How to start an indoor playground business

The indoor playground business is prosperous now and the market potential is big. Many investors want to start it, but they have no idea how to prepare and what should be noticed.

Many investors may find confusing: it seems that play games and services are roughly the same, but why do the indoor playground business differ so much? Some business is always lively and extraordinary,  some have few guests and the venue is deserted?

Wonka Playground will give you clear guidance on an open indoor playground, from choosing the site, selecting types of equipment, operation, membership management, marketing, and money return skills.

First: Preparation work for open indoor playground

1. Make research

Before starting the indoor playground, you must make a research for the following:

Location choice: is it in a shopping mall, supermarket or residential community?

and you need to check your competitor’s area size as a reference and decide your own kids indoor playground size

The rental fee for one month: it matters your area size

Local populations and  consumption level is very important for your cost return

Competitors: you need to know how many competitors and their advantages, so you can know how to win them

make an assessment of the people flow around the site as well as the business prospects surrounding it.

Your budget: make a general budget for indoor playground equipment, rent, employee, and decorations. It is the basic indoor playground business plan.

Your target children age group:

how many children around your site

what age group children nearby

what games will attract them

If you need to know more detailed data, please visit our website page for risk assessment.

2. Choose the best site

Indoor playground site is one of the most important factors. There are many ways to choose a site, the flow of people is the most important reference factor.

Frequent commercial activities lot for kids indoor playground

If there are frequent commercial activities, it is usually a commercial center. This place can be described as the inch of gold. But for the site selection, we recommend from the first floor to the third floor. We don’t recommend on the third floor and above or the basement for children’s indoor playground.

High population density areas

In the vicinity of large-scale community, the population density is higher,  parents with children often go to visit. In such areas, there are people of all ages and social classes. Moreover, because the population flow is very large, it is easy to set up a membership card, so sales will stay stable; it is also to ensure that indoor playground funds quickly recovers.

Children’s industry gathered area

Children’s industries include maternal and child shops, children’s food and beverage, children’s clothing stores, infants and young children swimming pool, children’s early childhood education institutions and so on. If your indoor playground can be opened in such an area, it will be very easy access to the target customer.

 High-frequency places with children

Kindergartens, schools, parks are places where children often come and go. Operators only need to do brief publicity, you can easily pull the children to the playground to experience. This can increase the visibility of the park, you can also increase the turnover rate.

3. Local government rules for opening the indoor playground

License and  Extinguishing and protection safety are two basic requirements. The different local government has differently required documents, you can consult and prepare these necessary things.

4. Design theme

Children are always curious about new and special indoor playground equipment, so bright and various color design is an essential factor; at the same time, special and unique model definitely attract children attention. Generally, indoor playground manufacturers will provide design, but also you can find a professional designing company to do it. You need to provide the area of the site, floor plan, and other requirements according to your indoor playground business plan.

Besides, your decoration theme needs to match with your indoor playground design theme, so that it is unified style and leave an impression on potential customers.

5. Supplier Capability and  Quality assurance

Since there are so many indoor playground equipment suppliers, bigger ones, and small ones, so it is very necessary for buyers to choose legally registered factory, check their manufacture ability, certificates, accomplished projects. Safety is the most ranking factor for children indoor playground. If you expect new and qualified products, you will accept a higher budget; If quality cannot be guaranteed, it is high potential safety hazard. To be wise buyers, you should have long sight not just saving money.

6. Negotiation about the indoor playground equipment price

If the indoor playground manufacturer makes the design, they will offer price when they finish it. But, if you do the design work with the designing company, you have to discuss the price with your manufacturer. As price is different between different factories.  Some calculate the price by the area, while others are calculating by specific product. After the price is negotiated, the next step is about the payment and contract issues. After deposit payment is done, the indoor playground manufacturer begins to produce your customized indoor playground.

7. Installation of indoor playground equipment

In the contract, you can discuss the installation work. You ask the indoor playground manufacturer to install the equipment or you can install it by yourself. The factory will provide instruction papers and other guidance. After the installation, your indoor playground is ready to open.

Second: plan opening activities and advertisement

When the goods are on the way, operators need to carry out opening activities and advertisement to attract customers and increase brand awareness.

1. Send out leaflets around your indoor playground and nearby schools, community distribution.
2. Invite kindergarten and elementary school students to visit during the trial period
3. Send opening advertising Via social networking platforms, community
4. Cooperation with the surrounding businesses, distributing coupons to each other.
5. Cooperation with local radio and television news filming propaganda videos and posts to promote the community network.
6. On an opening day, you can allow customers to play for free, and send a small gift with your own playground logo
7. Staff wearing costumes during the opening period
8. Sending a gift to customers during the opening event
9. Create a membership card and member-exclusive gift.
10. Dancing and singing activities

Third: Operation management of kids indoor playground

1. Daily work of indoor playground

As we know, running kids play area business is not easy, we need to do a lot of daily work.

First, before opening of kids indoor playground business

1. Self-inspection: all staff must be ready for manner and behavior and ready to start the business.
2. The store chief presides over the morning meeting, summarize work of yesterday, plan well for today work.
3. To inspection of the whole equipment and facilities.
4. Inventory and prepare well for the business bill, small changes and etc.

Second, during the kids indoor playground business

1. Keep love and have a childlike innocence.
2. Wear a smile, relaxation and orderly.
3. 3.conduct reasonable guidance of the children and parents of the and maintain a good business order.
4. Keep the cleanliness of the playground at any time and anywhere.
5. The cashier should be careful and pay attention to cash security, making a record of cash.
6. To properly and seriously treat customer’s consultation and request;
7. Record customer comments and report to superiors;
8. If there is an abnormal situation, it should be timely and properly handled.

Third, closing of the indoor playground business

1. The Cashier completes the summary of the day’s accounts, inventory cash, and documents；then the cashier report to the store chief.
2. The cashier hand over the random record of the “Business log” to the store, the store in the Log Summary column to fill in the summary, signed the word to the manager.
3. At the same time, other staff will start to clean up the sanitation in the park.
4. After working together to complete all the ready work, turn off the power and confirm that there is no safety hazard. The whole day work finished.

2. Daily operation management of indoor playground

First, create the Membership system, the customer will get more discount and you will return fund in short time. To cooperate with children institutions and to establish a record of members, so as to provide better service and promotion later.

Second, organize children activities regularly, let parents and children play together, enhance the interaction between parents and children.

Third, set up an area with some children food, beverages, toys, in order to increase revenue.

Fourth, test the body temperature before entering the indoor playground and make sure children play in a safe and sanitary condition

Fifth, Strengthen kid’s  participation: put some innovative and interactive games, so children will stay a long time and often come back

Importantly, place several computer tables and provide free WiFi access to parents.

Besides, we need to prepare well for the following aspects:

1, train for employee： recruit excellent staff, train them and strengthen their responsibility, so they will positively guide the children to play; besides, you must encourage them to engage in activities in the indoor playground；it is the very effective way to increase more fun for your playground.

2, set up staff Code of conduct and standardize service, create brand identity.

3, develop employee reward system

Customers are the base for the indoor playground, only you make good service, you can win more customer so that you can earn money. we can combine employee reward with customer satisfaction.

3. Basic methods of marketing for kids indoor playground

For kids play area, Word-of-mouth is very important, publicity is also necessary.

Advertising Marketing

There are a wide variety of advertising programs, like advertising leaflets, local radio, television, newspapers, bus stop ads, etc.

Experiential Marketing

At the beginning of the opening, a limited time free play will be a very good experiential marketing. If playing for free, everyone loves to come; once the child likes to play and do not want to leave after free play time, definitely parents will pay for them.

Facebook Marketing

Facebook has gone into every corner of people’s Daily necessities. The mobile Facebook marketing platform helps partners easily seize the internet marketing terminals and gain high popularity.

Membership Card Promotions

Operators often hold membership card promotional activities. In addition, we set up some activities that only have the membership to participate in. We also need to let parents know that membership will be more favorable.

Activity Marketing

On festivals, holidays, anniversaries, all kinds of promotional activities can be held. The occasional children’s activities, such as adventure competitions, parent-child interaction activities, all children and parents can participate, it not only can increase the flow of people but also enhance the visibility of the park.

Affiliate Marketing

The indoor playground can cooperate with the children’s industry, such as school, kindergarten. For example, indoor playgrounds and kindergartens jointly organized activities.

4. Management methods of  kids indoor playground membership

The establishment of membership card system is the essential marketing means children indoor playground business, because the indoor playground annual income mainly depends on members. Indoor playground card consumption model, on one hand, can attract more customers and establish a stable customer base; on the other hand, the membership system allows the playground members to enjoy more preferential treatment than ordinary customers. It is good for both indoor playground and customers.

First. how to attract parents to handle membership cards

1. Free experience mode

For the children, in particular, who want to play but dare not to play, or do not know how to play, and the parents are hesitant to do member card; at this time, the playground operators can adopt free experience mode. The staff take their children to the indoor playground to experience playing fun and patiently explain to the parents the benefits of the project to the children; when the parents see the good to children, they will be willing to apply for the membership card.

2. Consumption points mode

Operators must establish suitable consumption points according to local consumption level, it is usually  Month card, Season card, Quater card and the year card.

One of the most effective ways to sell a membership card by sending consumption points. Different consumption points can exchange for different gifts, such as 100 points can be exchanged for a cup, 1000 points can exchange 10 times free play. It is very new and attractive way to set up member card.

3. Gift mode

Matching gift mode, such as for 10 times card, the first time play is for free;  recharge 50$ in the membership card and send $50; etc. This “buy and send” preferential policies are often particularly easy to seize the customer’s “greedy small” psychological, so as to attract card consumption.

It requires an effective management way to let members consume and create profit for your indoor playground.

Second. different customers should take different sales ways

1. high-value members

15% contribution to the total income. This type is the highest quality customer group.Not only high consumption frequency but also high price for single play. After system screening, operators should implement the “one-to-one” service marketing, sending birthday experience voucher or gifts before the customer’s birthday.

2. high loyalty members

50% contribution to the total income.The consumption interval between two times is not more than 30 days. They are mainstream customers, that is, the old customers, high-frequency consumption and have a certain consumption ability. Therefore, we must introduce new marketing ways from time to time to attract the crowd.

3. high price for single play members

15% contribution to the total income.  Single play price is much higher than the average. Such members belong to high-end customers,  average consumption frequency and level are high, we need to provide personalized service and special priority treatment

4. low price high-frequency member

Accounting for the top 15% of revenue, a single low-price but higher frequency of consumption, they belong to a certain consuming power of customers. Playground operators can do more marketing activities, and increase their consuming amount in a timely manner.

5. low-price, low-frequency member

5% contribution to the total income. This kind of member basically has no consuming ability, if there are marketing activities, they will come; no marketing activities no come. Their cash contribution is very low, for such kinds of customers, we will exclude them from the marketing audience.

6. “sleeping” members

For members who have no consuming records in six months, we need to pay regular attention to the flow of them. We collect the feedback information of those customers and find out the reasons, so as to identify the shortcomings of marketing and improve our service and management.

Conclusion

Indoor playground business is not easy work, but it is also not so difficult as you think. The above content will give you clear steps and ideas for opening,  managing and making the profit. Hope it will help you and Good Luck！