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Within reason if you started up a field what would you do

Jul 23, 2011
84
0
16
So my sister was talking to me earlier i told her my plans for the future short term volunteer at a local paintball place and claim benefits (i have various disabilities including but not limited to chronic lazyness autism and dyslexia)

she suggested i start up a paintball place she said i could get a grant for it from the princes trust or something like that so it got me to thinking how i would run a paintball site and i also wondered how you guys would



i would have a price for entry for own gunners and they could bring there own paint

i would have special limited paint days mag fed pump etc every month or more

i would sell a years pass to people where they get a good discount for playing often

i would give discounts to players that seam trustworthy and don't stir **** up so i could use less marshals and encourage good sportmanship

i would have the option for players to use a thermal mask or air tank as a alternative and the choice of a better marker at a affordable price all the places i go to charge about £10 for using a damn tippmmann m16 rip of that costs only about £100

i would try to encourage trading players could lets say show up and list what stuff they want to sell and the aprox price they want and players could read this list and if they are interested they can start trading

have a set entry price for renters but they can get a discounts if they don't use some of the equipment provided

actually list important information on the websites opening times close times etc

list on the website what days we have other groups people can join

every once in a while have a free entry day where you only have to pay for air/co2 and paintballs at close to bought price to encourage people to try the place out

only hire people that actually play and enjoy paintball and can actually tolerate new players i used to go to delta force and except for one exception everyone who worked there had ether never played a game or had only played one game to see what its like another problem i have come across are grumpy old marshals who seam to barely tolerate the exsistance of the players whose default expression is a scowl

i would give the players the choice to buy of of me different types of .68 paint cheap stuff brittle paint thick shelled paint larger and smaller bore etc

give people the option to bring alternative calibers .50cal .43cal first strikes etc

also sell alternative calibers .50cal .43cal first strikes etc

have the option for people to rent pistols and sniper rifle mag fed first strike markers

allow people to buy low amounts of paintballs on walk on days one thing that puts me of walkons is that they all require you to buy at least 1000 paintballs and more often 2000 and i never use that much so it would go to waste

i would also try to make it a unique experience allowing the use of things like trip wire alarms underground tunnels fox holes etc

maybe allow the players to rent cheap radios or provide them to everyone

give promotions and discounts to players who refer friends

make an effort to advertise around places hand out fliers put up posters etc and explain why they should come here how other places *looks at delta force* will blatantly lie about how much it really cost to play

act heavy handed toward cheaters

properly explain the dangers of removing a mask, when i used to play at delta force they would tell you every time i went that if your shot in the eye without a mask on the paintball will destroy your eye and pass through into your brain and then come to a rest when it penetrates to the back of your head everyone realized this was bs so they just ignored them and i think it led to more people taking there mask of its not exactly unique whenever governments start a campaign against lets say weed and they air a bunch of adverts that blatantly lie the overall amount of weed users increase

try to balance newbie teams more effectively its great to dominate another team when you play paintball its fun to break even it ruins the day when every game you know your going to lose

provide free cleanwater, out of both the places i have played at they only offered free coffee and tea if you wanted just water you where **** out of luck you ether had to drink from a dirty hose or from the tap used to wash you hands after you go the the bathroom

maybe allow own gunners to play without a marshal with a added discount if they are a trustworthy group

maybe allow people on slow days to play using multiple game areas at the same time you could have lets say 6 game areas and 20 or whatever players and its a free for all or team objective based where one moment they could for example be fighting of a bunch of players in a pyramid to get a totem and the next trying to secure a fuel depot you would likely have to add a re spawning rule to make these long games work maybe the rule would be that they have to go to the nearest dead zone or a team medic or go up to the nearest marshal and maybe they have a limited overall amount of respawns

have re spawning as the default rule in most newbie games and on a vote in own gunner games the most common thing that makes a new player cheat is that they have been shot right of the break and don't feel like moping around the dead zone for the next 10 minutes until the game ends of the top of my head i cant remember any instances of cheating when i have played respawn games and that likely isn't just a coincidence

maybe do night games i once played a game where it quickly changed from day to night and it was really fun and atmospheric it would have to be done right though maybe have a rule like bounces count as hits so people wouldn't have problems with checking to see if they have been hit also have the dead zone lit up so people know where to go

alow ramping as long as they keep it at and under lets say 12.5 bps or 15 bps with new players and let it go to a vote when its just own gunners





that's all i can think of right now i think i have some good ideas in there

so what about you guys what would you do if you could run a paintball field

p.s sorry for any spelling mistakes lack of punctuation etc
 

choness2004

Member
Jun 13, 2013
47
4
8
31
First thing I would do is look for wether your buying or renting land.

You need to know location, how big, whether you can play lots of different types of games or just a few due to limited space, etc.

If you haven't got the right land with the right amount of space, with the right type of ground with good access and in a good area, then your paintball arena wouldn't be very successful.

That said good luck, I want discount ;)
 

Tom

Tom
Nov 27, 2006
4,076
1,210
198
Salisbury
www.TaskForceDelta.co.uk
Pipe dream or potential reality?
Don't take the following all as negative, just consider it some constructive advice (based on my opinions)
You have some good points in there


Contact UKPSF for advice on starting a paintball site

A few things you have mentioned will affect your insurance. You need risk assessments, policies and procedures in your proposition to the insurers:
Eg BYO paint, and various types / sizes
Some sites / events do BYO and some restrict to site paint only. Often it will still be site paint only for rental days.
This contributes to control of what is used on site and is a 'control' on the risk assessment on unknown paint, EG badly stored paint or hard winter paint on a summers day

Ramping etc, and the intent to let certain players out without a Marshall also impact on risk assessments and insurance

The final risk rating and the amount of things you have considered and prepared for set the insurers risk, and thus the policy price

Various sizes and types of paint can also impact on your bulk buying prices, need for storage, making sure you have enough stock of the right paint - and how long you have it held

You can have multiple marker options, but that also has cost options in bringing in stock, different parts and service requirements etc, longer cleanup and service times to employ staff to do after the rentals go home.
(There is a reason why 99% of rental sites use one of two different marker models)
A small number of upgrade options can be made available, but there is the other issue that every extra gun you buy could be another customer you can accommodate, buy a different 'upgrade' then that's not an extra customer -its just more choice. You can hope that someone upgrades,'but if they all only want Tipmanm 98s and you're one short who gets the free 'upgrade'?


With staff you do have the issue of who is available, who will keep working for the pay you offer (generally minimum wage), but you can up the pay for more experienced staff / as they progress /more responsibility. Once you get good staff there is also the issue of retention
Paintball does its main business at the weekend, people's lives change and they start to want their weekends free, passionate paintballers want to play paintball and to to events, they need to move on from weekend work to full time jobs, the weekday job becomes their main earner and is the priority. There are also full time workers who want a weekend job for extra money, but it stays lower in priority.
You will want different numbers of staff for different numbers of customers (and different types of customer)
This means many of your staff will be employed on a casual basis when required. It's hard to balance when they want to work and when you need them. You will have some reliable staff, and some not so reliable. You will reward the reliable ones with regular work, this leaves the less reliable ones to be relied on when you realy need more.

Balancing rental teams is an art form. The best Marshall's will also aid a side that needs it, and weight games to level things out

Potable drinking water is dependant on what is available to the site. This needs a clean source and is never impossible, but at times can be difficult.
With the examples you say about drinking from a dirty hose or the sink in the toilets is either not a problem or a real issue
If the water is not potable then it is not to be drank, if it is potable then there is no issue, an extra sink or standpipe would not be a real problem then

The size of game areas and crossing zones makes things interesting, but it also makes the group harder to manage & need more marshals
If you have a big group and extra Marshall's in to cover it then a bigger zone gives the big group space

This is common in scenarios - you take a standard rental site with an assortment of zones and then open up the whole site. Buffer areas that are used to seperate zones and pathways come into play. You think you know a site until you start wandering around treating it as an entire gamezone

Night games are interesting. If the players play them well they are great. If everyone just puts their torches on its ruined.
Bounces counting is pretty standard for night play

Everything is dependant on location and venue.
Do you own land, or rent from the landowner (EG extra land off a farm like the majority of sites)
Note - when you walk around a farmers unused land avoid being too excited about how perfect it is for paintball)

Is the land limited on how many game days (you need council permission, 'change of use', licenses etc - restrictions are often applied as part of these, especially when you introduce extras such as night play. Neighbours - no matter how far away from the village as they will get nosey and object to new things and bangs in the night)

You've covered unique features with night play and mag fed games. But also consider what can be different for your site. CQB, indoors, and 'experiences' are pretty hot at the moment. A problem when things go indoors is you suddenly get hammered with business rates, in addition to extra risks with slips and clearing up.
The woods can be left to slowly wash away the paint etc,(with sessions of wandering the site picking up pots, pyro etc), but buildings, concrete etc need to be cleaned
 
Jul 23, 2011
84
0
16
Pipe dream or potential reality?
Don't take the following all as negative, just consider it some constructive advice (based on my opinions)
You have some good points in there


Contact UKPSF for advice on starting a paintball site

A few things you have mentioned will affect your insurance. You need risk assessments, policies and procedures in your proposition to the insurers:
Eg BYO paint, and various types / sizes
Some sites / events do BYO and some restrict to site paint only. Often it will still be site paint only for rental days.
This contributes to control of what is used on site and is a 'control' on the risk assessment on unknown paint, EG badly stored paint or hard winter paint on a summers day

Ramping etc, and the intent to let certain players out without a Marshall also impact on risk assessments and insurance

The final risk rating and the amount of things you have considered and prepared for set the insurers risk, and thus the policy price

Various sizes and types of paint can also impact on your bulk buying prices, need for storage, making sure you have enough stock of the right paint - and how long you have it held

You can have multiple marker options, but that also has cost options in bringing in stock, different parts and service requirements etc, longer cleanup and service times to employ staff to do after the rentals go home.
(There is a reason why 99% of rental sites use one of two different marker models)
A small number of upgrade options can be made available, but there is the other issue that every extra gun you buy could be another customer you can accommodate, buy a different 'upgrade' then that's not an extra customer -its just more choice. You can hope that someone upgrades,'but if they all only want Tipmanm 98s and you're one short who gets the free 'upgrade'?


With staff you do have the issue of who is available, who will keep working for the pay you offer (generally minimum wage), but you can up the pay for more experienced staff / as they progress /more responsibility. Once you get good staff there is also the issue of retention
Paintball does its main business at the weekend, people's lives change and they start to want their weekends free, passionate paintballers want to play paintball and to to events, they need to move on from weekend work to full time jobs, the weekday job becomes their main earner and is the priority. There are also full time workers who want a weekend job for extra money, but it stays lower in priority.
You will want different numbers of staff for different numbers of customers (and different types of customer)
This means many of your staff will be employed on a casual basis when required. It's hard to balance when they want to work and when you need them. You will have some reliable staff, and some not so reliable. You will reward the reliable ones with regular work, this leaves the less reliable ones to be relied on when you realy need more.

Balancing rental teams is an art form. The best Marshall's will also aid a side that needs it, and weight games to level things out

Potable drinking water is dependant on what is available to the site. This needs a clean source and is never impossible, but at times can be difficult.
With the examples you say about drinking from a dirty hose or the sink in the toilets is either not a problem or a real issue
If the water is not potable then it is not to be drank, if it is potable then there is no issue, an extra sink or standpipe would not be a real problem then

The size of game areas and crossing zones makes things interesting, but it also makes the group harder to manage & need more marshals
If you have a big group and extra Marshall's in to cover it then a bigger zone gives the big group space

This is common in scenarios - you take a standard rental site with an assortment of zones and then open up the whole site. Buffer areas that are used to seperate zones and pathways come into play. You think you know a site until you start wandering around treating it as an entire gamezone

Night games are interesting. If the players play them well they are great. If everyone just puts their torches on its ruined.
Bounces counting is pretty standard for night play

Everything is dependant on location and venue.
Do you own land, or rent from the landowner (EG extra land off a farm like the majority of sites)
Note - when you walk around a farmers unused land avoid being too excited about how perfect it is for paintball)

Is the land limited on how many game days (you need council permission, 'change of use', licenses etc - restrictions are often applied as part of these, especially when you introduce extras such as night play. Neighbours - no matter how far away from the village as they will get nosey and object to new things and bangs in the night)

You've covered unique features with night play and mag fed games. But also consider what can be different for your site. CQB, indoors, and 'experiences' are pretty hot at the moment. A problem when things go indoors is you suddenly get hammered with business rates, in addition to extra risks with slips and clearing up.
The woods can be left to slowly wash away the paint etc,(with sessions of wandering the site picking up pots, pyro etc), but buildings, concrete etc need to be cleaned
Well i don't really plan to im 19 right now and i have never had a job but i was just thinking of how i would do it for fun, and you have some good points

one question do you by law need insurance i think i read somewhere you don't but you are open to lawsuits is that true
 

Tom

Tom
Nov 27, 2006
4,076
1,210
198
Salisbury
www.TaskForceDelta.co.uk
I don't think there is a legal requirement for insurance.
But one public liability claim will destroy you

Bear in mind that though at every site gets you to sign a waiver this does not stop site liability
The waiver is only a declaration that you understand it is a physical activity, that if you injure yourself that the site will not be held liable
Tripping over a tree root, or running into a tree would not be the fault of the site if you do not pay attention in the woods
But it would still be the sites fault if you are injured by their negligence

If you have staff (which you need to run a game) you become responsible for their welfare, and you become liable for their actions when performing duties

A thing to consider is would you want to go to an uninsured site?
There would be 2 reasons for this:
1) they are acting in a way that no one would insure them
2) they are saving on spending money on the premiums
The latter is a false economy, pay the insurance, treat it as a business expense and take it into account in costings to charge the customer
If the figures don't add up then don't go ahead at cutting the essentials
 
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x RENAGADE x 91

Platinum Member
May 10, 2007
444
39
38
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Bristol
If you employ people, marshals, reception staff, catering staff etc your require Employers Liability Insurance BY LAW, failure to do so can result in hefty fines (circa £5k+) or prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive. In line with this you will find it impossible to find an insurer that will offer you Employers Liability in Isolation, they morally deem you as high risk if you do not want to protect your assets or your business by having Public Liability insurance in place. In addition to this I would recommend cover for your equipment etc.. you could have thousands of pounds worth of guns, paint etc stored, if stolen over night, and your uninsured then you will be "up S*it creek."

I too (along with many other ballers) have a dream of 1 day making paintball my living, I would like to focus on a more sup air/indoor based aspect of the game, for training, tournaments etc but along with the regular scenario side to it as well. So all of the above makes some great reading and food for though on how to make a business unique, so good work so far.
 

Tony Harrison

What is your beef with the Mac?
Mar 13, 2007
6,516
1,874
238
So my sister was talking to me earlier i told her my plans for the future short term volunteer at a local paintball place and claim benefits (i have various disabilities including but not limited to chronic lazyness autism and dyslexia)

I would say the best person to advise you on opening a site is Missy Q. No lie, she will give you sound advice.
 

Rat

eating brick!
Sep 18, 2005
1,543
167
88
36
worcester UK
Personally I'd opt for an Indoor arena with an Astro on site for outdoor play.
Mix of Scenario and Tournament style fields.
Cafe/Food area.
Chill out lounge type area
Store
Locker room/Changing rooms
Full toilet facilities and all disabled accessible
 

Lighthouse

Active Member
Jul 24, 2013
49
6
28
Some sort of shower facility would be a good one to have. Would save me having to vacuum the inside of my car after every walk on. A place to clean your kit too as mine invariably gets left in a big heap for about a week when I get home and forget about it.

A decent pub nearby would be nice too. Somewhere you can have a decent slap up meal and a pint after an event.

Oh and yeah, the dancing girls :)