Are there firearm business consultants?

D

Davey

New member
I'm currently making some plans to create an online service in the firearms industry. It will not involve selling firearms.

I have a lot of concern as to the feasibility of my idea and would like to run it past at least one consultant well versed in the firearms industry.

I know that there are at least several members who are in a related business. I'm hoping one of you can recommend someone.

Thanks

David
 
Prospective training students and training professionals.

It'd be a service to help people get signed up for training classes, marksmanship, hunter safety etc
 
I spent many years working for a big accounting firm (one of the old Big 6) that also had a consulting arm. Those guys told me many times that the first thing a business owner will typically ask them when we were trying to sell consulting services is "What other corporations in my industry have you actually helped".

In other words, you are going to have a hard time convincing firearms business owners to spend good money buying your advise if you haven't got a proven track record. They are not going to pay money for you to learn on their dime.
 
Contact the national shooting sports foundation in Newtown, Connecticut.

Yes there are consultant. Manufacturing, export/import, marketing, etc, etc.
 
I spent many years working for a big accounting firm (one of the old Big 6) that also had a consulting arm. Those guys told me many times that the first thing a business owner will typically ask them when we were trying to sell consulting services is "What other corporations in my industry have you actually helped".

In other words, you are going to have a hard time convincing firearms business owners to spend good money buying your advise if you haven't got a proven track record. They are not going to pay money for you to learn on their dime.
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It won't be a consulting service. That is good to know though. Thank you

Contact the national shooting sports foundation in Newtown, Connecticut.

Yes there are consultant. Manufacturing, export/import, marketing, etc, etc.
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Really? Sweet, that sounds like a good bet. Thank you much as well.
 
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Davey said:
Prospective training students and training professionals.

It'd be a service to help people get signed up for training classes, marksmanship, hunter safety etc
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Davey said:
I'm working on something that will help people get firearms training
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Honestly, I'm having trouble getting a feel for your plan. If I understand your posts, you want to be a go-between connecting people seeking training and trainers? My questions for you would be:

1) Who would you target as your customers- trainers or trainees?
2) How do you plan on selling your services to your customers?
2a) What will you be doing that they aren't doing?
2b) What will you be doing better than your customer?
2c) How will your service generate a profit for you?

If nothing else, answering these questions will help you flesh out your plan.
 
Waiting for your response to JimmyR. If your answer is "thats what I want a consultant for" then you are truly doomed.
An idea is not a business.
Is no one else doing what you propose or do you think you can do it better?
Have you seen it done elsewhere (successfully) and don't think anyone is doing it in your area?
So many questions need to be answered. I'm sure others will have more.
 
I'm not going to go into much detail on what my plan is so far but I am taking everyone comments into consideration.

I called and left a message with the NSSF. I'm hoping talking to them isn't outrageously expensive.

Thanks everyone.
 
The problem with any such service is knowing the market in a given area.

An example my local club has an excellent range, indoor and outdoor but people aren't interested in target shooting. Concealed carry classes? Wyoming doesn't require permits. If you want one, all you need is a Hunter's Safety Card, DD214, etc. So no reason to jump through hoops advising on those topics.

Rapid City is close, lots of action type shooters (USPSA, 3-Gun, etc), plenty of knowledge there already,

Long Range Precision, Gillette, Evanston has lots of interest but lots of knowledge.

Frankly I don't see a market for firearms related consultants. The info is out there, free for the asking, on this and other firearms forms. The CMP Army Marksmanship Unit, and the NRA has free information, As do others.

I'm sorry maybe I'm missing the point of the question. If you're looking to have a for-profit business in firearm consultants, I don't see the need or market. If you're looking to provide free info, then welcome to the crowded field, always can use different opinions.

As for Firearms training, seems anyone who was a cop or in the military has started a firearm training business. Which is fine, I believe requardless of what experience you have I think you can learn something from all of them, good or bad instructors.

My opinion is I don't want to see shooting sports or self defense to become a rich mans game. I like to stir people to the free info.

Not to brag but to prove a point, I've been in the firearms instructor game for a long time, Took my first Instructor training class in 1976 or 77 (FBI LE Instructors development course) Sniper instructor, NRA LE Rifle Instructor, NG MTY Coaches clinic, CMP Master Instructor course to name a few and have been instructing for nearly 40 years, and I still do.

BUT: I refuse to charge one penny for any course I conduct. I think a single mother who has feed her kids, shouldn't have to take food out of her kids mouths to learn to protect those kids.

I like to keep to the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt, the DCM/CMP in that every citizen should be taught the use of our military's arms.

In short, If you want to have an for-profit business, good luck, I don't think the market is there, if you want to provide a free service, then I say welcome to the crowd.
 
If you want to help people and trainers mesh, you want to produce scheduling software.

Something that handles:

Marketing
Scheduling
Signup
Payment
Pre-requisites
Assessment of skills
Staffing
Range/facilities scheduling
documentation automation
tax document automation

You want something that handles timing and scheduling across the industry and is inexpensive to use, but focuses more on earning you a portion based on each successful transaction processed.

Give me a PM if you want to talk.
 
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