Looking at starting a soft play business

[deluxegem]

I'm looking at starting a soft play in the area I live in. I'm new to this never had my own business before so don't know where to start but have a lot of ideas. Any help I would appreciate.

 

[Shopclicks]

Welcome to UKBF.

Why soft play and why do you think it's a good idea to get into this type of business?

 

[deluxegem]

Welcome to UKBF.

Why soft play and why do you think it's a good idea to get into this type of business?

In the area I live in it's hasn't got one that is very good and as a mother of 4 children my oldest being 17 I know how good they are for children and parents. I also have a degree in early year's and work in an education setting so can bring things I know work to the table and have something amazing.

 

[Shopclicks]

In the area I live in it's hasn't got one that is very good and as a mother of 4 children my oldest being 17 I know how good they are for children and parents. I also have a degree in early year's and work in an education setting so can bring things I know work to the table and have something amazing.

That's all very positive. Are you looking at leasing premises and do you have a fit-out and marketing budget?

 

[Ozzy]

We did write a piece on this subject at the end of last year after someone else asked a similar thing at the time;

Complete guide: Seven steps to setting up a soft play centre

Setting up a soft play centre is a great opportunity if you are passionate about creating an amazing environment for children and want to turn that enthusiasm into a profitable business. If you’re thinking about launching a soft play centre...

www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk

 

[BillyB]

I'm looking at starting a soft play in the area I live in. I'm new to this never had my own business before so don't know where to start but have a lot of ideas. Any help I would appreciate.

If you are serious about opening a soft play centre, I would highly recommend watching James Sinclair Entrepreneur on YouTube and signing up for his 14 Day Free Trial Course where he breaks everything down.

The one thing about soft play centres is they're not always going to be busy especially during the day so what he does is attaches on a nursery/childcare centre to make the bulk of the turnover. If it was me I'd also have a small cafe inside so that you can increase the overall spend per head.

I'd look to include a membership scheme for let's say £9.99 per month which allows them free entry and say 25% off food & drink. If done right you'll do what the gyms do which is have thousands of people signed up but then maybe only have say 100 people that come daily. Plus to stop them from leaving you could do a rewards scheme with it and if they stay for the full year they get a free room hire for their Birthday or something like that.

In terms of actually starting the business, you'd be much better off purchasing a Soft Play Business that has recently closed otherwise you could spend upwards of £300-£400k on fitting the place. From looking online at the businesses for sale you'd probably be looking at £100-£150k.

For staffing I'd recommend having 1 or 2 senior staff who are employed full time and then around 6-8 who are part-time (zero hour contracts). It's not going to be cheap and you'll probably be working upwards of 90 hours per week to get it started.

Good luck and hope you manage to get one open in the future.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Here is the first thing you need to know

Soft play businesses don't make their money from mummy paying for Jonny to play.

As is often the case, start with some cashflow projection. That exercise in itself (done well) will be very helpful

 

[WaveJumper]

We did write a piece on this subject at the end of last year after someone else asked a similar thing at the time;

Complete guide: Seven steps to setting up a soft play centre

Setting up a soft play centre is a great opportunity if you are passionate about creating an amazing environment for children and want to turn that enthusiasm into a profitable business. If you’re thinking about launching a soft play centre...

www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk

There have also been I believe a lot of threads in the past on this topic so suggest OP does a little search.

 

[fisicx]

And pretty much all those threads say the profit comes from food, drinks, parties and other addons.

The soft play area alone will be a empty space for most of the week.

 

[magdalena00784]

In the area I live in it's hasn't got one that is very good and as a mother of 4 children my oldest being 17 I know how good they are for children and parents. I also have a degree in early year's and work in an education setting so can bring things I know work to the table and have something amazing.

Hello we are selling our soft play business in Sutton

 

[japancool]

Hello we are selling our soft play business in Sutton

Why are you selling?

 

[Chris Ashdown]

With expensive equipment you will most likely have to put your house on the line to help pay for it, Banks and their likes nearly always these day as for a guarantee

Visit say half a dozen competitors in say a 20-30 mile radius of your location and take photo's of there equipment and setup so you can fully understand their equipment and its likely cost

Your local town planning office may well be able to offer good advice for free about what's available locally, I know mine gave me a massive list of older buildings that were not advertised but available on non commercial units

You will also be signing a lease which again will normally be in your name as guarantor, which if you go bust after a few years may leave you libel for paying the remainder of the lease. Ltd company unfortunatly means very little these days