Hope for the hobby shop

[fliers1]

I ran a hobby shop a few years ago and kept the doors open by giving customers RC flying experience on an RC flight simulator in my store.

Most customers claimed they weren't interested but I insisted that they allow me to give them some stick time on the sim. All of a sudden they became at least interested. Then I would convince them to come to our flying field a few miles away. After 15 minutes of flying my trainer, they became very interested. Using my promotion/teaching method they flew very skillfully and landed with minimal assistance from me. The icing on the cake is that they are learning how to teach as their learning experience is fresh in their minds, so it's easy for them to pass it on to anyone else. What any member of the industry could do is send a representative to my flying field and I can teach him how to use this method so they could do the same in their hobby shop. That way, they won't have to depend on anyone else to bring in customers for their business. Any club could do the same, that is if they want new members. It puzzles me why anyone would have a problem with my Hope for the Hobby Shop plan. The same goes for all of those beginners and potential beginners. This worked very well for me for several decades. AMA has known about it since 2004 and did nothing.

 

[Piotrsko]

AMA was/is a NIH outfit. Their way or we don't want you. Bitter: me? How could you think that? They never showed up when LA county closed Sepulveda basin, Redondo Beach restricted slope on Avenue B, or PV west outlawed bluff cove for non property owners. They said: "sorry, too busy in congress keeping flying fields open"

Hard to compete when you can get anything tomorrow on your doorstep for half local price.

 

[fliers1]

AMA was/is a NIH outfit. Their way or we don't want you. Bitter: me? How could you think that? They never showed up when LA county closed Sepulveda basin, Redondo Beach restricted slope on Avenue B, or PV west outlawed bluff cove for non property owners. They said: "sorry, too busy in congress keeping flying fields open"

Hard to compete when you can get anything tomorrow on your doorstep for half local price.

If I didn't give my local customers a club discount, that I couldn't afford, even my fellow club members would either buy mail order or travel to another hobby shop 30 miles away which had been open for over 60 years and much better stocked than mine and say they got a better deal with them. They didn't seem to realize how much money they spent on gas and traffic headaches. My other plan is to get VIPs, celebrities, government officials, local and national to give them 20-minute RC flying lessons so if they get hooked on the hobby, they will have skin in the game to fight for the hobby/sport. I've already done so with our high school principal and our Mayor. My main problem is my club will not send beginners to me, why? I had no idea, so when the principal and Mayor asked my fellow club members for their opinion of my promotion method, you can guess what club members said.

 

[Mr NCT]

you can guess what club members said.

What did they say?

 

[fliers1]

What did they say?

They were told not to pay any attention to me. I got that from one of my students who recently joined the club.

 

[fliers1]

Rc Flight instruction without a BuddyBox - YouTube

 

[HVB79]

It puzzles me why anyone would have a problem with my Hope for the Hobby Shop plan.

Because your plan only applies to a pre-internet world. It has no relevance in the internet e-commerce age. A small local hobby store can't stock the selection or match the pricing of the many specialty hobby specific websites to say nothing of the non-hobby specific sites like Amazon. Internet e-commerce changed the landscape, there is no going back to pre-internet 1994.

By your own admission your hobby store plan failed:

If I didn't give my local customers a club discount, that I couldn't afford, even my fellow club members would either buy mail order or travel to another hobby shop 30 miles away which had been open for over 60 years and much better stocked than mine and say they got a better deal with them. They didn't seem to realize how much money they spent on gas and traffic headaches.

 

[fliers1]

Because your plan only applies to a pre-internet world. It has no relevance in the internet e-commerce age. A small local hobby store can't stock the selection or match the pricing of the many specialty hobby specific websites to say nothing of the non-hobby specific sites like Amazon. Internet e-commerce changed the landscape, there is no going back to pre-internet 1994.

By your own admission your hobby store plan failed:

I did not say my hobby store failed, I said that my club would not buy from me, there are a lot more people out there who did come in and I convinced them to get into the hobby because I offered something that no other related business offered, which was readily available flight training service at their convenience. My business did great for the 10 years I was open. I am offering any related business to send representatives to my flying field so I can train them how to use my mass and rapid growth plan. RC aeromodelling businesses already spend thousands of dollars for full-page color ads and consulting fees. How much would it cost them to come to my flying field for a couple of hours to learn something that will guarantee an ROI, which doesn't happen with full-page color ads and consulting fees? AMA is a perfect example as they are losing over $700,000 annually. They may be able to hang on but losing that much money is unsustainable in the long run.
I'm not even charging anyone anything if they take me up on my offer. It just may take one member of the industry to take me up on my offer to get the ball rolling, that is if it works like I know it will and the industry member doesn't wish to pass what he learned to anyone else. One person who simply watched as I trained his father-in-law for an hour, learned my method and got several of his friends into the hobby and had them flying very skillfully within 15 minutes. If someone was curious about my method and asked you for your opinion, what would you tell him?
Horizon Hobby or Sig Manufacturing would be a good example or even AMA. Throw it up against the wall and see what sticks.

 

[fliers1]

Ben learned this unique RC flight promotion/instruction technique within 30 minutes while watching me train his father-in-law. Connect the
dots.

Hi Clarence,


Good to hear from you again - my apologies for my delay in response, been quite busy with work and such. If I didn't have to work all the time, I would have more time to build and fly planes!



I will definitely post about my experience with your technique. I can say that I had first-hand experience over this weekend with it, as I was out at my friend's place with my Slowpoke Sport 40 on Sunday. I used your technique to have their 9-year-old son flying (almost) hands off from me in ~10 minutes. I think he could use a couple more lessons, but after those 10 minutes he was starting to get the feel for the controls (and loved flying it!). My friend flew, and he was hands-off with me in about the same amount of time (this was his 2nd time). His wife also tried it out and was virtually hands-off from me in the same ~10 minutes. A few more lessons and I think they will be able to have a go at it themselves while I just watch. I lost a wheel after the last landing due to a bumpy field, but we managed to find it and the wheel collar (magically - it was quite hard to find!).



John and I are planning on doing some more flying before the weather gets too bad, I have his prop fixed and he's ready to go. Have to teach him how to take off and land, but I think within a few lessons he can have that down. I've been patching up my grandfather's Taube 40 (picture attached), if I'm lucky and if the weather cooperates I'm hoping to fly it at least once this year.



I'll do the best I can to get people interested in the hobby - my friend is getting all of his grandfather's planes and is going to fix them up. He's always been interested in it, just never had the time or access to do it previously. Now that he has his own personal field, and a buddy (me) that can teach him how to build and fly, I think he's going to have a great time. John also enjoys the times we've gone, so I think he's going to continue as well. Most of my own friends that I've talked to have thought all of the planes are cool, so I'm trying to get them out to the field and put the controller in their hands. The largest obstacle for my friends and I is scheduling and finding a few spare hours... too many life responsibilities...



See you at the field!

 

[HVB79]

My business did great for the 10 years I was open.

What year did it close?

I am offering any related business to send representatives to my flying field so I can train them how to use my mass and rapid growth plan. RC aeromodelling businesses already spend thousands of dollars for full-page color ads and consulting fees. ...

Horizon Hobby or Sig Manufacturing would be a good example or even AMA.

The original post is titled "Hope for the hobby shop" not "Hope for the hobby manufacture".

 

[fliers1]

What year did it close?


The original post is titled "Hope for the hobby shop" not "Hope for the hobby manufacture".

My shop closed in 2010, I'm not certain of that date.

Reaching for straws are we" Your words. How is your position good for the hobby/sport in general? Suppose Amazon sent a representative to my flying field and found that they could drastically increase sales using my method. It could happen. There are probably many members of the industry reading these pages.

"Because your plan only applies to a pre-internet world. It has no relevance in the internet e-commerce age. A small local hobby store can't stock the selection or match the pricing of the many specialty hobby-specific websites to say nothing of the non-hobby-specific sites like Amazon. Internet e-commerce changed the landscape, there is no going back to pre-internet 1994."

 

[bisco]

there is a hobbytown about 20 miles from me. they do a great job and the place is stocked to the rafters.
their prices are the same as the internet.
of course, you can't get the variety of tidbits on places like amazon, but they have all the essentials and more.
it's like flite test, you support them because they are an important resource.

 

[fliers1]

there is a hobbytown about 20 miles from me. they do a great job and the place is stocked to the rafters.
their prices are the same as the internet.
of course, you can't get the variety of tidbits on places like amazon, but they have all the essentials and more.
it's like flite test, you support them because they are an important resource.

Hobby Town stores would be great for the use of my method. Anyone or all could send representatives to me to learn my method. Once one store had employees who learned my method, they could have a Realflight simulator kiosk in their store to give customers an RC flying experience and when HT HQ found out, they would suggest other HT stores do the same. When we had a mall show years ago, I had my Realflight simulator set up and gave dozens of mall customers an RC flying experience. Our club gained a lot of new members that way and I brought in a lot of new customers for my store, especially when I promised to give flight training at their convenience. Yes, I was busy that summer.

 

[HVB79]

My shop closed in 2010, I'm not certain of that date.

The reason I ask is because the attachment you posted is from 20 years ago and 2010 is 14 years ago. The business environment has done nothing but get more challenging for brick and mortar businesses over that time span. If your business plan is really that good then you should be able to point to a current profitable example. Not something that has been shuttered for 14 years.

 

[fliers1]

The reason I ask is because the attachment you posted is from 20 years ago and 2010 is 14 years ago. The business environment has done nothing but get more challenging for brick and mortar businesses over that time span. If your business plan is really that good then you should be able to point to a current profitable example. Not something that has been shuttered for 14 years.

I have a proven viable plan but have not been able to get any traction from the industry. I've been trying for decades but keep running into skeptics, cynics, and pessimists who refuse to pass the word. I can't get any support from anyone, including AMA which has known about it since 2004. You can lead a horse to water, but you can make it drink. Will you help me out by sharing my information with any member of the industry? My goal is to help the RC aeromodelling community to survive and grow, what's yours? It seems your plan is to poke holes in my plan. How does that help anyone? I want to help brick-and-mortar businesses.

 

[HVB79]

there is a hobbytown about 20 miles from me. they do a great job and the place is stocked to the rafters.
their prices are the same as the internet.
of course, you can't get the variety of tidbits on places like amazon, but they have all the essentials and more.
it's like flite test, you support them because they are an important resource.

If you have a local hobby store that actually stocks what you want to buy that is great. I would rather support the online specialty hobby stores that do stock exactly what I want to buy, or buy directly from the manufactures who run their own websites like the FliteTest store.

 

[Tench745]

I'm not sure why folks seem to be taking umbrage with the original post. By my reading fliers1 is simply suggesting that offering effective flight instruction adds value to what a local hobby shop can offer and has the added benefit of growing the hobby.

 

[HVB79]

I have a proven viable plan but have not been able to get any traction from the industry. I've been trying for decades but keep running into skeptics, cynics, and pessimists who refuse to pass the word. I can't get any support from anyone, including AMA which has known about it since 2004. You can lead a horse to water, but you can make it drink. Will you help me out by sharing my information with any member of the industry? My goal is to help the RC aeromodelling community to survive and grow, what's yours? It seems your plan is to poke holes in my plan. How does that help anyone?

You really need to decide if you are pitching a business plan to make money or a non-profit. It can't be both.

If your idea can't withstand a few softball questions like what I asked in this thread it is going to get ripped to shreds by any business leader from a big company who you want to invest money in it. If your idea is truly a good idea then it deserves and could withstand some hole poking.

Your actual idea appears to be a specific type of flight instruction and has basically nothing to do with local hobby shops, Amazon, or Horizon Hobby.

If you really want to promote your idea you don't need a big corporate sponsor. What you need to do is:

1. Go make a good YouTube video. Any basic cell phone video will blow away the video quality of your current video. Cost: $0 + some of your time
2. Build a basic WordPress website to cover everything about your idea. Cost: $50
3. No one cares at all that a district VP from the AMA thought the idea was interesting 12 or 20 years ago. they do a terrible job presenting your idea. There is no point in even posting that. If you had a good video and a basic website you would not need to do that.
4. Stop tying to promote it as a way to make money if it is really a passion project to help the community.

 

[fliers1]

You really need to decide if you are pitching a business plan to make money or a non-profit. It can't be both.

If your idea can't withstand a few softball questions like what I asked in this thread it is going to get ripped to shreds by any business leader from a big company who you want to invest money in it. If your idea is truly a good idea then it deserves and could withstand some hole poking.

Your actual idea appears to be a specific type of flight instruction and has basically nothing to do with local hobby shops, Amazon, or Horizon Hobby.

If you really want to promote your idea you don't need a big corporate sponsor. What you need to do is:

1. Go make a good YouTube video. Any basic cell phone video will blow away the video quality of your current video. Cost: $0 + some of your time
2. Build a basic WordPress website to cover everything about your idea. Cost: $50
3. No one cares at all that a district VP from the AMA thought the idea was interesting 12 or 20 years ago. they do a terrible job presenting your idea. There is no point in even posting that. If you had a good video and a basic website you would not need to do that.
4. Stop tying to promote it as a way to make money if it is really a passion project to help the community.

RC Flight instruction without a BuddyBox - YouTube

ABC Hobby Shop

You missed my other post when I said I was doing this for free.

So, I guess I should thank you, the marketing expert, for prepping me with softball questions. All I really needed was for someone to discuss it with me in a positive manner and come to my field for 2 hours, not a huge investment. Once more so you won't miss it again, I'm not looking for a cent, just trying to help our hobby/sport to survive and grow. This is my plan, what's yours? AMA could've taken advantage of this 'good idea ' 20 years ago and saved the $30,000,000 they squandered. Imagine 170,000 AMA members using this method 12 or 20 years ago. It's promotion and marketing I'm pitching not necessarily flight training, which is the tool for my hands-on marketing plan. But according to you, nothing I do would be good enough. You will find fault with it. A HobbyTown owner knew about my method but was told by local clubs to ignore it. How do I work with that?
AMA is begging club members to help the AMA and here I am for decades having to beg and argue until the cows come home to help them.

 

[HVB79]

Considering you have been at this for 20+ years without achieving your goals for the project maybe it is time for a new approach.