It might be time...

hey, on general cigar's website on a lot of the major cigar companies they have applications for being a seller as well as they have contact info for the reps. and which area they have...hope this helps some, let me know if ya open one, im in SW Michigan and only 90 miles form Chi-town....

Money can be made, Money can be lost. You only have one lifetime to live your life to your expectations. Do what you love, and don't spend the majority of your life waiting and thinking about it.

Let me tell you my story about opening a plumbing business.
When I decided it was time to go out on my own, I had a great job. All I did was estimated the work, made sure manpower and materials were on the job. Easy job and good money. So leaving was a big choice. Telling the man I worked for was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. He and I and our families were also friend's.
So I scoured the papers from all over and found a small shop up for sale in south eastern Indiana. Being a city boy from Cleveland ,Ohio this was a big move.
Start up costs were a little more than I expected. Even though I got 2 trucks and a few tools with the purchase. Even now it's feast or famin, and I have made it over the hump. I have had my shingle out for 9 yrs. now. I have put most of my profits back into the co. I take home less than 2 of my good plumbers. Hell my secratary(the wife) takes home more than me. But that is by design. heh-heh---
So if your hearts in it and you can swing it go for it.
I would rather try and fail, than spend the rest of my life wondering, what if !!!!!!
Word of mouth is my best advertising, One of the things I tell my guys, If we do a good job for a customer they might tell ten of their friends and family. If we do a bad job they will tell 100 people they dont even know.
So go for it, Just remeber when you own your own bussiness, you only have to work half a day. Don't matter if its the first 12 or the last 12.
Either way good luck!!!!!

not that I'm trying to discourage you. I have always dreamed of opening my own motorcycle shop.
But IMHO opening a bussiness is a very hard thing to do. I don't know what you do for a living but its even harder if you have never ran your own bussiness before. My major concern with opening a bussiness right now is that it will be extra difficult with the country going into a "recession". I know that we feel the effects already and since cigars , as with motorcycles, are luxury items. They are first expense to be cut. Just keep that in mind when doing your research.
Also make sure the market is big enough to support another shop in the area. And if you can find that one thing that all the other shops don't have and provide it well that will set you apart from the competion.

Good luck to you
I wish I had balls to pursue opening my own shop right now

i find that the problem with opening a shop (of any sort) is very problematic.
I used to work at this bar and grill (kitchen manager). It wa a little mom and pop kinda thing. the owners were always saing things like "i didnt know that would be an issue"

its the unforseens that kill ya. you may wanna talk to vince. hes had a shop for a while.
also, with any project i start, i research it inside and out. I would reccomend a ton of time spent looking into it before you make the leap. the more the better.


and money... whatever you think it will cost after you have researched it, double (or tripple) that number. then you will be in the ballpark of what it will cost.

one more bit of advice. take your time and do it right. if you are gunna do something, put pride into it. do it right rather than fast.

I would suggest getting a job (even part time) with a cigar store. Not with the intent of stealing info, but with the intent of learning everything you can about what it takes to run a store. Get to know the owners and customers and vendors. This also gives you an opportunity to see if you like it prior to sinking a bunch of $$ into inventory and overhead.

After (a minimum of) 6 months or so if you still want to open a shop, then talk to the owner and maybe even form a limited partnership.

Just my thoughts...

--Scott

At least your inventory won't be lost if the business doesn't suceed.

VanKleekkw said:

At least your inventory won't be lost if the business doesn't suceed.

Click to expand...

that may not be true. if the business fails they could get lost in forclosure.

All kidding aside, if you are truley serious about going forward I can give you some advice. There are many things that you need to analyze from running a business model to forecasting costs and profits. So many variables to run and estimate to see if the business is going to be sucessful.

The most important factor is how you are going to finance your new endeavor. (If your plan is to use credit cards or high interest financing, forget the idea right away). Can you afford to live if the business struggles during the start up?

pbburner said:

Let me tell you my story about opening a plumbing business.
When I decided it was time to go out on my own, I had a great job. All I did was estimated the work, made sure manpower and materials were on the job. Easy job and good money. So leaving was a big choice. Telling the man I worked for was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. He and I and our families were also friend's.
So I scoured the papers from all over and found a small shop up for sale in south eastern Indiana. Being a city boy from Cleveland ,Ohio this was a big move.
Start up costs were a little more than I expected. Even though I got 2 trucks and a few tools with the purchase. Even now it's feast or famin, and I have made it over the hump. I have had my shingle out for 9 yrs. now. I have put most of my profits back into the co. I take home less than 2 of my good plumbers. Hell my secratary(the wife) takes home more than me. But that is by design. heh-heh---
So if your hearts in it and you can swing it go for it.
I would rather try and fail, than spend the rest of my life wondering, what if !!!!!!
Word of mouth is my best advertising, One of the things I tell my guys, If we do a good job for a customer they might tell ten of their friends and family. If we do a bad job they will tell 100 people they dont even know.
So go for it, Just remeber when you own your own bussiness, you only have to work half a day. Don't matter if its the first 12 or the last 12.
Either way good luck!!!!!

Click to expand...

I agree with everyone above but pbburner reminds me of mine. Starting a company can be a great way to make / loose a lot of money. I started my Correspondent Lender (basically glorified mortgage brokerage with more flexibility) about 4 years ago and I'll never regret it. I absolutely love doing it, although like pbburner some of my employees make way more than I do. I tend to throw a lot of my earnings back into the company to make it grow. It's a wonderful thing to watch though.

Best advice I can give is to over estimate all expenses and severely underestimate all profits when running your numbers. I'm very pessimistic when I'm doing numbers for estimates and I still underestimated start up costs by about 10 grand.

Another big one would be to plan to not get an income for a good 6 months to a year. Most companies aren't profitable the first year which is why so many fail the first year. I was very lucky that I had income from an internet marketing company I owned a share of or I may not have made it.

Learn everything! As suggested above I'd get a job at a cigar shop first to learn the ins and outs. Also doesn't Vince on here own a cigar shop? Maybe a good idea to pick the brain of a fellow brother .

Do not take on any business partners. Why give someone a percentage for something you can do yourself. I have a business partnership now that is great. The guy is one of my best friends and I've never had a problem with him (yah don't go into business with friends and family btw .) I've seen bad things happen though with the internet marketing company where I just sold my shares out for next to nothing just to get out. I've also seen brothers stop talking to each other because of business. Bad Idea..

That's all I can think of right now. Do your research and go for it. If I think of anything else I'll let you know, but feel free to ask me questions why you're thinking about it.

1. If you do open it up let me know the next time your in a PIF.

2. I found that when I opened a business...everyone and I mean everyone had advice. So, what I would advise (lol) is this...Evaluate the source of the advice. and Find a local mentor in the business community. Buy this guy a lunch once a month/week/or bi weekly. There are also groups that you can join where its people who get together and work through isssues in there businesses with other business men. Most of this is thinking ahead.

3. Alot of people will try to discourage you from starting. You need some thick skin in the beginning.

4. Save 3 months of your current salary to put aside as a buffer incase everything goes south. It gives you time to find a job if it doesn't succeed.

5. Seriously I'll be your eotac mooch if you start one...lol