thinking of opening a lil windsurfing shop

[huntsman]

So i know i just got into windsurfing but ever since i was little and saw the movies that had surf shops and stuff it would always get my attention. im thinking of selling used equipment, and i was also thinking i could go to the beach every weekend and set up a tent there and get some stuff out and see if anybody would be even interested. Plus i live in plainfield IL which about 1 hour away for chicago and 1 hour away from indiana beach where i go often and it seems that there really isint alot of windsurfing or actually water sport stores around here.

So i dont know it might be a neat idea, let me know what you guys think. Also i would probably get the equipment from craigslist and ebay than fix it up and sell it.

Well thats my idea for now. Does it sound pretty good?

[jingebritsen]

need lots of traffic where ever you set up. also need lots of gizmos beyond WS for the masses that have money, but are inclined to just watch. keychains to sports watches, you'll need to merchandise a lot of extra crap to pay your way. or, set up a resort, perhaps? good luck.

[huntsman]

well i was thinking at the beach since the beach is always filled with people over the weekends and even on the week. and good thinking about all the lil extra stuff like watches and key chains that didint come to my mind. thanks

[swchandler]

Setting up at the beach just might require some kind of formal approval from the city or county, to include a business license, and that might also require that you buy some kind of insurance to operate.

[isobars]

I can think of no way to permanently discourage someone from ever trying WSing again than by letting them 1) try old gear 2) without professional instruction right then and there.

Mike \m/

[huntsman]

i would offer lessons once i learn and get to a stage where i feel that i can teach it well.

and it really wouldnt be to old of a gear, clamp on booms, il try to get boards that have the joints that you slide into the slot and modern sails.

and for your 1) old gear, well not everyone has 1200 bucks just to blow off on a board and thats just the board plus you need all the other things. Well how about swap sales cheapest board they had there was on older mistral board for 250 thats asking to much, but yes sometimes they do have a good deal.

i bought older gear you seen it, i tried to learn on the 103ltr board and yeah iv fallen alot but ima always get up and for a couple seconds i did get it going and i was really happy, the only problem was that the wind was only gusting and it was not continues which is why it was hard to get it going but hey it tought me better balance.

And if you get discouraged so easily just cuz you dont have the newest gear then you shouldnt be even trying windsurfing in the first place, its all motivational and you have to like it to be successful.

And yes lessons do help but i pretty much self teach my self everything from reading a book on it or watching youtube videos i dont believe that you need profesional instruction, its by mistakes you learn but when you have the lessons they point out the mistakes to you where if your learning alone you gotta look for them and change the way you doing it or improve on it.

isobars the way you said it to me it came out like this you need the new gear and profesional lessons or you wont like it and youll be unhappy well to me thats bullshyt.

yes learning on your own will take longer but you can still do it, i do martial arts i started by myself learned off books and videos, after like a year or longer i finally signed up because i couldnt do ground work cuz i need another person for that, when i signed up all of the instructers would compliment me on my good technique for punches, blocks , good hip rotation for kicks, with out me even taking a class. And alot of people say same thing you do sign up for a class because you dont want to learn the wrong technique, because when you do its gonna be hard to get out of that habit and its the worst thing to do in martial arts is to learn it wrong. but i did it by myself and to be honest my technique is alot better then others at the gym except the instructers.

All you need is motivation and you need to like doing it.

i was thinking about taking lessons but ima learn it by myself then il post a video up on here so you can see it.

but i see what your trying to say with the newer stuff and lessons it will make it easier but it also costs money and some ppl dont have alot to blow off on wsurfing. thats why used and older gear would sell in my opinion. For people who want to get into the sport and try it out, i got old gear and im not complaining cuz i know i can be as good as the guy thats using new gear or even better because on the old gear its alot harder to learn so once you get the new stuff its gona be butter and your gona be a pro on it.

so thats my long ass opinion take in what you want.

[swchandler]

huntsman, I like your spirit. I have little doubt that you'll be long past the beginner stage in short time. I taught myself to windsurf without lessons, so I know the curve. The hard part is actually getting enough of the windsurfing you need.

[tyler4bu]

[isobars]

I also learned on my own (because I couldn't find lessons worth crap in Corpus Christi, the Gorge, or Maui back then), and it cost me something like a decade of progress. Just learning to jibe took me 10 years due to the unavailability of good lessons. You'd be very hard pressed to find people willing or even able to work as physically hard as I did to learn this sport at your stage. My first day consisted of 6 uninterrupted hours of trying to get going in gusty 20 mph winds. What's that equate to ... 120 catapults? I'd sneak out of the office at lunch if there was a 10 mph breeze, to the point it impacted my career. No sane person is going to do any of that today when they can "master" a jet ski in 10 minutes ... sitting down.

Me ... a new gear snob? Sorry, but I prefer boards from 4 to 12 years old because they do what I want to do better than any late model boards I've found yet. Several of my utmost favorite boards cost me $112, $75, $50, $10, and $0, and I bought and kept them because of their performance, not their cost. If I were a novice today, however, modern super-wide novice gear would be indispensable. Fortunately, it's also available on the cheap simply because it's been available for many years.

I don't know how well a world champ WSer can TEACH WSing; until people are properly taught how to teach it, few can.

I could have sugar-coated this whole schtick, but you seem tough enough, in a good way, to handle my more direct approach. You will do fine in this very challenging sport; be very careful you don't ruin it for yourself by taking on too many challenges at once and by thinking many other people share your level of enthusiasm, skill, or masochism.

Mike \m/

[huntsman]

well im happy we both on the same page and im glad to see that your self tought as well.

and i see your point i mean its like driving an old car with no power steering or driving a new car that has power steering and all the extra. i rather have the new one.

but i mean on a big old board it should be fairly easy to learn as well right?

or maybe instead of selling i could do like a renting or lessons thing where if people want to try it out ill just teach em the basics and they can mess around for an hour or so, you get what im saying but then again it wouldnt be to smart to do it on lake michigan because if you dont know how to control it then you gonnna end up in the middle of the lake lol.