# Any business owners here?



## Kail (Feb 7, 2012)

Just wondering if we have any small business owners here? What do you do and how did you get started in it?

I'm thinking about starting a part time business that would run on the evenings / weekends doing something I absolutely love doing and am quite good at. I'm not sure if it is a "fad" per se, since there are only 3 other companies doing this currently in Ontario, and only 5 in Canada. One was started back in 2007 or 2008 and now has multiple locations, while the other two are fairly new. One of the newer companies is expanding rapidly and the other just started up 4 months ago and just has one location.

Ideally, I would love to quit my job and do this full time considering how much I dislike my current job, but I think for now, for financial stability I would just need to do this part time.

I guess what I am looking for is advice on how to approach this. I'm hesitant to say exactly what it is, since none of the other businesses have thought of doing this yet, but it opens up a realm of possibilities. I do not need any staff (however that could very well change), there is almost no overhead, perhaps a couple hundred a month. If it ever took off then yes, I would open up a physical location. I'm getting ahead of myself here though, for the time being I'm just looking for any advice you guys might be able to offer in starting up a part time business.


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## kork (Jun 9, 2012)

While I can't jump in for many subjects here and am more of a question asker in finance, I will say that I'm quite successful running my own small "part-time" business.

For me it started with a little freelance opportunity 10 years ago. Each year, my sales grew, but because I learned how to incorporate it into my day-to-day activities (aka, evenings and weekends), it didn't require me to quit my full-time job.

Today, my "own business" matches my salary so I've got the perceptual security of my full-time job and the potential for growth with my own company.


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## Westerncanada (Nov 11, 2013)

kork said:


> While I can't jump in for many subjects here and am more of a question asker in finance, I will say that I'm quite successful running my own small "part-time" business.
> 
> For me it started with a little freelance opportunity 10 years ago. Each year, my sales grew, but because I learned how to incorporate it into my day-to-day activities (aka, evenings and weekends), it didn't require me to quit my full-time job.
> 
> Today, my "own business" matches my salary so I've got the perceptual security of my full-time job and the potential for growth with my own company.


You guys are both very cryptic.. lol.. wanting advice but not sharing what the business is?


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## tygrus (Mar 13, 2012)

If you are looking for a few hundred bucks on the side, that can be done part time while you keep your secure job.

If you want more than that, you cannot do both. One or the other or even both will suffer.

When I was a few years into my job, I hated it. I switched jobs again and again and hated it more. The problem wasn`t the job, it was me. So I took steps at a very early age to ensure I wouldn`t be stuck there until I was 65. I bought farmland and first farmed a little bit while I worked. That was tough but eventually I got enough land together I could quit. Income can be much more variable and requires a lot more planning, but much more rewarding most days. And no boss.


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## kork (Jun 9, 2012)

Westerncanada said:


> You guys are both very cryptic.. lol.. wanting advice but not sharing what the business is?


Web design and app development.


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## Kail (Feb 7, 2012)

Perhaps I was being overly cryptic, I just don't want the other guys to start doing this should they google the term.

Essentially it would be a company that specializes in throwing axes. Not necessarily a league, but it would be mobile in the fact that events could be held at various festivals, corporate bbqs, parks, bachelor/bachelorette parties held at cottages, etc.

I know it is late in the season to start anything right now, so I would be starting this coming spring time. I've already got the target stands which are sturdy and portable, I have a supplier for thick tree trunks which would be used for the targets instead of using 2x8" boards (more portable and easier to have the axes stick) and transportation isn't an issue. Axes are easy to come by, although I do have 4 already (2 of which were acquired from tournaments I have won). I do need to look into insurance though, which I'll be doing shortly - if anything that could be a deal breaker depending on costs.

I've been going 5 to 6 times a year for the last 4 years and consistently come in first or second in the tournaments I've competed in, so I would say I'm pretty good. I've also just joined a league as well to hone my skills.

This "sport" is growing rapidly in the GTA and is now moving out to western provinces and to eastern Ontario. Most of the places have a 2-4 week wait period for booking so there is a demand for it, but they're all indoor locations. There is a market out there for people that won't make the trip into the GTA just to visit these places and since I am on the outskirts of it, I can see where I can make my mark.

I've been in contact with one of the companies that is based out west and has no presence in Ontario and they were quite helpful in offering advice. They actually started mobile and now have an indoor location while still doing the mobile aspect. This would ideally be my end goal.

So that all being said, any advice? I love doing this as a hobby and definitely want to turn it into something that would earn income.

I was actually up at the cottage this past weekend and had a couple targets set up. I had quite a few boats stop and just watch us as well as some people stop and ask if they could throw too. They all loved it and we set up a mini-tournament. Definitely the talk of the street.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

only advice i would offer is "go for it". Not sure how old you are, but don 't end up like me... and wished you'd done HALF the things you wanted to do ... Coincidentally , I saw a news article somewhere on tv recently on axe-throwing & it's "growing"? popularity. maybe it was you!! (you might want to check out insurance rates on doing something like this ???)
oh, and as a former business-owner, this bit of advice: keep your employees to a MINIMUM!


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

Kail said:


> Essentially it would be a company that specializes in throwing axes. Not necessarily a league, but it would be mobile in the fact that events could be held at various festivals, corporate bbqs, parks, bachelor/bachelorette parties held at cottages, etc.



appealing, sporty, outdoor idea & you sound level-headed. Please work up you business plan.

indoor might be more profitable but somehow the idea of mobile sounds so much more romantic to me. Think county harvest fairs (everywhere this time of year), competitors in costumes, themes that recall canada's lumberjack traditions.

are there lumberjack dances? all that log-rolling must have produced fancy footwork to remember.

music, food & drink are easy of course. Accordion, fiddle, banjo, flapjacks w local gourmet fillings such as morels or wild blueberries, as for drink there are artisan beers & wines everywhere now ...

it's time to timberrrrh!


EDIT: i didn't mean that you'd have to be the business that would supply all the frills. The axe-throwing event would be the core novelty, that's you. The lumber-themed frills could or would come from other participants & organizers.

as in, if i were part of a fiddle-whistle duo, would i play to entertain at such an event? you bet ...


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## Kail (Feb 7, 2012)

I'm youngish, early 30's. All I know is that I do not want to be sitting behind a desk for the rest of my life, it does not appeal to me at all and I love throwing axes. I'd also love to be my own boss and am quite alright with odd working hours.

Yes, it is starting to get a lot of media attention and some day I would like it to be me they focus on. My parents actually called the other day to let me know of a news article they read about a location in London, ON and how the owner couldn't believe the overwhelming response he had when he opened up his location. He was bought out by a much larger company and now serves as GM for his location, as well as the new larger location that is opening up there.

There are so many regions that this could flourish and grow in, you just need to be the first to enter.



humble_pie said:


> appealing, sporty, outdoor idea & you sound level-headed. Please work up you business plan.
> 
> indoor might be more profitable but somehow the idea of mobile sounds so much more romantic to me. Think county harvest fairs (everywhere this time of year), competitors in costumes, themes that recall canada's lumberjack traditions.
> 
> ...


Thanks Humble. I need to dust off the textbooks and start on a business plan. I have it all layed out in my head and now I just need to put it to paper. I'm sure there are resources available to me, I just need to research more on it.

I wouldn't doubt that indoor would be more profitable, and should I go ahead with this I would eventually like my own place. Part time though, mobile seems to be the easiest route to get started which would fit with my current 9-5 schedule. There would be a lot less overhead as well, plus, I really like driving. Put on some good music and I can drive for hours.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

what's appealing is that it's an idea that is grafted right onto mainstream canadian history. There isn't a corner of this country that doesn't have a lumber tradition..

the possibilities for elaborating an axe-throwing event into a much bigger party are endless.

i'm the least handy person i know, but even i am the proud owner of 2 axes (1 big, 1 small) & even i can split good firewood.


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## tygrus (Mar 13, 2012)

I don`t know about axe throwing but there will soon be a huge demand for all sorts of recreational experiences when robots take all the jobs.


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## Kail (Feb 7, 2012)

I'm honestly surprised how fast it is growing. It's been a niche activity for quite some time, with lumberjack/jill events and various festivities, but it is starting to go quite mainstream now.

Last year for my wife's 30th birthday she asked "can we go axe throwing?", words I never thought I would ever hear her utter as she is quite "girly" as are the rest of her friends. They absolutely loved it though, with some of the girls beating the a few of the guys by a wide margin.

And that's the thing too, you don't need to be a burly lumberjack to throw axes. This first time I ever went I had the honour of playing the league's top female player after winning the tournament. She was 5'2" and MAYBE 90lbs. She destroyed me.

I'll be working on my business plan this weekend and no doubt I'll be back on here asking for some advice. The last time I had to create one was in college eons ago so suffice it say, I don't remember a thing.


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