolve the company not because of the small margins after rent and expenses ( about $2000 per month plus electricity,internet,phone,water) but because I had a very bad business partner. He decided that he should take a boss role and since he was older he believed that he knew more. In hind sight I thought it would be a good learning experience but we were 50/50 partners. Later on I realized that he was just a lazy person who likes to just play tennis and socialize. That is in no way a good business partner to be in business with for any industry. I gained a lot of social interaction experience with my clients and became more customer service based on my skill set.

I have gained a lot of loyal customers and in a small City it is very important cause they will stick with you for life if you treat them like you treat yourself which I do. Since my business partner was rarely at the shop, most of the customers took more of a liking to me.

I'm not here to vent on what happened a few years ago but I want to let everyone know that don't go into a business blindly, have a sound plan and have a threshold that of things are not going well, minimize your losses.

I recommend that you don't get in a partnership but maybe have people you like as a mentor on an hourly paid basis or collaborations. But nothing contract binding for taking a big cut of your share of the profits.

Now in the present, word of mouth has worked very well for me since I treat my customers very well and I give them free consultations on racquets and strings. I still get new clients every month. I am a freelance stringer that pick up and drop off racquets for customers. I also teach tennis at two different clubs and play USTA leagues which allows tennis players to see me often on the courts. I got the customer base that I got due to the bad experience of owning a tennis store, so there's a silver lining to this situation.

It's a long story but I wanted to give an insight to people who wants to start their store and weigh the pros and cons and not make the same mistakes I made. If you have any questions on tennis stores feel free to message me.

PS. Two tennis stores have closed and one new one opened up with the 4 years my store have been in business. I believe that the store is not worth it unless you can sell and ship a lot of racquets overseas if you operate in North America cause overseas you can charge more for the racquets.

Sent from my HD1905 using Tapatalk

Turbo-87 · Dec 30, 2019

I'm curious about what part of the country you are in. Where I live (pop of about 90k) we have one tennis club with a very small pro shop. They can order what you want if they don't have it but it is often way faster to get it online yourself at a better price. The only other places that even carry tennis stuff are D icks Sporting Goods and another chain store called Scheels. At those two stores, the tennis departments have shrunk every year and they only carry $20-$80 novice racquets. I would never try to get a racquet strung at a big store like that so I am lucky to at least have that service provided by my club.

Sorry your venture didn't work out as planned but at least you learned something and were able to share.

Big_Dangerous · Dec 30, 2019

IA-SteveB said:
I'm curious about what part of the country you are in. Where I live (pop of about 90k) we have one tennis club with a very small pro shop. They can order what you want if they don't have it but it is often way faster to get it online yourself at a better price. The only other places that even carry tennis stuff are D icks Sporting Goods and another chain store called Scheels. At those two stores, the tennis departments have shrunk every year and they only carry $20-$80 novice racquets. I would never try to get a racquet strung at a big store like that so I am lucky to at least have that service provided by my club.

Sorry your venture didn't work out as planned but at least you learned something and were able to share.

His profile states that he's from Florida, but most likely not a major city in the State.

Kudos to the OP for trying this out and then following up with an update after 8+ years. Not often you see someone come back after all that time to post an update on the situation.

golden chicken · Dec 30, 2019

Thank you for the update. It contains lessons that are valuable for any business venture, not just one tennis-based.

One of the reasons I left my last place of employment was the two partners couldn't seem to have the hard conversations they needed to have in order to keep each other on track and therefore keep the business on track. Communication is key.

TNIipc2731500 · Dec 30, 2019

IA-SteveB said:
I'm curious about what part of the country you are in. Where I live (pop of about 90k) we have one tennis club with a very small pro shop. They can order what you want if they don't have it but it is often way faster to get it online yourself at a better price. The only other places that even carry tennis stuff are D icks Sporting Goods and another chain store called Scheels. At those two stores, the tennis departments have shrunk every year and they only carry $20-$80 novice racquets. I would never try to get a racquet strung at a big store like that so I am lucky to at least have that service provided by my club.

Sorry your venture didn't work out as planned but at least you learned something and were able to share.

Thanks, I learned a lot and selling racquets were not profitable compared to stringing.

Sent from my HD1905 using Tapatalk

TNIipc2731500 · Dec 30, 2019

golden chicken said:
Thank you for the update. It contains lessons that are valuable for any business venture, not just one tennis-based.

One of the reasons I left my last place of employment was the two partners couldn't seem to have the hard conversations they needed to have in order to keep each other on track and therefore keep the business on track. Communication is key.

You are correct communication is key. I was just stupid to pick a crook of a business partner.I trusted him and he screwed me over. For him he had nothing to loose and for me, I've put everything into it. I also got the funding for it too, so it was also my stupidtidy of not negotiating the percent ownership. It should of been 95/5 based on the amount of work he put into it.

I made a really simple stupid mistake and I hope that people can learn from this and not make irrational decisions based on the spur of the moment things.

I could of made this business work if I didn't have a business partner. That's the whole moral of this case study if you want to call it that lol.

Sent from my HD1905 using Tapatalk

TNIipc2731500 · Dec 30, 2019

I don't want this thread to be too negative. I want everyone to know that I am more profitable now than owning the store earlier.

I have a lot less overhead costs and I have lots of racquets to string per week, I have lost of consistent lessons to teach and I play tennis about 3-5 times a week. My hours are too stressful and most of my clients are enjoyable to work with.

I have also increased my stringing prices and lesson rate compared to to back then. So as my skills and customer service has improved, my clients are willing to pay more of a premium since I'm very consistent compared to my competitors.

The passion in the tennis world is still there in me and I'm glad thaty tennis community can benefit from it.

Sent from my HD1905 using Tapatalk

Harry_Wild · Dec 30, 2019

I say to stick with a home base business.

Selling used racquets best done on the internet, Craiglist, eB*y, etc... And maybe your own website! Maybe use parent’s store front as a drop off point for racquet stringing. Not sure about payments for services. Better to have one place at one time to receive and return finished racquets. Maybe a coffee shop? Get a credit card merchant account at your bank so you can have an easy way for them to make payment. Cost 3-6% of payment so be sure to figure that in. You can easily under cut you major competitor by providing better service - more personalized and hands on knowledge. Do not go the cheap discount way since you trying to build a business and need profits to grow. You are no Amazon - that can substain a loose to get a catalog of customers.

Good luck!

TNIipc2731500 · Dec 30, 2019

Harry_Wild said:
I say to stick with a home base business. Selling used racquets best done on the internet, Craiglist, eB*y, etc... And maybe your own website! Maybe use parent’s store front as a drop off point for racquet stringing. Not sure about payments fir services. Better to have one place at one time to receive and return finished racquets. Maybe a coffee shop?

That's exactly what I did. I registered my business as a sole proprietor at my home. I make it very convenient for customers to drop off at my parents, at the club I teach at, or I can meet them some place in town. They love how I go by their time. I'm not sure how much more convenient I can make it for my customers but I'm all ears for advice.

Sent from my HD1905 using Tapatalk

mctennis · Dec 30, 2019

TNIipc2731500 said:
This is an update for this situation. Its a long read

In conclusion, thanks for all the advice you all have given me.

I opened a tennis store with a business partner that did not know how to run the tennis store industry. We got too big of a space because we thought clothing will sell a lot and it didn't.( We should of focused on shoes).

I had to dissolve the company not because of the small margins after rent and expenses ( about $2000 per month plus electricity,internet,phone,water) but because I had a very bad business partner. He decided that he should take a boss role and since he was older he believed that he knew more. In hind sight I thought it would be a good learning experience but we were 50/50 partners. Later on I realized that he was just a lazy person who likes to just play tennis and socialize. That is in no way a good business partner to be in business with for any industry. I gained a lot of social interaction experience with my clients and became more customer service based on my skill set.

I have gained a lot of loyal customers and in a small City it is very important cause they will stick with you for life if you treat them like you treat yourself which I do. Since my business partner was rarely at the shop, most of the customers took more of a liking to me.

I'm not here to vent on what happened a few years ago but I want to let everyone know that don't go into a business blindly, have a sound plan and have a threshold that of things are not going well, minimize your losses.

I recommend that you don't get in a partnership but maybe have people you like as a mentor on an hourly paid basis or collaborations. But nothing contract binding for taking a big cut of your share of the profits.

Now in the present, word of mouth has worked very well for me since I treat my customers very well and I give them free consultations on racquets and strings. I still get new clients every month. I am a freelance stringer that pick up and drop off racquets for customers. I also teach tennis at two different clubs and play USTA leagues which allows tennis players to see me often on the courts. I got the customer base that I got due to the bad experience of owning a tennis store, so there's a silver lining to this situation.

It's a long story but I wanted to give an insight to people who wants to start their store and weigh the pros and cons and not make the same mistakes I made. If you have any questions on tennis stores feel free to message me.

PS. Two tennis stores have closed and one new one opened up with the 4 years my store have been in business. I believe that the store is not worth it unless you can sell and ship a lot of racquets overseas if you operate in North America cause overseas you can charge more for the racquets.

Sent from my HD1905 using Tapatalk

Very good advice from your experiences with owning and running a tennis shop. I am sorry you had to close your shop. However, in hindsight you gained a lot. Loyal customers, knowledge of what to do nest time, IF there is ever going to be a next time.
There is a shop I used to go to that I got my racquets strung. He had been in business since 1984, I believe. The main stringer was the owner. He had a few really good MRT stringers as well. All of his employees were MRT. He was getting ready to retire and he is now stringing out of one of the tennis clubs. He is their main stringer. He comes in just about every day to string whatever racquets were dropped off.
He said the same thing as you. He saw the decreasing amount of clothing being sold and a pretty solid amount of shoes being sold in his store. It was not a huge store to begin with so his inventory was good but limited. He sold some popular style racquets and racquets accessories. He stated the same things, he could not compete with the internet businesses on a lot of things. Mostly sale items when the internet stores offered % off, free shipping, etc.
I hated to see his shop close down after all those years. I still take my racquets down to him. It is about a 45 minute drive one way but well worth the time because he does my racquets so well.
I wish you good luck in the future and also good luck with your business now.
Happy New Year!!!

TNIipc2731500 · Dec 30, 2019

mctennis said:
Very good advice from your experiences with owning and running a tennis shop. I am sorry you had to close your shop. However, in hindsight you gained a lot. Loyal customers, knowledge of what to do nest time, IF there is ever going to be a next time.
There is a shop I used to go to that I got my racquets strung. He had been in business since 1984, I believe. The main stringer was the owner. He had a few really good MRT stringers as well. All of his employees were MRT. He was getting ready to retire and he is now stringing out of one of the tennis clubs. He is their main stringer. He comes in just about every day to string whatever racquets were dropped off.
He said the same thing as you. He saw the decreasing amount of clothing being sold and a pretty solid amount of shoes being sold in his store. It was not a huge store to begin with so his inventory was good but limited. He sold some popular style racquets and racquets accessories. He stated the same things, he could not compete with the internet businesses on a lot of things. Mostly sale items when the internet stores offered % off, free shipping, etc.
I hated to see his shop close down after all those years. I still take my racquets down to him. It is about a 45 minute drive one way but well worth the time because he does my racquets so well.
I wish you good luck in the future and also good luck with your business now.
Happy New Year!!!

Thanks mctennis, I appreciate it. [emoji3]

Sent from my HD1905 using Tapatalk

max · Dec 30, 2019

Pretty fascinating. This past year I explored doing a small specialty retail store. . . but concluded that the internet really makes brick and mortar not a sensible route for most things. Internet competitors have many, many advantages.

This perhaps helps the larger manufacterers, but hurts the smaller ones that benefit more from on the spot product visibility.

It helps consumers to have cheaper internet stuff, but is there any negative to this? I'm not sure. With reviews on Amazon, you can weigh whether something makes sense. Sometimes store staff knows dick. To make matters worse, they'll just read to you the words on the packaging, which you've already read.

Harry_Wild · Dec 30, 2019

max said:
Pretty fascinating. This past year I explored doing a small specialty retail store. . . but concluded that the internet really makes brick and mortar not a sensible route for most things. Internet competitors have many, many advantages.

This perhaps helps the larger manufacterers, but hurts the smaller ones that benefit more from on the spot product visibility.

It helps consumers to have cheaper internet stuff, but is there any negative to this? I'm not sure. With reviews on Amazon, you can weigh whether something makes sense. Sometimes store staff knows dick. To make matters worse, they'll just read to you the words on the packaging, which you've already read.

Yeah the internet online buying sites make it very easy for potential buyers to stuff. For the seller, they have to find a niche product with high margin and that is unique and that sells and post it on Amazon and eB*y and let it ride and just fulfill the orders. Takes about a half hour a day and if you get big you can carry the inventory in Amazon’s warehouses and you do nothing but collect the monies and re-stock back inventory every month or two. Have multiple products and you can easily made $100K without doing anything other then re-stocking your merchandise every few months. Total time each month a hour since you order from your supplier and shop it to Amazon warehouses. Eb*y you have to do more work!

mctennis · Dec 30, 2019

max said:
Pretty fascinating. This past year I explored doing a small specialty retail store. . . but concluded that the internet really makes brick and mortar not a sensible route for most things. Internet competitors have many, many advantages.

This perhaps helps the larger manufacterers, but hurts the smaller ones that benefit more from on the spot product visibility.

It helps consumers to have cheaper internet stuff, but is there any negative to this? I'm not sure. With reviews on Amazon, you can weigh whether something makes sense. Sometimes store staff knows dick. To make matters worse, they'll just read to you the words on the packaging, which you've already read.

I agree with you. So many stores the employees do not know squat about the products nor can they help you compare similar products. Perfect example is when Office Max and Office Depot were competitors. Office Max employees, here in my area, knew the products very well. They could actually help you know which product was better for you. Office Depot, ha! Like you said, they can read labels, that's it. IF you can find someone to help you at all.
I like going to the smaller local stores for things like that. They have to know the products they carry. I do not mind spending a little more to keep them in business. Online ordering is okay for certain things. Once the small businesses are gone the bigger businesses will care even less about you.

Should I combine a store for just stringing racquets to another store?

TNIipc2731500

Rookie

F-T-S

Rookie

mctennis

Legend

Fifth Set

Professional

TNIipc2731500

Rookie

Turbo-87

G.O.A.T.

Big_Dangerous

Talk Tennis Guru

golden chicken

Hall of Fame

TNIipc2731500

Rookie

TNIipc2731500

Rookie

TNIipc2731500

Rookie

Harry_Wild

G.O.A.T.

TNIipc2731500

Rookie

mctennis

Legend

TNIipc2731500

Rookie

max

Legend

Harry_Wild

G.O.A.T.

mctennis

Legend

Similar threads