this forum is hilarious and pretty much all the comments are quite accurate. if I still lived in the California I doubt I would be in the surf business. here it’s not so bad, because you don’t need much money to get by. But what’s crazy is how much competition there is for such a small market. Being one of the first to start up in my area, I had no Idea what was to come.
I thought about setting up a surf shop here in the UK, i looked at brick and mortar and online. What i found was this market is totally flooded with surf shop and websites. Also i founjd that brands wouldnt take me on if i went internet only. I really wouldnt bother.
spaddy , I think you’ve answered your own question…retail is probably the weakest section of any economy. Most surfboard builders I know rely more on their website sales than supplying shops…the margins are better , and the customer gets to deal with the source , so the service will be much better…online sales have accelerated far more rapidly than anyone predicted a few years ago…it’s kinda like a return to the old days , with a modern twist…IE . build 'em out the back , sell 'em out the front…“the front” , now being a website…it’s good , because showrooms can now be converted into productive work space…