Starlit Citadel

The 5 traits of a board game store entrepreneur

Having run Starlit Citadel for over a year now, we thought we’d take a tongue-in-cheek look at what it takes to launch a board game store from the ground up.

Courage

Everyone, and I mean everyone, will tell you this is a bad idea. Whether it’s your friends, local game store owners, family, your business advisor or random strangers on forum boards, they will all have an opinion. And it won’t be positive.

So buck up, get the painkillers ready and just do it.

Flexibility

I don’t mean physical (though if you started out on a budget like us, you will need that too to squeeze between your storage spaces) but mental. The external environment is going to change on you repeatedly and each time, it’s going to make all your well laid plans good only for packing your customers board games.

Whether it’s exchange rates getting worst or a recession or new competitors, it’s all going to change and you will need to adapt. Or fail.

Wealth

I won’t even start with the old saw about making a small fortune from a large one. To start out though, you will need capital. Lots of it. Whatever type of retail store it is, you will find a list of charges you would never think of - first and last month rent, lighting, shelving, bank charges, your salary, inventory, bookkeepers, lawyers, government licenses, taxes, marketing, IT, and on and on.

So pull out your check book and make sure you can write it all off. At least for a few years because you won’t see any of it back anytime soon.

Bookishness

Know anything about Quickbooks? How about Shareholder Agreements and Articles of Incorporation? Gateway charges? Line-of-credits? Distributor terms? Lease agreements? Insurance documents? CSS? Carpentry?

You’ll need to know all that and all the board games, role-playing games, miniatures, card games you stock. So you better get ready to put on your reading glasses and get learning.

Stubbornness

There are days where you will wander why; for less than minimum wage, you’re doing all this. You could be working 9 to 5, grabbing a good paycheck and hanging out with your friends playing board games. Instead, your working long hours stocking games, talking to distributors and customers, negotiating lower rates, figuring out what to do next week, next month, next year. And damn it, you aren’t even playing as much as you used to.

And you know what, you’re right. Right here, right now, it sucks. So you better be stubborn and willing to push through these dark days (and nights), because if not, you won’t ever get to the light one’s.

Got any other suggestions?

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