Quote:
Originally Posted by maccawozzagod
They dont have to be exclusive to a matchday though Duncan. Taxi's for example, Yes they would have exclusive rights to ferry people away from the ground (away fans @ £5 to the train station), but they would operate 7 days a week and be advertising our name. Buses, Specifically to bring in the people from Clitheroe or Darwen or Haslingden. Not profit making on their own but it would bring 30 people to the ground earlier, and stop later thus incurring its own profit. They too could then be put to use for other things such as the academy, do we spend money on transport during training? they could also bid for school contracts as well.
As far as pubs or catering establishments are concerned, yes they would be competing with other businesses. As I said, there's nothing to stop you or me from opening a competing business so there's nothing other than goodwill to stop Stanley from doing it. Why not take over a failing town centre pub? It doesn't necessarily mean that it will fail under our banner but it becomes another town centre establishment where tickets and information can be obtained. It could also be put to use for conferencing type meetings in the mornings. It could also become a main town centre meeting point prior to Stan Lee Buses ferrying you all up to The Crown. A catering business (or the pub itself) can supply better food for the Corporate dining, it could supply food for the Stan Lee owned burger bars on the ground and any waste could be put to use the following day rather than just becoming a statistic on the loss ledger.
For me, it's not necessarily The blueprint for how our club can prosper, but rather an outloud thought about how we need to think outside of the box.
But I will run with it and expand on how the conversation would go at Board level.
"Accyweb, Macca come up with an idea about how we should buy up all the town centre businesses and compete with others"
"it'd cost a fortune and upset some of our sponsors"
"drop the idea?
"yep"
If upsetting some sponsors really is a consideration then we could find ways of working with them rather than against them. For example with the taxis, Max Cabs would charge £2.50 to the train station and I personally would aim for a fiver with away fans who would be the prime target. Max get exclusive rights and keep the £2.50. We get £2.50 for doing nowt. Max put our sticker on their cars and pay us for the privilege, we push their rank above all others (fans need to join in the push).
Another pub wouldn't harm the other pubs in the slightest, the lack of pubs means a worse nightlife thus less people go out.
Lancashire Life has a list of restaurants in the county that offer fine dining - there are no listings for Accrington at all.
Ilyas Khan had the idea that a new ground could incorporate a hotel (can't see itself meself), does Accrington need a hotel? Well let's build it under the Stanley name. We instantly don't need to spend money on putting new players up and we can earn money. Yes Travelodge have the brand name that would bring its own customers in anyway, but we have 23 opportunities a year to fill the rooms to away fans.
None of these ideas are necessarily the best ones, merely examples. Stanley could (in theory) rebuild the town all by itself regardless of what help the council could offer.
Where does the money come from? Any money put into the Crown Ground could in theory be wasted money. Whinney Hill stand does not need to be built, £660,000 could quite easily be invested into a handful of ideas that are collective nous could be brought to bear upon. Small businesses often don't appear fruitful for a long time as the owner can't invest enough money into it to get it off the ground at the right speed, it has to be done slowly and organicly, reinvesting profits rather than drawing wages. We in thoery could throw money at things to get them going right away and at the desired level of profit.
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I admire your optimism and get up and go however I'm not convinced with the business plan. You are right regarding £2.50 for Max Taxis and to be honest if they thought there was money to be made they would be trying it. Af for them paying £2.50 to get a £2.50 fare, they would be no worse not doing it.
I agree the bus service is rubbish after the game to catch the trains around half five and with government subsidies being cut down there buses could be a lot fewer and far between. Trading on the Stanley name probably wouldn't bear much fruit as there seems to be apathy around the town more than anything else.
The problem with pubs and restauraunts is the set up costs and if rented or mortgaged having to make the rent/mortgage first then a profit.
I certainly wouldn't dismiss your ideas out of hand but it would be interesting to see the costings. It is an unfortunate fact of life many small businesses struggle these days and I have had some experience of that with my step daughter who, some years ago wanted to open a small clothes shop in Dumfries. I went through the costings with her looked at potential income and expenditure including various things she hadn't thought of and it just didn't look viable especially since it was announced a Debenhams was about to open nearby.
She decided to give it a go and my wife and I helped when we could but ultimately it wasn't viable and she got out before losing any serious money and the experience did help but that was very small scale. The scale you are looking at would require major investment in terms of what we have and may need to be long term to be viable.
I agree about the new stand, it would probably be a bit of a white elephant most of the time due to location and will the nearby residents be a problem re planning permission?