How To Start A Go Kart Business In South Africa

The meaning of KART is Kerry Asia Road Transport and other meanings are located at the bottom which takes place within Business terminology.

Find Below is How To Start A Go Kart Business In South Africa

People love Go-Karts; this is a business that can give you great joy and fulfillment while giving you a high ROI. This is a guide on how to start a Go-Kart business in South Africa.

Go-karting is a very lucrative business that generates fun for owners and customers. The industry grows at a rate of over 5% annually. Go-karts usually attract younger people and family units, most people go go-karting to have fun.

It is a business with very high start-up costs, you should be prepared to pay over R1 million. The ongoing expenses are also high, this is not only a negative but a positive as well, the high barrier to entry means that you will face less competition and will recover your initial investment between 2 and 3 years.

Choose the type of track

You have to decide whether your business will be focused on professional go-karting or family-orientated fun. The other thing you have to decide early on is where your go-kart will be, will it be indoors or outdoors. It’s much cheaper to build an outdoor family-orientated go-kart track. Building an indoor or professional track can demand more than R5 million.

Choose the right location

This will affect your bottom line a lot, you have to choose your location very carefully. It has to be an area that is easily accessible by road and it should be in a high-income neighborhood. People of the neighborhood should ideally have enough money left over to spend on luxuries like go-karting, this will also make it easy to charge a fair price without fearing losing customers.

Design your go karting track

People don’t just go go-karting for racing, it’s mostly about the environment, you are going to have to design the space carefully. There must be an actual track, a storeroom, and entertainment areas like a cafeteria. You also have to account for offices, workrooms, showrooms and other activities. Design all this in a way that is seamless, the restrooms should not be far from where you expect the most people to be at any given point.

Build the track

This is the actual execution of your plan; you have to find a reputable contractor. Preferably someone who has designed a go-karting track before. This is a very expensive undertaking; you want to make sure that your money is going to the right place. It’s best to use asphalt on the actual track.

Hire the right employees

This is not a business that can be run by one person, you will need employees to assist with different aspects of the operations. You will need cashiers and track managers and people who work on maintaining/repairing the vehicles. It’s important to bring in people with experience if you yourself don’t have any experience but if you do then you can simply train them.

Market the business

You don’t need to spend a lot of money in marketing a go-kart, go-karts are so rare that most people will just go to the few that are available. It’s highly unlikely that you will ever face more than 10 competitors, the number is usually 3 at most. You can bring your business to a public spotlight by having a grand opening day.

Offer meals and drinks at a discounted price and invite the press to your opening, this will get your business noticed by enough people. You can supplement this by having an online presence, start by creating a website and making sure your business appears on Google maps. Social media won’t bring you that many customers but will showcase the fun that people are having at your track.

How much does a go-kart cost in South Africa?

What are the costs involved? For the kids, a good race-ready kart (second-hand) will set you back R15 000 (with a used engine) to R20 000 (with a new engine). There are cheaper chassis available but it is not advisable as one component failure can mean “no parts” and a re-purchase to keep racing.

How do I start a race in South Africa?

To obtain a racing license in South Africa, you have to be affiliated with a motorsport club. Zwartkops Racing Club is recognized by MSA as one of these clubs and by joining, you become eligible for an MSA license. For a nominal annual fee of only R200, you can join the Zwartkops Racing Club.