Making money in the golf industry

[turkish]

So the other thread on DG has got me thinking.... Is it really impossible to make good money in the golf business? Obviously some will do better than others but from that thread and there being little margin it must be near impossible for retailers to make a good living... Especially with continuous product releases(and so stock going old quick).

I've played with the idea of starting a business but unsure about it and it seems a stressful industry to be involved in... Then again what isn't.

 

[virtuocity]

Running any business is tough. To give yourself the best chance of making money, you really need a product that not many people, particularly big businesses, don't have access to and a customer base who have a need for the product. It sounds obvious, and I guess it is.

Retail is inherently tricky. You either have the massive costs of a shop or have to spend fortunes on marketing, SEO, ebay fees etc for online presence. That's before your distributor takes a big chunk out of your potential profits. So, it leaves you either having to rely on local loyalty with products priced towards to high end of the market, or undercut everyone and attempt to make a profit through thousands of sales.

I wouldn't go into a golf retail business without having a stack of start-up cash and having recently sold a business and considered other ventures, golf sales was towards the bottom of my ideas pile.

 

[Alex1975]

Buying power!!!!!! I am quite sure if you have the buying power there is money to be made. Because one club pro said to one customer that margins were tight just means that his margins are tight.... Said club pro maybe needs to get himself into a syndicate.

 

[99problemsbutapitchaint1]

Not impossible but selling GOLF CLUBS is not something i would ever recommend.
PGA pros do this already, any pro attached to a club shop is basically compelled to stock the brands we all know, there are literally thousand of these guys doing this, so starting an online version would not be wise.

Setting up a traditional BandM store with the usual brands costs a fortune and commits you to buying big amounts each year the same applies to the OEMs minimum order levels.

Avoid doing what thousands of others already do and you are half way there.

MOST guys rush to stock TM, Nike, Callaway, then have to turn over product at zero margin or a loss to make way for new models

AVOID, clothing like the plague
Sky BLUE
Navy Blue
blue
Dark Blue
Light Blue
Ocean Blue

shirts in

xs
s
m
l
ml
l
xl
xxl

Hi, mate you get any in red?

Making money in golf is actually easy, golfers will buy pretty much anything and they spend a lot of money, the problem is most people think they need to sell TM, CALLAWAY etc there are already WAY TOO MANY doing this, joining this parade would be tough!