OV9

Jobbo wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 9:02 am

Gavster wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 8:29 am I’m quite surprised how many bases are covered between us!

Probably too many lawyers to be honest

Depends how bad our H&S is

(and forcing through the planning permission for Mito's shanty town)

Sundayjumper wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 9:24 am
Depends how bad our H&S is

@teacherboy Snr Director of Safety Briefings
@Explosive Newt - Trackside Medical Response Chief.

duncs500 wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 8:57 am I showed it to the wife, we're always fantasising about selling up and moving to Cornwall. Albeit not such a risky venture!

It's not a risky venture, it looks like a solid business with a good reputation if you can handle customers and the tourist season.

Gavster wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 9:41 am

duncs500 wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 8:57 am I showed it to the wife, we're always fantasising about selling up and moving to Cornwall. Albeit not such a risky venture!

It's not a risky venture, it looks like a solid business with a good reputation if you can handle customers and the tourist season.

An understandable view from an entrepreneurial type. I'm sure it's a perfectly viable business, but no business is immune from pandemics, recessions, or just plain old poor management (having never run a karting business can I legitimately say I'd do it well?).

To be fair, it's a million quid and you get a house to live in and a decent income from working over the summer.

With those margins it's very much an owner-operator business, as you wouldn't want to be paying a manager.

As I wouldn't want the liability of a bad injury coming back to me I'd very much favour the shanty town idea -
A have a fairly extensive list of unreliable Cornish builders, and can arrange site-wide fibre wi-fi and CCTV.

Rich B wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 10:37 am To be fair, it's a million quid and you get a house to live in and a decent income from working over the summer.

It's a lifestyle business though - not exactly scaleable. Worth doing it for a couple of years, expanding the off-season business to increase turnover and then selling for a profit.

Yeah it seems to be a very viable business based on the numbers quoted.

My mates dad (who was very entrepreneurial) had the kart track down at Prestwick as one of his sidelines years ago. You had to clear A LOT of sand from the track every winter to start the season off - so we were invariably dragged in with a shovel each for a few £squid. It was feckin hard work - better than any gym session.

I also worked there for 2 weeks one summer when I was about 19? Just me and my mate (same age). The challenging memories are the ones that always stick with you - I specifically remember

1. One group of wahoos (who looked pretty well out of it - 3 or 4 of them - who point blank refused to acknowledge the “come in - your time is up” board, and had to be stopped by blocking the track with tyres I think one of them suggested he was coming back to knife me, but he must have got distracted by something else.

2. One kid - approx 10 yrs old - smacking the barriers and smashing both front teeth on the steering wheel. Howled to his dad for comfort, who responded “get back fucking out there - I fucking paid £wotevah and you still have 4 minutes left”. Kid then passed the pits several times at around 80% pace - blinded by tears… dad was watching the clock, so we couldn’t even out the board out early to save him.

There were hundreds of perfectly pleasant punters too of course.

Jimexpl wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 10:43 am With those margins it's very much an owner-operator business, as you wouldn't want to be paying a manager.

As I wouldn't want the liability of a bad injury coming back to me I'd very much favour the shanty town idea -
A have a fairly extensive list of unreliable Cornish builders, and can arrange site-wide fibre wi-fi and CCTV.

Shanty town?! This place less than a mile north of it looks like Monaco

We can charge a ridiculous service charge too for cutting the grass

Jobbo wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 10:43 am

Rich B wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 10:37 am To be fair, it's a million quid and you get a house to live in and a decent income from working over the summer.

It's a lifestyle business though - not exactly scaleable. Worth doing it for a couple of years, expanding the off-season business to increase turnover and then selling for a profit.

exactly - you might be able to squeeze a couple more airbnbs or something in, maybe another stag do activity if you have the space, but it you just want to give up your existing life, move to Cornwall and own and operate a kart track, it's all there. You're not going to get rich off it, but you'll probably get good at karting!

The perimeter of the kart track is all mature trees. In the winter downtime I’d cut them in lots and sell logs and then set up a website where businesses/people can pay to offset their carbon.
Woodland owners now do this, you always replant the trees regardless but people are happy to pay £20 per sapling to offset 2 tonnes of CO2 and it would be rude to decline such easy money

mik wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 9:29 am

Sundayjumper wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 9:24 am
Depends how bad our H&S is

@teacherboy Snr Director of Safety Briefings
@Explosive Newt - Trackside Medical Response Chief.

In fairness I am entirely useless outside of a hospital. But over a decade working in NHS institutions means I am fully proficient in
- Printer repair
- Interfacing myriad IT systems that do not talk to each other
- Calling little old ladies "young lady"
- Endomyocardial biopsy

This unique set of skills has rather backed me into a corner, skills-wise, so I would be delighted for new opportunities.

Don't underestimate the value of calling little old ladies "young lady". Could be a new demographic to target in the karting industry!