Investing in a children's play area business is a form of start-up that is becoming increasingly common in the playground equipment industry. As material life improves, children's need to play is met more and more. Paid indoor and outdoor play areas have appeared as an inevitable result.
However, investing does not always bring profit; sometimes it is slow to recover capital, or even leads to losses. So how do you run a children's play area business that turns a profit the fastest? Let's find out with Winam in the article below.
1. Make a plan for the children's play area business
Any business project needs a specific plan before you start. You should plan the children's play area business in detail and break it down step by step. From preparing the site, budget and construction method to the operating process once the play area opens, everything must be worked out in advance.
Why do we need a plan? Because in practice, investing in a play area is not simple at all, especially in a field that is quite picky about who uses the service. You must picture and detail the start of construction, the operating time, the expected time to recover capital and make a profit, the risks that may arise, and the impact of weather conditions.
"A clear, reasonable play area business strategy will greatly shorten the remaining steps in building and completing the play area."
A play area business must have a clear plan
2. Conditions for running a children's play area business
As a unit with many years of experience in consulting, designing and building play areas, Winam would like to share with readers the conditions and experience of running a children's play area business that any investor must pay attention to:
2.1. Location and site
The first prerequisite in running a children's play area business is the site. To open a play area, you need a site that is neither too large nor too cramped and that fits your planned budget.
The main users of a play area are children, so the site should be in a densely populated area, on a big road, with lots of trading activity. Do not open a playground in a sparsely populated or deserted area. Choose dry areas, sheltered from the wind and less affected by irregular weather such as storms and flooding.
For an indoor play area, you can use space in buildings or shopping centers if you do not have land or a ready-made building. For an outdoor play area, you need a wide site with many public utilities (parks, community activity areas, and so on); you can buy large plots or rent large unused areas.
The area for building the play area must match your planned budget if you rent the site. Do not rent an area that is too large while you only have enough budget to build half of it. This wastes a lot of money through monthly rent. Also do not choose a site that is too small, because a play area must be spacious and airy.
In the long run, choosing the right site will attract customers better and help the play area operate stably and effectively.
Choose a play area with a suitable site
See more: Greensboro Children's Museum Playground, USA: Every child is a potential climber and explorer
2.2. Investment budget
The second necessary condition to run a play area business is finance. Without finance, you cannot buy or rent land for a play area unless you already have land or a building. Without money you cannot buy equipment, and the play area cannot operate.
At best, you should prepare enough budget to build the play area until it goes into operation. If you truly do not have enough, you can borrow, but you must carefully work out the repayment time and avoid as many unnecessary extra costs as possible.
Usually, the investment for a play area comes to about 3.5-4 million VND per m2 of floor area. However, this cost also depends on many other factors such as the origin of the equipment (domestic or imported goods), the quantity and price of equipment, and so on.
The budget for a play area also depends on the needs and the specific location. When you run a children's play area in the countryside, the need to play is not very high, so costs are lower than in urban areas and city centers. In a competitive area you must invest more in play equipment and service quality, because if you do not invest, the sight of an empty play area is inevitable sooner or later.
2.3. Operating staff
Staff are also an important factor for a play area. To operate the play area, you need a sufficient team. At first, do not hire too many employees; instead use family resources to reduce costs. Only when the play area goes into operation do you need to recruit a suitable number of employees.
Prioritize people who understand or have experience operating play areas, who are careful and meticulous and handle situations well (you should anticipate this, because a play area is a place where many hard-to-handle situations happen).
A well-organized team will help the play area run smoothly and keep customers better.
2.4. Play equipment supplier
When building a play area, you need to choose a playground equipment supplier. You should choose one supplier for all the equipment planned for the playground (only add another if that supplier cannot provide enough). This makes later warranty and maintenance more convenient.
Nowadays, choosing full-package consultation and installation services is quite favored by many investors instead of doing it step by step themselves. This is also a fairly complete solution because it helps the play area be built quickly and completely without costing too much. You also do not have to spend time finding a unit for each stage of the construction process.
The play equipment supplier must be a reputable unit with lots of experience in playground equipment, and must assure you of warranty and maintenance. The equipment must have a clear origin, use child-safe materials and fit the cost.
Choosing a reputable playground equipment supplier helps you get quality equipment and free consultation from design and installation through to operation.
Choose a supplier that provides full-package consultation and construction
2.5. Legal paperwork
Because this is a business activity, the legal paperwork must be completed fully. Once you have land to build on, you need a construction permit and a children's play area business license (a business license for a company, or a household business license for an individual).
There are also documents related to taxes and fees, contracts for renting the site, house or land, and some other legal documents. When preparing to open a play area, you need to study carefully and have enough confirmation from the local authorities before starting construction. Avoid the case of building first and asking for permission later, when paying a large fine or demolishing and rebuilding is a given.
2.6. Design drawings for the children's play area and its games
After finding a design consultant, your job is to come up with ideas (the number of play devices, their types and positions, the floor area, auxiliary works, and so on) so that the construction unit completes the design to your liking. Usually, if you have no ideas yet, the design units will present you with a few 2D and 3D design samples to choose from.
You should base your choice on needs, budget and site conditions to pick the most suitable design. Usually, in 3D designs you can clearly see and picture each piece of playground equipment and its position. From there, you and the consultant give feedback to finalize the drawings.
For choosing the games, base it on the cost and the real needs of the play area. For example, a play area in a shopping center should invest in new, modern games that keep up with the general market trend. The games must also match the type of play area; you cannot choose indoor play equipment for an outdoor playground, right?
The design drawings and playground equipment also play an important role when building a playground. After all, the playground must be beautiful and the equipment must be quality and diverse to attract many children.
Each project needs a design that fits customer needs
See more: Designing themed children's playgrounds with WINAM
2.7. Advertising strategy and add-on services
For a play area to be known by many people, the only way is to invest in an effective advertising strategy. There are many ways to advertise a play area; you should start marketing as early as when the project is still on paper.
To run a play area business, you need to advertise in different forms such as posting on social media, using advertising posters and direct media (word of mouth, loudspeakers, and so on), with the single aim of making people know about your play area.
You can also open add-on services to create a natural customer source by combining dining and play, a cafe combined with a play area, a mini supermarket combined with a play area, and so on. Invest more in a waiting area for parents and massage chairs to attract customers.
2.8. Set up rules for the children's play area
Why do you need rules for a children's play area? These are common principles for everyone who comes to the play area, to minimize harm and unwanted situations during play.
This set of rules includes: rules for children who come to play, for parents (guardians), rules for using the play equipment, and rules for the play area staff. They must all be written in a detailed, specific and easy-to-understand way, so that anyone who looks at them can read and follow them. Only then can the play area operate stably in the long term and gain much added value.
3. Ideas for a children's play area business
Above are the conditions needed to invest in a play area business. Besides these, we also need to understand our own business idea clearly. There are 2 common models that most investors apply. Let's learn about the business ideas from these two models with Winam.
A play area business needs a reasonable idea
3.1. Outdoor play area business
Nowadays, apart from children's playgrounds in parks, apartment complexes and urban areas, most children do not have a proper playground. From this practical need, the ideas of an outdoor play area business were born. They meet children's play needs and also create income from unused land.
For an outdoor play area, you can build following 2 ideas:
If you already have a site: invest in building a paid play area similar to an indoor one with playground equipment. You can install fixed, long-lasting equipment, combined with a swimming pool area, food shops, camping and outdoor picnics.
If you rent a site: invest in easily movable equipment (bumper cars, mini bikes, and so on), a fishing area, statue painting, large inflatable floats, and other paid games, combined with food and refreshment services.
The advantage of an outdoor play area is that it uses outside open space, has low construction costs, and is airy and close to nature. The big drawback is the need to invest in rain and sun shelters; equipment degrades easily, children's play area equipment prices are high, and there are often arising problems (the landlord wants the site back, or it is hard to compete with indoor play areas in bad weather).
Outdoor play area business idea
3.2. Indoor children's play area business
The indoor play area model has existed for a long time and is increasingly diverse with countless new ideas. There are many trends in building indoor play areas; you should base your choice on your own needs and conditions.
Some of the most common forms are a mini supermarket combined with a play area, a cafe combined with a play area, a kids club (an entertainment complex model in shopping centers), a traditional ticket-based indoor children's play area, a snow-house play area model, climbing net systems, and premium trampoline floors.
The advantage of an indoor play area is that it is not affected by weather, equipment costs are not too high, and it is easy to repair and replace. The drawback is that it costs quite a lot for decoration, construction and operation, and indoor children's play area equipment is not as diverse in design as outdoor equipment.
Overall, each play area business idea has its own pluses and minuses. Each investor bases their choice on their exact needs and target users to pick the most suitable idea for their project.
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Indoor play area business model
See more ideas: Building a playground on the roof or terrace, why not?
4. A reputable unit for full-package play area design and construction
The need to open a play area goes hand in hand with the need to find a reputable unit for full-package play area design and construction. Understanding this, over the years every member of Winam has constantly worked to improve and become a leading unit for children's playground design in Vietnam, bringing investors quality and complete play areas.
A full-package play area design and construction unit - Winam
Winam provides turnkey construction of children's playgrounds, from consulting with customers to develop ideas and selecting each piece of equipment, to producing, supplying and installing it in the play area, plus warranty and maintenance after installation.
The process for full-package children's playground design and construction at Winam:
- Step 1. Receive customer information
- Step 2. Develop the idea for building the play area based on customer needs (the types of equipment in the play area, how they are arranged, the positions of auxiliary works, and so on).
- Step 3. Prepare the outdoor children's play area design, indoor, and so on, to present to the customer and finalize the construction plan.
- Step 4. Order or produce the equipment, and accept the equipment.
- Step 5. Complete the installation of the play area.
- Step 5. Post-construction acceptance.
- Step 6. Warranty and maintenance.
In every project, Winam is always flexible in its design and construction consultation plans to suit the real conditions of each customer. So do not hesitate to put forward your ideas, because we are always ready to turn your play area investment idea into reality.
Above is all we would like to share about how to invest in a play area business to earn profit the fastest. We hope that through this information, you have partly pictured the process and the conditions needed to open a complete children's play area. Good luck with your investment project.
For any needs for full-package play area consultation, design and installation, customers can send requests to [email protected] for the most timely support.
WINAM
- Address: 226/4A Le Trong Tan, Tay Thanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City
- Tel: (028) 66 86 7777 - (+84) 9 6161 0202
- Website: www.winamgroup.net
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