Hobby Hive Model Shop & Gaming Centre Expansion

INTRO

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Hobby Hive sells a range of products related to tabletop interests from spray paints to modelling materials, miniature kits and scenic supplies. We 3D print various items for wargaming, TTRPGs, model dioramas and general use.

We run our "Tabletop Exchange" in store and offer cash or credit towards preowned items that customers would like to part with. Our plan (See Below) includes adding model railway, Airfix and other lines to our current stock.

We also host a regular gaming evening in Goldington alongside quarterly all-day gaming events in various venues around Bedford. This GoFundMe campaign is to help us reach the next stage of our business plan and expand all that we offer as well as introducing new services, workshops and options for young and beginner gamers/modellers.

HOBBY HIVE TIMELINE

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April 2022: Hobby Hive starts as a "work from home" business buying and selling second-hand miniatures online and through local gamers. This expanded to include new products, paints and games and soon finds a regular spot at the Bedford Charter Market on Saturdays.

August 2022: Around this time, we start hosting our regular gaming days and evening events, which continue to this day.

October 2022: We attend our first tradeshow as a business and have great success as a newcomer to the scene.

January 2023: We host our first "Bedford Tabletop Expo" as a test to see if there is a local interest in tabletop gaming, boardgames, modelling and the rest. With over 1,000 attendees throughout the weekend, it seems that there is!

October 2023: (Almost a year to the day since our first show!) We open our bricks and mortar retail space. This was primarily down to an opportunity provided by our current landlord and fellow business owner Gaetano Ciampa of Cartridge Depot. We negotiate a deal with him to use his upstairs room as a retail space and operate Hobby Hive during his opening hours from the same premises.

February 2024: We host the second "Bedford Tabletop Expo" at a much larger venue with a wider range of activities, interests and traders. 6,00 people attend and the event is a great success!

April 2024: Now. We feel that we have reached the limit of what can be offered by our current space and license arrangement. Not being able to open Saturdays or for evening events means we don't get a chance to open at convenient times for a lot of hobbyists and modellers and our space is stacked full of miniatures and supplies. We're ready for something bigger but we need your help!

THE PLAN

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An opportunity has presented itself with a local landlord that has a property on St Mary's Street Bedford (Near to Bedford College) and we have negotiated a great deal on our first lease terms. Despite Hobby Hive having a regular turnover and being in a position to cover it's own costs, we are not quite at the stage of having a large pot of funds to put towards a Deposit and setup of new retail premises. Almost every penny of business income is currently fed back into improving our stock levels and providing new items and options for our growing customer base. Unfortunately a deposit and the setup cost of a new retail space don't provide any additional income in return (At least not in a direct sense, obviously we expect footfall to increase!) when compared to providing new stock or investing in new 3D printing equipment for the business.

All campaign donations will go towards establishing a lease, paying a deposit and getting ourselves setup in this new retail space. This will cover the lease deposit, solicitor fees, moving van hire, fixtures and fittings, additional specialist installation/adjustments (Electrician etc) and fees from the GoFundMe service.

THE COSTS

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With everything moving forward we have been able to dial in on the costs of the project a little bit more and it's only fair to share them with you folks. They'll be ticked off as each goal is reached.

Note that we're not asking for any "running costs" or upkeep for the business. This campaign is designed to raise capital funding for the initial investment in a larger premises.

Required Costs

Lease Deposit - £2,625 - PAID

Solicitor Fees - £350 - PAID

Shop Signage - £342

Shop Fixtures - £233

Tables and Chairs - £459

Lighting - £249

Furniture Deliveries - £70

Gofundme Fees - £164

Total - £4,492

"Nice to Have" Costs

Additional Shop Fixtures - £196

Commercial Audio Setup - £279

Gofundme Fees - £15

Total - £490

THE REWARDS

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Obviously we do not expect something for nothing and we want to give back to those that support the business through this campaign. Below you'll see what we're offering anyone that donates to this campaign and we'll start working on getting rewards to people as soon as we are established in our new digs

Any donation of £10 or over

Any donation of £20 or over

Any donation of £50 or over

Any donation of £100 or over

Any donation of £200 or over

Any donation of £250 or over

NOTE: To receive your rewards, you will need to put a name to your donation. We can't provide anything to anonymous donations due to the way the system works.

DA 'UGE (FREE) PRIZE DRAW

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Alongside rewards for your donations, we want to encourage sharing and promoting of our plan. If you follow our social media (@HobbyHiveUK on Facebook and Instagram) in the coming months, we will post more details of our completely free prize draw. All it will require is you follow our account on either platform (or both) and you share and comment on one of our featured posts. All of this will be explained in said posts so don't worry about the finer points here, just keep an eye out for your chance to enter completely free! (Prizes include; Paint Sets, Hobby materials, 3D Printed Miniatures, Store Vouchers, Free Gaming Sessions, 3D Printed Terrain and one 'uge bundle of supplies to kit our your entire battlefield, kick start your miniature collection and get everything built and painted!

BUSINESS AND TRADER SPONSORSHIP

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If you are a small business in Bedford that could provide support in some way other than financially (Fixtures and Fittings, Signage, Electronics etc) please do get in touch. We are happy to discuss sponsorship space to clearly show off how you helped and promote your business to our patrons.

Alternatively, if you are a small business, creator or trader in the area of tabletop gaming and want to help out, get in touch directly. We have a few options for sponsored donations that would give you some marketing options throughout our online presence as well as opportunities for space to exhibit and sell at future Bedford Tabletop Expo events.

ABOUT ME

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Feel free to skip past this section to the disclaimers below but I thought it would be a good idea to add some personal information to this campaign so those of you that don't know me get a chance to see what I'm all about!

I have spent most of my life in and around the various geekdoms that exist and wargaming, boardgames and Dungeons & Dragons have always been at the core of my interests in one form or another. I have wanted to manage my own business for as long as I can remember and finally in 2022 I grabbed the opportunity. Previous to that I had worked in a number of different fields but primarily retail and hospitality. I began working from home as a freelance contractor in 2018 and worked with various small creators on their own projects and businesses. I wrote knowledgebases for Minecraft server providers, marketed RPG Kickstarters, managed social media accounts for miniature sculptors and proofread so many different things!

I have two small children (Fondly known as Gork and Mork to my regular customers) that often spend time with me at the shop between nursery sessions. Part of this plan is to not only work around their nursery schedule but also ensure that I can provide for them while doing something that I love. Opening the shop last autumn has been an absolute blast and I am looking forward to seeing it continue to grow, whether through this opportunity with your help or in the future through a different route!

DISCLAIMERS

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