Hello my fellow business owners. I am planning to open a small to medium size indoor soft play area concentrating on pretend play, one big structure with slides (for kids) , toddler area. My target audience are under 7 . As per the census, total population in my area is around 100K with around 7K under 5. This is the first time I am thinking about getting into a business and planning alone is making me nervous. I would love to get your advice on few things and if I have missed anything please feel free to add :
- I am concerned about generating enough profit from the play area alone, so I am considering offering daycare or some kind of classes like arts and dance classes during the day . Which one do you think makes more sense ?
- What are the expected one-time and regular costs(insurance, cleaning etc) for a 2,000 square foot indoor soft play area?
- Do you think having variety of vending machines , free wifi, TV will keep Adults occupied or should I go for proper cafe, pizza set up.
- Where can I buy good and reliable play structures, and how do I choose the best vendor?
- What kind of license or permits do I need ?
- What is the approximate investment for starting an indoor soft play area for a 2,000 square foot
I ran an amusement space with two locations. Unfortunately these questions you just have to do the research yourself like talking to landlords and talking to owners in other places with similar spaces.
What I can say is 2k square foot is a bit small. One thing you want to capture is birthday party business, so you need extra space for tables and party space. The class idea is great as well but you need an area for parents to wait. It’s unlikely you fit that in 2k square feet.
Go to other cities in Google maps and find similar spaces and call them up and talk.
Actually that’s what I am planning to do. There are two near my city, one is a big establishment like 12k sq ft(luv to play) and other is a small to medium which only caters to 6 . What do you think would be an ideal space for my requirement? Do you think showing the business plan to architect first and then choosing commercial space is good idea?