Extra cash generating ideas for TCS

[12th Man]

Any suggestions for increasing turnover for ICT here and now.

Due to site location I can come up with storage facilities on the unused land similar to the Harbor if the costings work out.

Go cart track, this is what the Lecht ski centre do with their car park in the summer months, borrow their go carts Nov to March, they wont be using them.

2 volunteers in the bar before the game or a free pint for 15 mins work to help the club.

Request permission form HN to see if their car park can be used for parking at a cost of ?1 per car with all proceeds going to the youth or 50/50 with a chosen HN charity, +informing users that the gates may be locked again 45 mins after match.

Match day car wash and park with speedy exit.

Pie and pint special after game, uses up surplus pies.

Any other ideas.

[Alex MacLeod]

Personally I've never found the bar to be a problem though I must admit the times I've been in its been early on before any crowds arrive and I would have left half hour before ko.

HN carpark? Why? We have our own carpark and charge double what you suggest. So long as the police insist that home fan vehicles must turn left only onto Stadium road speedy exits will never happen. How many people do you think would utilize a carwash?

[PullMyFinger]

Any suggestions for increasing turnover for ICT here and now.

Better performances in the league and a run to the final of the Scottish cup.

Reducing overheads is a way we can also go. Does the club have a list of volunteers and area of expertise? I'd be willing to help out supervising IHE's prisoners, community servicers and patients when I have free time. That would be highly entertaining. Seriously though I could offer my time on occasion.

[12th Man]

Personally I've never found the bar to be a problem though I must admit the times I've been in its been early on before any crowds arrive and I would have left half hour before ko.

HN carpark? Why? We have our own carpark and charge double what you suggest. So long as the police insist that home fan vehicles must turn left only onto Stadium road speedy exits will never happen. How many people do you think would utilize a carwash?

Thanks for the suggestions.

Bar, there is a problem and its the rush for a quick one before the game which also prevents existing customers buying more. 2 staff on for the rangers game and packed. Im not knocking the staff which we have, in a normal bar you can fill the pint glass on auto take money give change and serve,in our bar they still want to serve every pint perfect from the tin which takes time.

Yes we have a car park, people park there and will always park there it makes money, we have people who dont park there because it takes too long to get out again. These people decide to park for free where Strathaird used to be because of delays getting out of the said carpark, they too will always park in that area.No money is generated from this. If they parked up a bit closer for only ?1 and its for a good cause then they might park there instead. I would.

Car wash, why is there a car wash van at the Tesco retail park.Someone is making money.

Plan, drive to car park get asked by car park money grabber person if you want a car wash and priority exit, say yes please and pay, get washers calling card and ticket, get directed to priority area and display ticket on dash and go and enjoy the game,money gets cashed up, phonecall made to car wash person to turn up and wash x amount of cars and gets duplicate ticket no, man goes to reception and gets paid, ICT get cut for suppling a block of cars to wash and you get out quicker.If a success car wash person is there waiting to start.

Who would use it? probably the same people who would pay to use a jet wash,offer it home and away if viable, or we let Pull my fingers carwash gang loose on your cars.

[Alex MacLeod]

Your carwash manny at Tesco is making a wage for himself. The club need to make wages for a lot more people.

Not knocking your ideas. Just questioning them. I can't see them making the sorts of money thats needed. 30 or 40 people buy an extra drink makes a profit of maybe ?80. 50 cars in HN park @ ?1. How many cars can a manny wash in a couple of hours. Even if he could do 1 in five mins thats only 24 cars. ?2 profit per car? Total comes to less than ?200. Would it be worth the effort of organising it all?

The best way that ICT can generate income is through sponsorship but to get the big sponsors requires success. Success may also increase the fanbase by a few hundred. Improving on merchandise may also help but even that is a gamble. Outlay is needed before profit is made and in the current climate the profit margins are very low. City centre shop would be great if there weren't the overheads. Even daily use, if the customers were there, of the stadium facilities incurs cost.

[CaleyD]

It doesn't matter if they raise ?50 of ?50,000 they should all be considered.

The problem is...who runs these things? There's a limited number of staff at the stadium, and if you need to add staff to get things done then you add costs and many of the fundraising options then become non-viable. However, if you have volunteers willing to give a little time to help then you can get more done without the additional overheads.

Bottom line....all the good ideas in the world mean nothing if people aren't willing to help make them happen, which is the point I was trying to make on the Investment Thread.

[Joonya]

One idea would be to hire out the Kingsmills free to companies using the facility for the first time, and offer them a 20% 'loyalty bonus' for any subsequent meetings held at TCS. Hire of equipment for the room would still be charged, and if they got their kitchen upstairs sorted out, they could do their own buffet's and simply charge per-head for the buffet.

The Kingsmills would easilly sit 100 people (maybe more) in a classroom style layout. I'm sure even local schools, sports clubs and other organisations can hold functions there too.

In the evenings they could hire out Kingsmills too, free of charge or at some sort of introductary discount, and make their money over the bar. If the club makes ?500 profit on each occasion (as a ball park figure) then thats ?500 they wouldn't have had before. If that happens once a week over the year, thats ?26,000 into the coffers.

Performances on the park are out of the hands of any fan. What needs to be done is fans getting together to do what they can. Putting ideas from this thread forward to the club would be a fantastic start, getting them implemented is another hurdle.

[12th Man]

Regarding the above post,

How much will it cost bring up ict.com when doing a web search for Inverness corporate facilities, a couple of experts may be able to provide the answer.

ICT.co.uk still comes up when looking for the caley official web site, can a viewer be directly transferred to the .com site.

Can the picture of the facilities be improved, the chairs look tired, the club isnt exactly in a cosy location but you could lay claim to offering corporate facilities with the most scenic views of the inner Moray Firth.

[Joonya]

If the club were to take on the idea and indeed require some photos of potential layouts, I'll gladly give some free time on a day or evening to do different layouts and take said photos.

[CaleyD]

ICTFC.co.uk will start re-directing to the .com in the next few weeks.

In terms of content of the .com...that's under constant review and improvement, as is the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). These things don't happen overnight, and as with any new site it can take months for sites to be properly indexed. It may be "blowing our own trumpet" but the fact we already have the .com appearing on the front page of google for all the top ICTFC related search terms/phrases in such a short period of time is pretty good going....especially as it is competing (in search engine terms) with the long established .co.uk and CTO.