So, It’s Time To Start An Axe Throwing Business? Great Plan!
How do you set about starting a new axe throwing business? Here is guidance on how to create a plan for a great axe throwing business
You’ve decided to start an axe throwing business, but where do you start? As with any business, the best place to start is with a plan. In this first Sharing The Axepertise guide, I will discuss how to plan to build a great axe throwing business.
Fortunately, we live in an age where business planning is regarded as a fluid activity that is constantly developing. I say fortunately, because in times gone by, the received wisdom was that a business plan was a weighty tome, created from hours and hours of painstaking toil (and usually out of date as soon as it was completed). Instead, what is far more productive is to consider the business plan as an evolving container of all the learning about the business. At the outset, this container “plan” will contain less, but that will change as you learn more.
Plans are worthless, but planning is everything
Dwight Eisenhower1
The initial collection of your thoughts focuses your attention on the many facets of the business that you are aware of. It also highlights all the assumptions you are making and helps you to grasp the things you don’t yet know (or at least that you are not sure if you know). Where is your axe throwing business going to take operate? Who are your customers? What about insurance, rules, regulations, etc? All these questions, and more, can be explored, helping to create a focused plan of action to address them.
Start With Why
Before we get down to the nitty gritty of planning, there is an essential question that needs to be addressed. Why do you want to start an axe throwing business? It is important to be honest about your motivation before creating your plan. A carefully constructed, bland business plan, with sensible-looking but ultimately vacuous content, may impress onlookers but it won’t actually help you to build your business.
Successful startup approaches will stress that the first question to address is something like: “What do customers actually want?”. It is good advice and it is essential to have a business that actually provides what your customers want. If you are too fixated on your own ideas of the perfect axe throwing business, you could end up building a business that only you like (which on the whole is a bad outcome). Your business plan should reflect that (and we will come back to this shortly).
However, few entrepreneurs set out to to create any old business. In reality, we do have underlying reasons for wanting to launch a specific type of business. Rather than ignore this bias, it is good to acknowledge what is driving us, from the outset. We can then accept that it will colour our approach and take care to not be so blinkered as to miss other opportunities that may come along.
Instead of asking, “WHAT should we do to compete?” the questions must be asked, “WHY did we start doing WHAT we’re doing in the first place, and WHAT can we do to bring our cause to life considering all the technologies and market opportunities available today?
Simon Sinek2
Why do you want to start an axe throwing business then? Are you an enthusiastic, competitive axe thrower? If so, your approach will be very different than if, alternatively, you were an aspiring entrepreneur who has noticed axe throwing is pretty popular just now, and wants to get in on the action. Neither motivation is more important than the other of course, or than any number of other things that might drive you, but it will inevitably affect your business plan.
My suggestion is to take a piece of paper (or digital pad) and write down: “The reason I want to start an axe throwing business is…<fill in the blank>”. Then, when you sit down to plan your business, this will provide a reminder of what you are hoping to achieve. (In addition, as your business progresses, this note will provide you with a reminder as to why on earth you decided to start this <fill in the blank> business in the first place!)
A Business Canvas To Focus Your Plan
No Business Plan Survives First Contact with Customers So Use a Business Model Canvas
Steve Blank3
The key thing to remember about creating a business plan is that the process of creating it is more important than the end document. The idea is not to create a document that looks good, but to analyse all the different factors that affect your business, so that you can decide how to proceed (and then review that plan on a regular basis as you learn more). To help in this analysis, it is useful to have a framework that guides your thinking through all the different factors you need to consider. Fortunately, there are a range of such frameworks, or business canvases, around that you can use. I like the Business Model Canvas, but there are other options available.
The Business Model Canvas is essentially a number of headings under which to consider different aspects of your business, such as Customer Segments, Resources etc. It is usually presented as single A3 sheet, with blank boxes under each heading in which you can write your notes.
The single page means that you can easily see a summary of your thoughts in one glance (rather than wade through a multi-page document). It also encourages you to keep your notes concise. The idea is to revise your canvas regularly, as you acquire more knowledge about your business, so concise notes are helpful. There are also a number of software tools that enable you to complete multiple versions of your canvas and store them online.
It is not essential to write it in this format (although that is usually helpful). The important thing is that you take each category in turn, seriously consider how it affects your business, and record a summary of your thoughts so you can refer back to them later. You can also use it is a tool to communicate your business plan with interested parties.
Theoretically, it doesn’t matter in what order you fill in the boxes, as long as you address them all. However, it is sensible to start with the customer (right-hand) side first and proceed in a logical order.
Completing a canvas is fairly straightforward and I shall endeavour to cover the gist here. In particular, I will point out points to consider in relation to creating an axe-throwing-specific business plan. NB: there are also plenty of other books and websites to provide guidance on business canvases if you want to explore them further.4
Customer Segments
Who are your customers? You may be tempted to say “everyone”, but there will be definite types, or segments, of people that will best suit your business. What are the characteristics of potential customers. Perhaps it helps to think in terms of posting a targeted ad. What age range might they be? What are their interests? Will they be local or travel to you? You will have to make assumptions, but over time you can experiment to see what kinds of customers are attracted, and target them further.
It may be that there is more than one customer segment that might be relevant to you. For example, if you live somewhere that attracts plenty of visitors/day trippers, that could be an area to explore, in addition to local residents in your area. Once you have come up with a list of potential customer segments, it is a good idea to trim it down to the one segment most likely to use your business. After all, if you can’t get them interested, why try with any one else?
Early on, it is worth doing a sanity check on your reason for starting an axe throwing business. If your customer segments don’t seem to line up with your vision of what the business will be, you might want to revise that vision. If you are not sure, there is time to experiment, but what you don’t want to do is plough on regardless. That is a risky strategy, and potentially costly if you can’t find anyone who is buying what you are selling.
‘Build and they will come’ is not a strategy, it’s a prayer
Steve Blank5
Who are typical axe throwers? In my experience, there are two broad camps: competitive and social throwers. Both of these can be broken down into further categories, for example a subset of social throwers could be something like ’20 somethings with no kids and surplus money to spend on social activities’. There will undoubtedly be specific variations unique to your location too.
Thinking about what each of your segments are looking for will help shape your business, so it is obviously essential to spend some effort on considering them. To complete the Customer Segments section, the kind of questions you need to ask yourself are: Are there particular types of people in my location who are likely to be interested in axe throwing? Are there people who already do axe throwing in other places near me? Does my location attract out of town visitors or mainly just residents? Which segment is likely to be the most enthusiastic about my business?
Customer Relationships
Having thought about what your ideal customer segment is, now consider what they are looking for in an axe throwing business. What kind of relationship will you have with them? Do you expect them to visit on rare occasions, eg birthday celebrations, or to visit repeatedly? Do you think they would prefer to be part of a community of axe throwers, or to dip in casually?
While, many axe throwers may well be sociable, ‘social throwers’ are customers who are likely to try out axe throwing for a fun night out. They may not care too much if they are any good at throwing (although pretty much everyone expects to stick at least a few). The activities you are replacing in their lives are things like ten pin bowling, escape rooms or playing pool et al. How will you interact with them to ensure they get the good time they want? Are there any additional products you could provide, eg a bar?
‘Competitive’ axe throwers, on the other hand, want to take axe throwing further than just a fun night out. They may join a league or enter competitions. However, their motivation may not be to compete against others per se. They may actually want to simply be in a club where they throw regularly to improve, and the competition is a side aspect. You might have defined this as a ‘hobbyist axe thrower’ as distinct from the ‘league competitor’ customer segment. In this case, the kinds of questions you need to ask yourself are: How do I create and build a community for these customer segments and: What will keep them coming back?
Channels
How will your customers find you and what channels will you use to market your business to them? For example, you might have a high street bar-type venue where customers simply drop in to your premises. Alternatively, you might expect your customers to book in advance through a website, which they’ve discovered through web searches or social media content.
Thinking about what channels your customer segment already uses is essential. If you are expecting your customers to be mostly over 30 then its probably not worth trying to reach them on social media that is mostly used by younger people, eg TikTok. You need to consider which social media may be appropriate, and whether you will manage it by yourself or get someone else to do it. You will also want to consider whether to use paid advertising and add that cost into your budget.
In addition to social media and websites, are there other channels that are available specifically in your location? For example, clubs with similar interests, business networking groups or local ‘What’s On’ newsletters. Consider where your potential customers already get their news and gossip from.
One channel specific to axe throwing that you could consider is affiliation. The two main hatchet throwing organisations, the International Axe Throwing Federation (IATF) and the World Axe Throwing League (WATL) attract axe throwing competitors worldwide into sanctioned leagues. There are also a range of axe throwing (inc tomahawk and double bit axe throwing) organisations that organise competitions nationally and internationally (mostly outdoors), that you could also partner with. All of these organisations can provide you with an opportunity to reach enthusiasts further afield.
Key Partnerships
It is unlikely that you will manage every aspect of your business yourself. It is a good idea to play to your strengths and if someone can do a job better, then let them. It is important to consider who are the key partners you will work with.
An axe throwing business may have a list of partnerships that are identical to other types of business. For example, business partners, consultants, lenders, marketeers, accountants et al. There are also partnerships specific to axe throwing. Suppliers of axes and related equipment for one. Also, timber suppliers (axes chop through plenty of wood) – unless you have your own supply.
If you are an experienced thrower, you might train your axe coaches yourself. Although not all throwers are good teachers, and if you don’t have the experience anyway (or little time) you may hire someone to do that for you. The same goes for customer service training.
If you plan to buy a franchise, or affiliate with an axe throwing organisation, then some of the hard work of setting up the business will be taken care of. Obviously you have to weigh up the cost of such a partnership against the benefit, to judge if it is worth it for you.
One further thing to consider is any software you might use. Websites, booking systems, score recording, and digital target systems, can all be built in house – if you have the relevant skills. However, they can also be outsourced to third party specialists, if you prefer.
Key Activities
What are the core activities your business is likely to perform? A typical (though not exhaustive) list of axe throwing business activities will be things like:
- Teaching customers to throw
- Providing safety instruction
- Booking customers in and taking payments
- Building targets
- Maintaining targets and axes
- Ordering new wood/equipment
- Training staff
- Staff management/rostering
- Bookkeeping and payroll
- Event organisation
- Creating and publishing marketing content
Depending on your partnerships, some of these activities may be handled by others. It is often useful to list each activity you can think of and then decide if you, or someone else, will carry it out.
Key Resources
Resources are everything you need to run your business.
These will include physical things, such as property, axes (obviously), and other equipment. It also includes any people who are necessary to run the business, such as axe coaches and reception/bar staff.
In addition, there may be less tangible resources that are just as relevant. For example, do you have any intellectual property, such as a patent for an axe throwing system (always handy!).
Cost Structure
Costs are always tricky to estimate at the outset, but it is obviously essential that you keep your costs in order, preferably to as little as possible to help you achieve what you need. There are a number of key questions to ask yourself to ensure you are clear of how your costs are structured.
How will you pay for the initial set up costs? Do you have the finance in place, or will it come from investors? You should be able to get pretty reasonable figures/quotes for the setup costs. This is important for communication with investors, but equally as important even if you are self-financing (to avoid costly mistakes by jumping in at the deep end). Setup costs will include the cost of a venue/delivery vehicle, axes/equipment, fit out materials and labour, marketing, software costs, and insurance (often a significant cost for an axe throwing business). Even if the costs are within your budget, it is still worth looking at possible cost reductions. If there are any savings to be had, it is always good to spend less, until you know exactly how much you will earn of course.
Another thing to consider is your fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs are the things you will have to pay regardless of how much income you have. Things like rent, loan repayments and fixed salaries. How will you ensure these costs can be met? What is the minimum revenue you will need to generate to stay in business? It is worth considering if any fixed costs can be made dependent on your income, ie become variable costs. It is also worth looking back at your lists of resources and key activities and considering which of these are the most expensive.
Variable costs will depend on how you operate. For example, businesses that are session-based (such as some axe throwing businesses) often employ casual employees to cover axe throwing sessions, rather than permanent employees. The cost structure will therefore reflect the fact that more bookings (and therefore more income) will incur proportional increase in costs (staff will be paid more if there are more bookings, and less otherwise). Estimates of the number of staff needed and the cost will be based on the estimated number of customers expected per axe throwing lane, per hour the business is open. Initially this will be an educated guess (preferably a conservative guess), but as the business progresses, more accurate estimates can be made.
There are other costs that could potentially be variable. For example, selling your axe throwing experience through other third party companies, can be structured so that you only pay a commission on sales. Similarly, software providers, eg for booking, payments or digital target software, may only take a percentage of your income subject to demand, rather than a flat fee. NB this may be good when you are getting going and have a lower income, but in time a flat fee might cost less. Utilities are partly variable, eg if your electricity is metered you pay partly foxed and partly what you use, so you will want to shop for the most relevant deal (unless you are an outside axe throwing range with no utilities of course). Water, in particular, is used a lot more in axe throwing than people expect (to dampen the targets). The cost of waste management is also often neglected, eg how do you dispose of your ex-targets as cheaply as possible? Some businesses give the wood away for firewood, if that is possible.
Revenue Streams
As an axe throwing business, your primary revenue stream is likely to be via bookings for an axe throwing session. However, now is a good time to take a long hard look at your expected Customer Segment/s. If you are looking at primarily competitive/hobby throwers then a pay-per-play model is probably the way to go. You might want to consider other revenue streams, especially if your Customer Segment is more social throwers. Food and drink are good options, or even other complementary activities, such as pool tables, gaming machines, rage rooms or escape rooms, etc. It is not unheard of for some axe throwing venues to make more through their bar than through axe throwing.
A business revenue model for the axe throwing activity will come down to a price per person or per axe throwing lane. As with any business, you will need to set this base price at something you can live with, while at a level you expect your customers to afford. This will obviously depend a lot on local factors, such as what other similar activities are in the area for your customer, including (but not only) others in the axe throwing business.
One thing to consider when charging per person, is whether to fill lanes up to a maximum. That is, some venues will say the max number of people on a lane is say 6, so if only 2 booked, they could end up sharing with 4 other people not on their group. There is an obvious advantage in that you don’t sell a whole lane for the price of just a couple of people, but that has to be weighed against how much your customers will enjoy throwing with strangers of course.
If you intend to run a competition/club type business, you might consider a membership model (like a gym membership).Throwers would pay a set amount (probably monthly) and get either unlimited throwing or a generous maximum number of throwing sessions. Some businesses have a tiered approach to memberships, eg bronze, silver, gold, with more throwing time/extra benefits for the higher tiers.
In addition to your core revenue stream/s, you could also have alternative revenue streams for specific customer segments. For example, you might have a special league price for weekly league players, or party/group packages for special occasions.
Value Proposition
The final section answer the question: What is the value that my business will provide to the customer segment/s I have identified?
As mentioned, it is not essential to complete the canvas in a particular order, but there is a sensible logic in leaving the Value Proposition to the end. Of course, as you work through the rest of the canvas, the concept of the value you will be providing has been percolating in your brain. It doesn’t just spring out of this last section, but hopefully is refined through the analysis of the other sections.
So, what is that you are proposing to offer your customers? And, as importantly, why would they come to you rather than go to some other business? Clearly, these are very subjective questions that only you can answer, but completing the canvas should help frame the answers into a realistic proposition.
One final note on value propositions. It is often the case that enthusiastic entrepreneurs will decide to offer the best and biggest product they can think of. This might pay off, but there is a risk that you could outlay a lot of money and find there is no market. It can be more useful to think about what is the absolute minimum you could provide (rather than the maximum) that would give some value to your customers. NB this is not about cutting corners and providing a shabby product. It is about spending as little as possible until you have proved people want what you are offering. For example, you might open a high quality but smaller axe throwing business venue (with a view to expansion later) or even a mobile unit or a one-off axe throwing event as an even lighter experiment.
What Happens With Your Plan Now?
So, you’ve created a business canvas and, through that process, have begun to plan how your business will operate. The next step is, of course, to go out and turn the plan into action. You should have a good idea of the value you want to provide to your target customer segment, and an idea of how to test whether they want it or not.
The big question of our time is not Can it be built? but Should it be built?
Eric Ries6
Of course, what your canvas does not answer is the question of whether you should go ahead and launch your axe throwing business! Only you can decide that, but what it certainly does, is provide a sounding board to help you think through all the relevant factors. With all the information to hand, you are then ready to decide how to proceed.
Assuming you decide to continue, now is the time to take the first step, to get out of the office and put your first offering in front of real customers. If they like it, you learn more about what they like and can build on that (continually using your canvas as a tool to record your learning). If they don’t like it, you still learn and can still build from that learning, pivoting to new opportunities as necessary. The only question is whether you are willing to take that first step!
- 1958, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1957, Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President, Remarks at the National Defense Executive Reserve Conference, Date: November 14, 1957, Start Page 817, Quote Page 818, Published by the Federal Register Division, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, Washington D.C. ↩︎
- Sinek, S. (2011). Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. Penguin Books. ↩︎
- Blank, S. and Dorf, B. (2012) The Startup Owner’s Manual: The Step-by-Step Guide for Building a Great Company. BookBaby ↩︎
- Eg: Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation. John Wiley & Sons. ↩︎
- Blank, S. (2013). The FourSteps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products that Win. Bookbaby ↩︎
- Ries, E. (2011). The lean startup: How today’s entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses. Turabian ↩︎
