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Yea the one in Canberra was a Kickstarter. I backed it because it's 30 mins drive from my house.

Hi guy's, so we are bidding on 3 sites. Welwyn is the furthest we would go!
We attended Salute and the feedback was very positive from all we spoke to, we have now added a few new reward levels. We will be hosting weekend gaming events for £80 for the weekend ALL Inclusive of your Gaming over both days, Buffet lunch and a BBQ/Hog roast with entertainment on both evenings.
There is a basic membership as well, and everyone who becomes gets 10% off drinks and food. Once we also open the onsite shop as well we will be offering up to 35% off selected items.
the whole idea of the pub is to have 2 separate areas, One for public use, the other for Gaming, Painting, socializing ect. plus the studio will also be hosting workshop's, and offering painting lessons to all level's of experience. The gaming club itself will be open 7 days a week, from 9 am until 11 pm. we will only be closed on Christmas day and new years day (even we need a rest) and this is all just the tip of the iceberg.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1047430283/the-orcs-head

I see 5 people on the payroll so far. That seems excessive and expensive.
You'll need to clear £5,000 pcm after all other costs to pay yourselves minimum wage.

Between those involved you've only managed to save/raise/borrow/secure £60,000 over 7 years.

Doesn't look good to me, I think you need to do some hard maths on this and see if it will ever work.

There's a reason that GW don't already own something like this in London.

 Alex Kolodotschko wrote:
I see 5 people on the payroll so far. That seems excessive and expensive.
You'll need to clear £5,000 pcm after all other costs to pay yourselves minimum wage.

Between those involved you've only managed to save/raise/borrow/secure £60,000 over 7 years.

Doesn't look good to me, I think you need to do some hard maths on this and see if it will ever work.

There's a reason that GW don't already own something like this in London.

The idea started 7 years ago, in between working in other jobs, family life, and other bits it has been a long process to develop the concept, work out the financials ect and get a business plan developed and checked by a qualified accountant to make sure it's viable. we have done figures and so far none of us are being paid for what we do. we would not be advertising or running the Kickstarter if it were not a viable business. hope that helps

Fair enough.
Sorry to sound so negative but I've been through the mill.
I set up and invested much more than your proposed amount of money into setting up an all singing all dancing 28 table gaming club, coffeshop and gamestore in central Bristol, the costs are comparable to London outskirts. It worked okay for 3 or 4 years with some of the the best attendance in the UK but working for free or very little gets old quickly.
It was a huge miscalculation on my behalf and I was lucky enough to have a number of other businesses to help bail it out and to be able to feed, clothe and accommodate myself and one other staff member.
Feel free to pick my brains about any aspect either here or by PM and I'd be happy to advise.

Hi Alex,

Please don't think I took it the wrong way or meant to be rude in my reply, trust me, it has taken the 7 years to develop the idea and get everything worked out before we could think about launching the project!
We want to create a community hub but we also know we need to earn and generate money to make it continue. our plans are well laid out and we will be able to adapt to things as they come. the issue we have is getting everyone on side with us. We are not a big corporate body, we are just like you and everyone else on this site and many others. Your offer of advice is more than welcomed its what we want. this is, to be honest a chance to have a social hub for every gamer, hobbyist, comic book reader, magic player, cosplayer, Geek and sci-fi lover to be able to go whenever we want for a game, socialise, party or just for a drink that will not cost us stupid amounts of money. Most tabletop hobbies are not cheap, there are very few decent places to go and play and aside from Warhammer world nowhere has the gaming tables that we all deserve to be able to play on.
Think of it this way, to go to Nottingham, for instance, it will cost on average £65 for your return from London, then you have your event weekend tickets that can cost around £75, plus accommodation and food and drink. that is a lot of money. we have worked out a way to provide 150 to 300 people gaming tables (not empty tables but with painted scenery ect) food and your drinks for £80 for a Saturday and Sunday event. The beer is fresh, good quality food, and a great atmosphere with well run events.
we just hope everyone can get behind us.
Alex, please get in touch with us as we would really like your input and thank you for being so honest with your comments