About three years ago, I looked into opening an indoor range. It's way easier, cheaper, and faster to buy an existing range, bulldoze or upgrade the range (depending on its age), and then rebuild. The reason is permit and debt service issues. It's way easier and more certain to get permits to upgrade an existing range than to get permits to build a new range.
The permit process costs money. Not only are there direct costs, such as lawyers fees, and application fees, etc, but the largest cost is the debt service payments while the permit process happens. Add in property taxes on the land. Every month that goes by costs money, and the permitting process for an indoor range is not easy.
If the permit is denied, you're stuck with the land and the debt payments and taxes. One way around this is to find a motivated seller who will allow or sell for an option on the land, pending the contingency that permits are approved. That's impossible if the land is good real estate (you can't get prime middle of the city land for a gun range because of the noise).
A modern 20-30 lane range, built to be competitive, will cost about $10,000,000 (in or around a major metro city). If you're thinking that you want to build a cheaper range, don't do it, unless you want to be poor and struggle for the rest of your ownership tenure.
If you want to be professional and business like, and not just do business blindly, and if you want to qualify for financing, you need a feasibility study. You will find that while the average consumer is price sensitive, they are willing to pay for a high quality service. By building a nicer facility that's high quality, you will attract women, younger customers such as millennials (who are surprisingly pro gun and are willing to spend), and families. These are the people who will propel your business to the next level.
The other reason for a higher end range is that the older ranges have less debt service to contend with, so they can always undercut you on price. Old ranges can compete on price, while you, as a new range, with your new mortgage and debt service, can not. So if you build, let's say a low end economical range for $5,000,000, your range will look and feel like the old ranges your area, but you'll be competitively handicapped because you have more debt than all the older ranges who have had the benefit of existing for decades. More debt means you have to price goods and services higher than your competition. Consumers will only pay higher prices for goods and services if you offer a higher quietly experience that counts as added value, but since your range looks and feels like an old range, consumers will not pay you more money for the same item.
If you're thinking that the town/city has no other range, and that you'll be the only range, that's a mistake. You always have to anticipate future competition. That's why you want a high end range. You can compete against the future competition, if it arrives.
The range itself makes no money. It's a loss leader. It attracts shooters and customers who then buy other goods and services. You're in the retail business, like it or not. If you have good sales people, you'll make money. If you and your staff suck at sales, the range time isn't going to cover the bills. You need to monetize everything possible.
If it's your first range, I think it's just easier and less risky to buy an existing range and cut your teeth on it. There are so many advantages to that route. Later, when you have a revenue stream and experience, then build your new range (if you're asking on a forum, then you have no experience). The hard part of this strategy is finding the range to buy, and since for-sale indoor gun ranges aren't common, you might have to move to a part of the country that you don't want to live in. If you're thinking that you don't have to live there, and that your trusted manager will manage it for you, so that you can be an absentee...I say...hahahaha. It's possible to be an absentee owner, but you need to hire an efficient management group. Small business solo gun ranges don't have the margins to hire an elite management group, so you're on your own.
Maybe it's just my limited sampling, but I haven't met any range owners who became multimillionaires on their range ownership. It's not a high margin or highly lucrative business, but it can be successful if done right.
Good luck!
