How do I find out how much a paintball field relies on school and stag groups?
Ask for bookings broken out by customer type, then look at how many groups return, how they found the field and how far ahead they book. A field that depends on a few group types is more exposed to changes in demand, so ask how the owner has tried to widen the mix.
Ask the seller to split bookings by type: schools, stag and bachelor groups, birthdays, corporate days and walk-ins. If the records do not show it, ask for a sample of several busy weekends and have staff describe who came. The goal is to see how concentrated the business is.
Next, ask about timing. Do school bookings cluster at certain points in the year, and do stag groups arrive in peaks? Ask how many repeat, whether teachers or organisers return on their own, and whether any contacts are the owner’s personal relationships. Those are harder to carry over.
Look at what drives each source. Ask who first made contact with each type of group. Is it marketing, referrals or reputation? Ask what happened when one group type slowed down. If a school contact left or a venue rule changed, how did the field respond? Your accountant can help you compare the booking mix with the books. Broader local patterns may also help, but always confirm them with the seller’s own records. Try to speak with a few repeat organisers if the seller allows it, after confidentiality is in place. A short call tells you why they keep coming back and whether they would follow a new owner.
Key takeaways
- Get bookings split by group type, not just totals.
- Ask which relationships are personal to the owner.
- Find out how the field responded when one group type slowed.
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Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
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