Like any business, a commercial paintball field will require perseverance, patience, and (unfortunately), quite a significant amount of start-up capital. However, you can save a lot of money and time, with proper planning and an exact list of the best quality bulk paintball supplies at the cheapest prices. Overspending from buying too much equipment early on can put too much pressure on a new business. Conversely, starting a business without sufficient working capital can also lead to your death.
Starting a paintball field business is not as easy as just putting up a fence, some bunkers, and collecting money at the gate. The location of the field is your first concern. If you don’t already own the land, it’s very rare that a new paintball field will generate enough money to pay off a mortgage. Instead of getting a huge real estate loan, the best thing to do is start a business with someone who owns the land; You may be able to lease the land or consider offering a percentage of the business to the owner.
If you’re starting your own field, there are certain paintball supplies that will be essential. The best advice is to start small and add more equipment as you need it. When starting a business, you’ll want to have a clear goal in mind about how big you plan to get; But don’t let your delusions of grandeur ruin your math skills. Keep detailed records of all costs early on, beginning with the first quote for paintball equipment.
Before you start collecting paintball equipment quotes, there are obvious steps you’ll need to take that are the same for starting any business. Creating your business entity and obtaining a local business license will be necessary steps to start becoming a retail distributor. Every penny counts when starting a business, so getting dealer prices for your equipment quotes is a must; This is a mandatory first step. The equipment you will need to start a new paintball field business can run out quickly, however start with the bare minimum.
Don’t start by building your dream paintball field from scratch; Start your business small and build a larger operation with more equipment as your client list grows. You will need bunkers, paintball guns with hoppers, air tanks, and lots of paintballs. At first, you can save money by buying just a few paintball markers for people who don’t have one, or you can allow players to bring their own. A ‘bring your own’ field is a great way to save money, however it is somewhat impractical.
One of the problems with a BYOPG field is that you will get complaints about players having unfair advantages with fully decked out paintball guns. Another downside to allowing players to bring their own markers is that you’ll miss out on the opportunity to rent/make money on an essential piece of equipment – without a paintball gun, you can’t play. However, to save money on your initial equipment investment, bring-your-own policies will allow you to get by with fewer weapons for your first purchase.
Perhaps the biggest equipment cost for a start-up paintball range is the air tank refill station. This will require a commercial size air compressor; depending on the size, these can cost between $4,500 and $14,000. You will also need one (if not several) industrial bulk air tanks to store the air that the compressor produces. Finally, you will need a fill station scale and an air tank refill kit to transfer air from the large tank to the smaller air tanks on paintball guns.
While your air tank refill station may be one of your most expensive equipment commitments, it is also a definite regular source of income from every paintball field. Eventually, this investment will pay off: everyone on your field will need air tank refills and will have to pay whatever you ask if they want to keep playing. If there are a lot of paintballers in your area, you can also sell tank refills to anyone with an empty tank, even if they aren’t field customers.
Another essential piece of equipment when starting a paintball field is bunkers for players to hide in during battle. Fortunately, bunkers can be made of almost anything and still be effective. Old cars, tire piles, barrels, and even rock piles work great. In some cases, the land itself can provide natural bunkers with hills, barns, or old buildings, trees, or different elevations. You can also buy inflatable bunkers of all shapes and sizes for your paintball field. Available shapes include large triangles, rectangles, and cylinders that provide plenty of coverage while you play.
Another method of making money from your field is to rent paintball equipment that your clients use when they play. This equipment will consist of a paintball gun, mask, hopper and air tank. You can also offer various protective gear like chest or groin protectors, helmets, or even tactical vests. After your field is cash flow positive, you can upgrade your equipment rentals with better skins or more expensive weapons (offered at higher rates).
Decide the types of paintball guns to rent based on cost, performance, durability, and support. Choose paintball guns that are lightweight, easy to shoot, and hardly break down. The basic models of the best brands (such as Tippmann or Kingman Spyder) are very affordable, durable and easy to maintain. Make sure the paintball markers you choose have plenty of available parts and upgrades, as well as strong warranties.
Other mandatory equipment is protective equipment. To provide the most fun on your field, you need to ensure proper safety at all times – all players must wear industry-approved paintball masks or goggles. Choose glasses that are durable and offer the most protection at the lowest price. Other equipment like CO2 paintball gun or BB tanks, remote lines and pod harnesses can also become a big part of your budget if you don’t do the proper price shopping.
Another part of your starting inventory of ‘must have’ equipment is paintballs. Make paintballs a “must buy” policy at your establishment: “if you want to play on our course, you must use house paintballs.” Your ability to make money selling paintballs will largely depend on how good of a deal you can get. Unfortunately paintballs are expensive and you will only get the best price breaks unless you buy paintball palettes (50+ boxes).
This also presents the bit of a dilemma of where you are going to store your paintball stash. Paintballs must be stored in climate-controlled air or they will spoil, warp, and not shoot well. If you plan to store your paintballs in the old barn in your field, you will lose a lot of money, not to mention hurt your business. If the paintballs you sell on your field break inside players’ weapons or don’t fly in a straight line because they’ve gone bad, people won’t have the best time in your park and won’t want to come back.
Before you start, take your time researching this paintball business and even more time shopping for the cheapest gear and best discount package. Study all aspects of what it takes to be successful in your business before you open. Remember to include space in your budget for an extensive advertising plan to market your new business over multiple seasons. Finally, once you’ve purchased your equipment and set everything up, field test your course – make sure it’s fun to play on!
