Prepared Sportsman celebrates first year

It’s been nearly a year since Prepared Sportsman in Waseca opened its doors. After a relatively low-key beginning, the company is preparing to hold an open house on June 24 and really kick things off.

“It’s been pretty good so far,” reported owner Tom Butel. “We’ve done a soft opening, but now we’re getting ready to put our name out there.”

Butel has been in Minnesota for seven years; he has a job taking care of soil fields around the area. But he has always been interested in not only owning a gun store, but educating people properly on firearms.

“Guns have always been a passion of mine,” he said. “I like to hunt and fish. I’m just an outdoors guy and always have been.”

That enthusiasm led him to start a small business. “It’s always nice to provide a good service for small towns like Waseca,” he explained.

Helping him along the way has been employee Mark Eggert, who says he has “been in Waseca for as long as I have been married: 32 years.”

Eggert spends some of his free time helping at the gun shop while also remaining employed at Itron.

The reason why Butel wanted to do a soft opening was because he wanted to ease his way into the business. “I wanted to start things off slow,” he said. “That’s why when we started, I didn’t want to be too busy the first year. I had been working 60 hours a week Monday through Friday when we started. I realized, though, that this was something I needed to get going on if I was to make this happen.”

Slowly, he’s been adding hours onto his plate. Soon, the gun shop will have regular hours.

Butel and his employees have loved the business so far. “My favorite part is the customers,” Butel shared. “I love dealing with the general public and interacting with them.”

Eggert agrees. “I’m a big fan of interacting with the community and being part of what Waseca has going on,” he said.

However, running a store comes with its challenges, especially when owning a gun store. “It’s a type of business that can be heavily persecuted by the state and federal governments,” Butel claimed. “But, you have to get past that.”

He compared being a business owner to working out at the gym. “If you want muscles, you have to work for it,” he pointed out. “Being a business owner is the same way. You have to work at it to be successful no matter what adversity comes your direction.”

Both Butel and Eggert want people to know that they are more than just a gun shop. “We do consignment here,” Butel said. “If anyone comes in and wants to put their firearm into our hands, we can sell it for them. We get 15 percent of that sale, but then the firearms are transferred to the new owners’ names.”

The shop also offers laser engraving, which employee Jason Lynch does. “He does a fantastic job of it, too,” Eggert said.

“We want to make people more aware of us and the services we offer,” Butel shared. “The goal is to provide more local jobs for Waseca.”

Butel also has more visions of the store, which include offering conceal carry classes, gun training, and more education on firearms.

“We want to provide quality service for the people of Waseca and the surrounding area,” Eggert concluded. “This is definitely a good thing for Waseca.”