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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

III Gun Shop: Discussion


Time for a discussion including Founders and supporters.

As we discussed early, the minimum needed to produce our prototypes and launch our first media kit was a shoestring budget, and we hit it. Once we get to the day when we begin accepting orders, we'll know if III Arms will succeed or fail. If we sell units, we win. If people choose not to buy, we lose.

The more money we manage to raise to help with marketing reach, the better our odds of succeeding in selling III firearms.

How do we get there? We can ask Founders for more money - not a good option. We can all hold our breath and hope orders flood into our Distributor once we open the doors. Personally, I prefer to stack the deck in my favor as much as possible.

One of the reasons Holly and I are heading to Idaho is to get a lay of the land, and to look for a place that will be III Arms first admin office. But consider this: III Arms Gun Shop.

We open a small gun shop in some place such as Coeur d'Alene that serves not only the local population (there are already gun stores in the area, but I'm never afraid of competition) and we establish an Internet presence. As our prototypes are built and we slowly begin to earn name recognition via our marketing campaign for III Arms 1911s and ARs, we also build a name faster online via gun sales.

The up side: We start to build a name, faster. But more importantly, we begin to generate income, even if it is modest, so that we don't simply sit idly by and watch as the Investors bank account goes down and down with nothing coming in.

I am not fond of bank accounts that get smaller, as a general rule. ;)

We already have several dealer accounts with gear suppliers. Establishing accounts with a few more would be easy, and we could nominally outfit a shop. We would not use III Arms money to fund this venture, beyond the nominal money III Arms will pay anyway for rent. Holly and I will cover start-up costs. We have several FFL 01's amongst our III Patriots, one of whom may be interested in walking into a turn-key shop.

Here is the one detail that will make or break the concept: Holly and I can't invest enough money at this point to stock the shelves with a full array of firearms. That's a hefty investment.

If we decide to move forward with this project, we will put out the call to you III Patriots to look in your gun cabinets and find a firearm or two that you would offer the shop so we can fill the shelves. You can contribute your firearm outright, with no expectation of return, or you can donate it with a consignment price set. When the piece sells, the shop will send you the consignment price you have set.

If we do this, III Arms Company will have immediate revenue, even if modest, which will help with marketing our III 1911s, ARs and other offerings.

Are you willing to donate one of your firearms to a III Gun Shop?

We could even expand this shop to include used but servicable gear, a thrift store for Patriots/Adventurers/Hunters, of sorts.

Please discuss it here on this thread.

Yours in Liberty.

Kerodin
III

14 comments:

  1. First K, I'm still filling out my gun "needs", as I've only been into guns for a year or two, and my husband is not a gun nutter, so I don't have anything to donate or sell. He keeps telling me I have enough guns, but I don't. :)

    "We could even expand this shop to include used but servicable gear, a thrift store for Patriots/Adventurers/Hunters, of sorts."

    I think the above is a great idea. Unless gas goes up really badly, I would even donate some time every week to work the shop. Would I have to have a FFL 01 to help in the shop? I would also donate my time to clean and/or repair items we got in, and merchandise them. I do have some merchandising in my checkered past.

    Of course, I will be buying guns from our company too.

    Miss Violet

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    1. I am a hardcore Capitalist. Whatever brings customers into a given shop is beneficial to the concept of Liberty and Free Enterprise.

      What's that mean?

      Elderb erry wine and jams of any flavor in the corner of a gun shop are completely legitimate offerings, at least as valuable as Hoppes gun oil. ;)

      K

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    2. Oh, I can be all over that. ;)

      Miss V

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    3. You could offer baked goods, kind of a Guns N Buns thing. :-) You might need to check on all of the government regs on selling food stuff. Health certificate, does it have to be a commercial kitchen, etc. It differs from state to state, but small batch goodies are usually not as tightly regulated. Yet another reason to get as many III into local offices as quickly as possible.

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    4. "Guns n' Buns"..... ya' can't get more original (small town) than that!!
      Yeah.... I like it! ;-)

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  2. I have some stuff I could chip in. =) Might even find a way to make it a tax write off. lol. I'll keep an eye out at local gun shows for some good deals, maybe if we get some decent inventory some of our gun guys can pretty them up a little for sale.

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    Replies
    1. Exactly right. My first choice for our FFL 01 needs to make sure he doesn't take a financial hit, since he has a family to provide for - but he is very capable of making old pieces pretty and spiffy for sale. ;)

      K

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  3. Sounds like a good idea to me. Every good brewery has a tap room, why not a gun shop for III Arms?

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  4. What is going on with that Federal civil suit you filed in Maryland. How are you going to deal with that from Idaho ? You know....things like discovery and preliminary hearings, etc.? Is the suit settled or ongoing ?

    BTW....never read anything from you regarding the November excursion to Capitol Hill. Is that a dead issue ?

    Sam, you''ve got a lot of irons in the fire.

    DAN III
    "There are Enemies Amongst Us"

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    1. Fed case is still grinding through the system. The Judge has a motion on his desk (since April) that he'll get to at some point. We'll remain residents of Maryland until it is ober, or perhaps have the case moved to Idaho.

      November is still a Go, though we need to discuss it soon for tone.

      A/C project is progressing smoothly.

      Many irons indeed.

      K

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  5. You might get more action soliciting consignments rather than donations.

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  6. What I'm understanding, the FFL is for the shop or even a sole proprietorship. Anyone in the employ of the shop, if they are legally able to handle firearms (age/restrictions) they can act under that FFL license.

    Meaning that III Arms Company with a FFL, anyone in the shop being a verifiable employee of III Arms Company, can operate the shop while the boss is out hunting tear-ryst liberals or promoting the III ArmsCo brand at shows across the country.

    That's the information I'm gleaning from my local shops. My current set-up, I'm one person but anyone who I'd hire to do the work can act on the companies behalf.

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  7. I like the gun shop (possibly gun repairs/upgrades as well) idea. May be able to contribute or consign something to the III store in order to help give it a "kick start".
    Coeur d' Alene is a good location. A few shops and an indoor shooting range in town presently.

    ReplyDelete

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