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Starting an Axe Throwing business

This is an on going blog we will be adding to, but feel free to contact us at any time with questions.

Building a profitable Business

An over view

You must have a great customer experience

Build a model that people enjoy

More opening each day

They are exploding

The axe throwing business is exploding right now. The reasons for this are obvious. Many people are tired of their jobs, want to do something on their own, and the thought of owning their own business is very appealing.

If you’ve been to an axe throwing facility, the business model seems extremely simple. Put a few boards on a wall, buy some axes at the hardware store, and virtually anyone with a Home Depot credit card can own an axe throwing facility.

But it's not that easy

So many of the axe throwing places we see look like an old dog kennel with bad chain link fence for walls, sawdust and mulch on the ground, a few boards screwed to a wall, and a poorly scrawled target drawn with big magic markers. And they wonder why they don’t have a ton of business?!

Starting any business requires some business sense

In the next pages, I will discuss some of the aspects of starting and running an axe throwing business that we have seen from our perspective. And let’s take a moment and talk about our perspective. I am in a unique position as I have been an entrepreneur for 40 years and have been in the entertainment business for the last 15 years. I own 3 indoor paintball fields, and recently, I decided to add axe throwing to two of my locations. One has 4 lanes, and another has 10 lanes. Additionally, I own Vantora.net which is an online booking, waiver, email marketing and POS system. Starting as a software package for paintball, I had many axe throwing facilities contact me about using my software for their business. I also have a lot of our existing customers with paintball or laser tag businesses that have decided to add axe throwing as an extra revenue stream for their facility.

# 1 Question - what makes your Axe Throwing Startup so special?

The basic business model does not require much of an investment in cash outlay as there is not a lot of finish out required, so the main thing an axe throwing facility must be aware of is if your facility does not have much special, it is very easy for someone to duplicate, and or improve on what you are offering.

Or conversely, if you are starting an axe throwing facility because there is another in town that seems to be making a lot of money, what are you doing that is going to make your business stand out from the other. Again, what makes you so special?

The huge problem that normally occurs when an industry is ripe for over saturation is a price war to the bottom. If there are two locations that are in close enough proximity to draw from the same customer base, if the two locations offer the same basic experience, the customer will only be driven by price points.

Much like the gas wars of the past, where on one corner, two gas stations were located, and they each drop their price a penny lower than the competition until neither is making any money.