I'm thinking of starting a Pool Hall, any suggestions?

ironhead_79

ironhead_79

Let's Just Play To Play!!
Silver Member
We have just 3 days ago lost the only pool hall in our area, only decent place to shoot other than the local bars. the only bar in town with more than 1 table only has 4, and they are some of the worst tables i've ever seen. I've seriously thought about starting one, been kicking the idea around for a couple years, my question i guess would be, should i rent the building, buy one, or my last option is to build one on my property, which i don't think will work because i live in the country, almost a half hour away from town, and don't know if i want that kind of traffic on my property, as i already run my motorcycle business here. And if any of the pool hall owners on here who could give my some input on costs of getting something up and running, and also monthly costs, i know this is kind of ballpark, but i have enough going on with my bike shop and don't know if it would just be a headache trying to do both. My love for the game may be my downfall, thats what i'm worried about, i know how hard it is in our area to find a good place to shoot. We have went through 6 pool halls in 15 years, several spans of none at all back when i was a teenager, luckily my whole family played so there was always a table to go to, but not everyone has friends with tables, and the young kids that hung out in the pool hall can't get into the barsto play, and there are several that i would like to see continue to improve. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
 
I can't help you at all with any info on starting a pool hall, but I'm giving you rep for thinking about the youth in your area. We gotta keep the "youngsters" shootin' if we're ever gonna get our reputation as the "worlds best" back from the Philipinos.

Maniac
 
some nasty numbers

According to the numbers the SBA gave me a few years ago, 85% of all small business start ups fail. A pool hall is one of the more marginal of businesses to begin with if you want it to be primarily a pool hall. My advice, wait for someone else closing to buy the tables at close to the price you can resell them for, rent space, and don't invest more than you can afford to lose.

I do hope that you make a go of things but the first thing to consider is keeping your bottom covered. You have to have an honest manager at both of your places with them thirty minutes apart too. Such a thing is rarer than gold in the long term. My "honest manager" was a family member. After he left he bragged about stealing over $20K a year from me. That came straight from the net profit so it is a lot to lose.

Hu
 
ironhead_79 said:
We have just 3 days ago lost the only pool hall in our area, ...have went through 6 pool halls in 15 years,... Any input would be greatly appreciated.
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Sounds like a potential loss. What is your understanding of the reasons those befor did not succeed + are you prepared to add yourself to that list in a few years?
 
Maniac said:
I can't help you at all with any info on starting a pool hall, but I'm giving you rep for thinking about the youth in your area. We gotta keep the "youngsters" shootin' if we're ever gonna get our reputation as the "worlds best" back from the Philipinos.

Maniac
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Thanks Maniac, if it weren't for an old man when i was 12, who knows where i'd be today. I was in alot of trouble as an early teen, nothing bad like drugs or theft or anything but hung out with the ones who were into that stuff, and as everyone knows, if you hang out with them it's only a matter of time before influence takes over. My parents seperated when i was young and i lived with my mother who tried everything to make sure i stayed with her, so in her way of showing me she cared, i got away with everything becaused she feared if she punished me i'd move out of state with my dad. If it weren't for an old man named Bob McGill, whom she knew thru my father, who shot pool, kinda took me under his wing. My whole family played pool, but i never showed enough interest until Bob started showing me things, within the first year at age 13, i was playing in local tourney's with guys 2 and 3 times my age and holding my own, never won my first till age 16, but at the time i was the youngest to ever win around here. Thats kinda why i've been watching these local kids, seem like they pick up things faster nowadays, they play these playstation games and i guess it seems to help with hand eye coordination or something. there are 2 or 3 that i think with a little discipline could go a long ways in the game, and i hope i could later on down the road know that i had a small hand in making something like that happen.
 
Black-Balled said:
Sounds like a potential loss. What is your understanding of the reasons those befor did not succeed + are you prepared to add yourself to that list in a few years?
Click to expand...

knowing the last 2 owners of the pool halls personally, i know that drugs and gambling was thier downfall. seems when someone starts making a little money, the first thing is drugs, don't know why, neither one of them were into anything like that beforehand. the last owner would not play anybody for money, said it wasn't good business, he took his cut of all the money games and he was happy, but that didn't stop him from visiting the horse races 4 or 5 times a week. just recently i went in early in the morning to pick up a cue he worked on for me and the electric was out, seems he was 3 months behind, i know he made good money the place was always packed but the horse track just kept pulling him away.
 
I was interested in purchasing a local Pool hall a few years ago. I learned that the Small Business office does not lend funds for Pool Halls or bars.
And it would be hard to get the Beer & Wine License also. Some interesting facts I learned from the owner was how he would steal from himself. He would get Billiard Supply companies to lay in the stock on Consignment, so when he would sell a cue for lets say $200.00 he would pay the cost to them on account, $100.00 then show $50.00 as sales profit and pocket the other $50.00, if it was a cash sale. He would do this with all the cues and related items. The Table time he would do the same thing with, split it at the end of the night, show 1/2 as income and pocket the other half as cash. The Beer and Wine money he did not mess with.
He had a contract with a local Air Conditioning company to look after the
4 A/C units he had, him and his wife ran the counter, so he had no overhead on other employee's or cleaning crews. He had a long term lease with the shopping center he was in, and has a great location.
I just could not get enough cash together to buy it.:mad:
 
ironhead_79 said:
We have just 3 days ago lost the only pool hall in our area, only decent place to shoot other than the local bars. the only bar in town with more than 1 table only has 4, and they are some of the worst tables i've ever seen. I've seriously thought about starting one, been kicking the idea around for a couple years, my question i guess would be, should i rent the building, buy one, or my last option is to build one on my property, which i don't think will work because i live in the country, almost a half hour away from town, and don't know if i want that kind of traffic on my property, as i already run my motorcycle business here. And if any of the pool hall owners on here who could give my some input on costs of getting something up and running, and also monthly costs, i know this is kind of ballpark, but i have enough going on with my bike shop and don't know if it would just be a headache trying to do both. My love for the game may be my downfall, thats what i'm worried about, i know how hard it is in our area to find a good place to shoot. We have went through 6 pool halls in 15 years, several spans of none at all back when i was a teenager, luckily my whole family played so there was always a table to go to, but not everyone has friends with tables, and the young kids that hung out in the pool hall can't get into the barsto play, and there are several that i would like to see continue to improve. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

You might go to the room owners section here on AZ and get some real-life experience opinions, rather than random suggestions from those of us who mostly just play.

fwiw,

Jeff Livingston
 
What I like about your possible decision, its a "PREEXISTING" business, that has value like none other. The culture, mindset, thinking of people in the area gives your startup there a huge advantage. People knowing where it lies is probably the biggest obstacle with a new start up. People when driving by will always look to see what its up to now, getting it rolling and informing the public is the other half that will make it a success. If I had to make a bet, location or prexisting as my choice. my money would be on a prexisting location, especially if its been there for a looooooong time.
Hope this helps.
 
Be realistic

As a billiard room owner the main idea that comes to my head this afternoon is be realistic. When my father opened our room he worked at General Motors for 40 hours a week then worked at the pool room for 40 hours a week and didnt get paid. We also drafted my grandfather to work there in off hours. This 80 hour a week work schedule lasted for 8 years before we were making a profit. When a pool room is successful, that means you will make a living...NOT get rich. You also have to be prepared to treat it like a business. The number one mistake pool room owners make is treat it like a hobby. They refuse to make financial and personal sacrifices to make it work. They worry about giving free pool to thier friends and letting the drunk friends have free drinks and borrow money. This business plan will not pay the rent or the electric bill. As an owner you have serious LEGAL liabilities if you drink or gamble in your own business. It means you can lose everything to the law or government if you get caught. Consult an attorney about your state laws. Be prepared to lose 30k or more the first year you are in business. So have that saved up in advance. It might not happen...but it usually does. The start up expenses will seem to never stop. Code violations and improvements. Licenses and fees. Heating and A/C repairs that the previous owner never fixed. You will find a hundred things the last owner never got around to if you are buying an existing business. Be prepared for that. As I stated earlier, if you are the type of person who thinks he is going to only work 40 - 50hours and make a living in a pool room...then I would suggest to you that you walk away. Cause you have a better chance of winning the Powerball.

If you decide to go forward with it...I suggest diversification. Spend every single dollar into branching out into different areas. Sell cues. sell darts... have a dart league. Pool players get bored very quickly and you will have to be constantly evolving to keep people coming in. Have a poker table..rent it out. Have a chess board...rent it out for a dollar. All these goofy little things will keep people in the place at least. Eventually they will spend money. And the ones that never do? You know what to do with them. Have video games like poker or table top trivia games. That sort of thing. The reason all these people are not at home is they are bored. They want to be entertained. They want snacks that arent at home, alcohol that is not at home, and games that are not at home.

Note...We are now in our 40th year of business. I never remember it being a cakewalk.
 
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cueandcushion said:
As a billiard room owner the main idea that comes to my head this afternoon is be realistic. When my father opened our room he worked at General Motors for 40 hours a week then worked at the pool room for 40 hours a week and didnt get paid. We also drafted my grandfather to work there in off hours. This 80 hour a week work schedule lasted for 8 years before we were making a profit. When a pool room is successful, that means you will make a living...NOT get rich. You also have to be prepared to treat it like a business. The number one mistake pool room owners make is treat it like a hobby. They refuse to make financial and personal sacrifices to make it work. They worry about giving free pool to thier friends and letting the drunk friends have free drinks and borrow money. This business plan will not pay the rent or the electric bill. As an owner you have serious LEGAL liabilities if you drink or gamble in your own business. It means you can lose everything to the law or government if you get caught. Consult an attorney about your state laws. Be prepared to lose 30k or more the first year you are in business. So have that saved up in advance. It might not happen...but it usually does. The start up expenses will seem to never stop. Code violations and improvements. Licenses and fees. Heating and A/C repairs that the previous owner never fixed. You will find a hundred things the last owner never got around to if you are buying an existing business. Be prepared for that. As I stated earlier, if you are the type of person who thinks he is going to only work 40 - 50hours and make a living in a pool room...then I would suggest to you that you walk away. Cause you have a better chance of winning the Powerball.

If you decide to go forward with it...I suggest diversification. Spend every single dollar into branching out into different areas. Sell cues. sell darts... have a dart league. Pool players get bored very quickly and you will have to be constantly evolving to keep people coming in. Have a poker table..rent it out. Have a chess board...rent it out for a dollar. All these goofy little things will keep people in the place at least. Eventually they will spend money. And the ones that never do? You know what to do with them. Have video games like poker or table top trivia games. That sort of thing. The reason all these people are not at home is they are bored. They want to be entertained. They want snacks that arent at home, alcohol that is not at home, and games that are not at home.

Note...We are now in our 40th year of business. I never remember it being a cakewalk.
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You brought back allot of memories. To add, know your target market and go after them, try to always have people in there no matter what, walking into an empty room is bad. You will find out allot about your own personal weaknesses and strengths, you may think you know what they are but the 80 hr week brings em to the surface. The most difficult thing for me was to not be thinking about the business when I was away from it, it was that one thing that got to me. Also once your swimming in it, its very difficult to see what would definitely make an improvement, as you always have so much going on in your head anyway. If it were me I would have a 50-50 partner just because I found it too much for one person.
 
As someone mentioned earlier, according to the SBA most business' that are restaurants or bars fail. So it's extremely hard to get a loan for one. Considering there isn't a lot of collateral to fall on. Providing you had some paid off pool tables you might have a better chance. But not much of one.

I do believe Brunswick offers lease/purchase programs on their pool tables for pool halls. Maybe even interest free. Probably the GC4 is the only one because it can stand the riggers of a pool hall.. That will allow you to not have fork over a bunch of money up front. Providing Brunswick does that.

However I will say that no one ever gets rich playing it safe. You sometimes just have to jump and hope for the best. Not saying you are doing this for money. But to suceed you have to try. If you don't suceed then you don't have to sit at home 20 years from now going "Damn I wish I tried".
 
smittie1984 said:
As someone mentioned earlier, according to the SBA most business' that are restaurants or bars fail. So it's extremely hard to get a loan for one. Considering there isn't a lot of collateral to fall on. Providing you had some paid off pool tables you might have a better chance. But not much of one.

This is very much true. I went through this about 7 years ago when I was thinking of opening up a pool hall. The 1st thing that came out of every banks mouth was how often this type of business fails, and the 2nd thing was always how much collateral did I have to put up. I have perfect credit, the collateral part was the only thing that held me back.

Good Luck with this.
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used

if looking for real good used equipment please call me at 708-403-0600 ask for ed plz.am also a consultant for such ventures if needed thank you and gl
 
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