Obviously the actual cost to build an axe throwing business can vary greatly depending on lots of options. It’s really like asking, “How long is a piece of string?”
Are you going to DIY? Or hire a contractor to do your build out? Are you going with custom lighting? Projected Targets? Nice woods and finish out? Or will it look like a dog kennel with boards on the wall.?
What is your place going to look like? How Many Lanes? One target per lane or 2?
Cost of Axe Throwing Business will be determined by space and number of lanes.
The first thing you probably need to decide is how big of an axe throwing business do you want to build. I’ve seen successful businesses with 8 targets, and we’ve built out axe facilities with 18 targets or more. We have one that just started a 26 axe target facility.
To start with a little information, let’s look at the amount of space a target lane takes up. The first thing we want to address is we do not feel that anyone should run lanes with 2 targets side by side in one “pit”. While that is a system that is required for some affiliations like WATL, we feel that is an inferior facility design for multiple reasons. We have a complete blog post on that. So when we are talking about a “lane” we are referring to a single lane with a single target. See the image below.
The above image is an aerial view from a security camera at one of my locations. Each target lane is 6′ wide, and the depth of that room from target wall to the back wall is 26′. The dividers come out 12′ off the wall. So in that room which is 26 x 68 feet we have 10 lanes plus a little space for a closet where we keep extra axes, wood, etc.
Now the above lane set up is inside one of my facilities, and the check in counter, rest rooms, etc are in a different room, as that also houses our paintball fields, lobby, etc. But that can give you an indication of the size required for a build out.
So planning the space you need for any common area and then determine the number of lanes you need, then we need to calculate the lane costs.
We have another article that shows you some size layout information for looking at how many lanes can you fit in your space.
We know a contractor that will come out and do a complete turn key install of the back wall, dividing walls, target and no bounce border system. The basic cost is normally in the $7500 range, but can vary depending on whether you want the LED lighting package, flooring or other options. Then added to that you would have our projected target system pricing of $1,175 per lane, so around $8,500 – $9000 per axe lane would be a very close estimate for your calculations.
If you compare that to other lane building companies, they will run that much or more for some simple boards screwed to a wall with no dividers between targets, no end grain, and no projected computer systems. If you have the skill set or contractors that want to do the build out yourself, you might save $1000 or more per lane depending on your local lumber and labor costs or spend an extra $1,000, but that should give you a good ball park for planning.
Then obviously, the amount of other internal finish out will determine your costs in the facility. Building out a bar area, how nice of tables, chairs, bar stools, do you need refrigerators, remodel restrooms, flooring, lighting, etc. Your local contractor and architect can help you design those aspects of your business, but we wanted to give you the insight in this article on the actual costs of the Axe Throwing Lane build out. Take a look at our page on Building Axe Lanes to see some different locations we have built for customers.
Many have also asked us about the cost of Axe Throwing Insurance so we have an entire blog on that topic!
