Share and Compare Play

The Antithesis of Transparency / How to Suffocate and Kill a Market

2011-04-08T11:41:00.003+01:00

I was in the process of posting about transparency when I noticed a Tweet about an “Exclusive Supplier Scheme,” the antithesis of transparency and its benefits.

In days gone by, professional buyers would sit in ivory towers and in would parade a bunch of professional salespeople whose job it was to become the preferred or exclusive supplier (I understand this to an extent when a partnership approach is needed between companies to enable investment, this is not often the case in markets, especially in indoor play).

Perhaps those days aren’t as distant as I would like, however, the majority of exclusive contracts lead to the following:

· Lack of innovation – Why innovate when you are guaranteed to have no competition for two years? This kind of old world deal is the best way to kill a market, stifle innovation and discourage new suppliers into the ecosystem.

· Poor customer value – I pay £250 p/a for my current account, partly because it allegedly delivers great deals on Home and Car Insurance, better rates on foreign exchange etc. However, the problem is it doesn’t because whenever I comparison shop, I see that I can get far better deals elsewhere on virtually everything.

The same happens with exclusive supplier schemes. Promises are made up front (perhaps with the best of intentions) but Economies of Scale rarely materialise and the supplier has to claw back some of the initial outlay and so value diminishes for the end user.

· Opaque practices – There seems to be something dark about the nature of exclusive supplier deals, as though people sit in an unlit room and decide who to approve because they know better than the market. In a transparent world, at least the criteria of how the decision was reached would be published, as would a report to show why each supplier was determined to offer best value; is it available? Furthermore, if suppliers can pay to gain exclusivity, this should be made absolutely clear as it clearly compromises any perceived independence.

The alternative seems pretty simple and a lot more attractive to me.

Competition increases innovation. Competition increases value. Information and access (transparency) facilitate more effective competition / markets.

The Internet and Social Media enable alternative and more effective methods of achieving best value (e.g. Groupon), encouraging innovation (e.g. innocentive) and better serving the customer (e.g get satisfaction); why do associations instead often insist upon ivory towers, committees and autocracy?

With regard to soft play suppliers, “the PPA recommends using a member of the respective association, as this guarantees the necessary standards are reached.”

Simply not true.

There are some good suppliers that are members of the API (a body that is linked to the PPA) and some not so good. However, there are also some good suppliers who choose for very valid reasons to not participate in a scheme that is achieved virtually nothing for Indoor Play.

The same goes for the PPA; they represent a tiny fraction of play operators, there are some good play centres that are members but there are a lot more that are not. To pretend that membership implies sole conformity to desirable “standards” in either case is at best, misleading.

We started our website because we believe that all companies start equal and the market decides who flourishes, you are now aware of the alternative.

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the Indoor Play Supplier Comparison Website that Saves Play Operators £10,000s. The only source of independent reviews on every Supplier to the Play Industry, ShareAndComparePlay.com works to revolutionise the Play Experience for Children and to enable Businesses to profitably understand and meet the future needs of Families.

How To Compare Soft Play Suppliers / Transparency Guidelines

2011-04-08T10:27:00.005+01:00

Transparency is a tricky concept to grasp for traditional companies, they like the internet but don’t “get” that they cannot control it; they seem oblivious to the way it fundamentally changes the game.

Regardless, what baffles is their failure to understand that transparency isn’t going anywhere anytime soon; check out this report if you are one of those companies still cowering and hoping it will go away.

Unfortunately for some, transparency equals accountability, the collapse of traditional and inefficient hierarchies, the old boy’s network. In time, it makes it more difficult for suppliers to keep quiet about the customers that they do not want you to know about and instead direct you to the satisfied few.

I am often asked which Soft Play Equipment supplier to use; our current modus operandi means we aren’t able to answer that question; however, my advice is always the same:

Visit our Compare Soft Play Equipment supplier page, review all of the suppliers (everyone is listed for free) and corroborate expert reviews with those of users who have shared their experience to inform future buyers.

Contact three or four suppliers and see who gets back to you, be aware of how they make you feel, how knowledgeable they are etc…( If you are interested in learning how to choose a soft play equipment supplier, please use our guide; this blog is about how to use our review system.)

I was checking out of a hotel recently when on reception, I noticed a pile of business cards. They were supplied by tripadvisor and asked:

How was your visit?
When you get home, please share your opinion of us.
Thank you for your candid comments.

How refreshing, an organisation that understands that consumers value transparency and associate with companies that are willing and able to engage.

Transfer that same philosophy to play and here a few tips to help you evaluate whether suppliers are clinging to the past, hiding and hoping you won’t notice or simply too arrogant to give their customers a voice:

• Number of reviews: Evidence suggests that people write reviews when they feel passionately (either positively or negatively) about a product or service. If a company has no reviews in over two years, ask yourself (and them) why.

• Quality of review: Currently, only the star rating determines the placement of an organisation on our comparison chart. Use the star rating but more importantly, read the reviews, make a note of positives and negatives and measure the supplier accordingly.

• Date of review: Most Soft Play Suppliers will install at least ten play systems per year; if they have no reviews in the last six months, again, it’s time to ask why? Silence should equal suspicion.

• Transparency policy: When you speak to the soft play supplier, ask them what their policy is on transparency; if and how they encourage reviews (e.g. does EVERY invoice issued say similar to the note at the hotel, please share your opinion about us on ShareAndComparePlay.com?)

• Transparency badge: When you visit a supplier’s website, see if you can see this badge. If this badge is displayed prominently (i.e. on the homepage) then it shows that supplier is willing to let you review their performance and measure them against other suppliers.

Often, your gut will tell you when you have found the right supplier; for me, a company that embraces transparency, regardless of revealing its blemishes is preferable to one that hides behind PR departments, market ignorance, arrogance or hierarchy.

One of the few companies that get away with being “opaque” is Apple. It may be hypocritical to say that I do buy off them; unfortunately, no soft play supplier is Apple.

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the Indoor Play Supplier Comparison Website that Saves Play Operators £10,000s. The only source of independent reviews on every Supplier to the Play Industry, ShareAndComparePlay.com works to revolutionise the Play Experience for Children and to enable Businesses to profitably understand and meet the future needs of Families.

Child Centred Design – A “Good Boy or Girl”

2011-04-07T15:51:00.002+01:00

“A “good little boy or girl” may not be a healthy or happy boy or girl!”

Carl Rogers

Although simple, these may be the most important words I have read in many years of learning about psychology, studying wellbeing and travelling the world to explore Eastern and Western philosophy regarding self development.

I don’t think it is any great secret that most Psychology refers back to childhood; the way we play, the way we learn and our interpretations of experiences and events help to create the people we become, determining how we see the world and how we live.

This is not a philosophical discussion and so I will keep this brief.

If you are a designer of soft play equipment or you manage or own a soft play centre (or if you are a parent), please take a moment to read this.

My (brief) take is as follows:

· Our role as players in the soft play industry is to provide play experiences that help children to experiment and play safely, without judgement or being told they are “good” (because the opposite of this is “bad”); play centres are not there to obtain conformity

· Our aim should be no less than to create an environment where Children are able to foster a “positive self regard”

How do we do this?

· Become the venue where almost anything goes; ethos, “all you cannot do at home.” Make a mess, be noisy, draw on the walls, run around, throw things, break stuff, paint outside of the lines, laze about….whatever!

· Limit the number of rules that you have written on the wall (for my taste, there are far too many rules and posters on the walls of play centres). Instead, during the design process, design your service with children in mind, use subtle but intelligent service and product design to encourage freedom of expression but limit dangerous or detrimental behaviour (e.g. bullying)

· Include images of children playing and positive messages on the design of the walls, on membership cards and menus; subtly remind people that this is a PLAY centre and that this is the time of their lives (I accept that you and they won’t always feel that!!)

· Train staff to interact and engage with children, to encourage and support (but not too much, part of the play and learn process is to fall down and try again)

· Design Soft Play Equipment to be challenging but not too difficult; ideally, you want to create a play experience where the skill and confidence of the child is approximately consistent with the capability of the child

· Provide flexible and varied play experiences, the more personal the better

· Design play experiences to engage the heart, the heart, the soul; inspire use and exploration of all senses in as varied way as possible

· More often than not, adults will get in the way of children playing either because they just don’t get it or they are embarrassed. Allow and encourage interaction but lower the level of anxiety for adult and child by letting go of the idea that this mess is occurring in your living room!

· Try to not set standards for play or achieving (the potential resulting “conditional” sense of worth is just not worth the possible upside); I love the idea that play should be “activity without purpose” or in adult terms, the activity is the purpose.

Think like when building a sandcastle knowing that the sea will soon come along and wash it away; enough pleasure is derived from the activity itself that the inevitable destruction still makes it worth doing

In summary, it’s pretty simple.

Provide the space, set the stage, limit rules and encourage freedom to create, to express, to fall and learn but in a safe and friendly environment. We call this process, "Child-Centred Design."

Top 10 reasons why Indoor Play Centres Fail

2011-01-18T16:14:00.003Z

Last year, I received complaints from suppliers of Soft Play Equipment after an industry figure posted the following comments on Twitter:

“Sad day, another new playcentre has gone! A fantastic dream, in the hands of a liquidator. Sad news! Once again, sold by a certain manufacturer knowing they were building another a few miles down the road! I want their heads on a plate!!!”

“Please don't think about starting a playcentre without talking to the xxx first, certain manufacturers will give you incorrect advice!”

After these comments were once again referred to in a recent conversation, I started thinking about why it had upset so many people (is it the emotion, the tarring of all play suppliers or the use of the situation to try and build business / credibility for this organisation?) and perhaps more importantly, how inaccurate the comments are in identifying the reasons why play centres fail (do you blame a kitchen supplier when a restaurant ceases trading)?

It is without doubt tragic and sad to see Entrepreneurs suffer financial and emotional hardship, I say this from personal experience of starting several companies. Unfortunately, it is a fact of life that businesses of all sizes and in all markets occasionally fail; the rate of failure for play centres is actually lower than for other businesses.

In reality, you could argue that the indoor play market has not suffered enough creative destruction, that as an industry, we haven't failed enough, learnt from and innovated upon the lessons of the past enabling a thousand flowers to bloom, the business model has not evolved to become more resilient and offer better value to the end customer; perhaps this is partly because it is all too easy to blame play suppliers (and others) for our failings.

So here it is, based on over fifteen years in the market, my top ten reasons why Indoor Play Centres fail:

1. Poor Management and / or Leadership
2. Ill-informed Business Plan / Business Model
3. Failure to achieve sales targets / over reliance on traditional sources of income
4. Lack of Experience
5. Lack of Cash / Finance and / or incorrectly structured debt
6. Loss of interest / passion by the owners
7. Location / too much competition
8. Overspending at the start of the project
9. Limited value in the offering / nothing unique to differentiate one play centre from another
10. Bad luck or timing

If your Soft Play Equipment collapses (that should never ever happen), the supplier goes out of business with your deposit or they just don’t show up, they would then make my list of top twenty reasons but other than that, sorry, they are not to blame.

I will begin to post details of how you can mitigate the risk of the above; after all, the entire industry should want every play centre to be a success.

PS. Choosing a Soft Play Supplier is an important part of your start-up process, this guide (How to Choose a Soft Play Equipment Supplier) will help you select the right supplier for you. Of all the criteria you use to make your choice, I suggest you don’t worry about whether they supplied a local play centre (indeed, to many it is seen as sign of a good supplier).

Emotion may mean that you want to stop them from supplying anyone else locally, that just doesn’t make sense. The play equipment will be a component of your success (or otherwise,) it simply won’t be the determining factor; you should want your supplier to be successful as well so that they can innovate and help you grow.

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the Indoor Play Supplier Comparison Website that Saves Play Operators £10,000s. The only source of independent reviews on every Supplier to the Play Industry, ShareAndComparePlay.com works to revolutionise the Play Experience for Children and to enable Businesses to profitably understand and meet the future needs of Families.

What Play can learn from (Bikram) Yoga...

2011-01-17T12:22:00.007Z

I am a Yoga devotee, or more accurately, I was until a prolapsed disc meant “Downward Facing Dog’s” were replaced by MRI’s; my Yoga days were numbered unless I fancied risking the Surgeon’s knife.

However, a few months ago I rolled out my mat to try “Bikram Yoga” (aka Hot Yoga) after reading it could help serious back issues.

Although my personal fitness may not be of interest, the “business model” of Bikram should be; it makes for an interesting case study for the indoor play industry and anyone designing a scalable business model.

Yoga has been around for thousands of years, the UK market for “teachers / classes” is very fragmented and “studios” include gyms and school halls; although a large market, it was predominantly a “cottage industry,” a larger version of the indoor play market.

In contrast, Bikram Yoga is a multi-million dollar global business and it is interesting to reflect how this has been achieved, here is a brief summary:

Bikram is an entire “business system” that delivers a consistent and reliable experience; it has been described as the McDonald’s of Yoga, in the context of scalability, this is a great compliment.

In contrast, most indoor play centres are not system based and the only Design that occurs involves the Soft Play Equipment. As a consequence, play centres are mostly operated by passionate and hard-working Entrepreneurs who work in the business, customers typically don’t see any difference between each centre and the perceived value is low. Simply, this has proven difficult to scale which in turn limits investment, recognition and innovation.

The Bikram Yoga practice (a ninety minute series of postures and breathing practices done in the same order every time in a room heated to 110F) is designed to deliver exceptional health benefits in a safe and challenging manner; their marketing strategies encourage you to trial the service, they are so confident that once you try, enough people feel the benefit and want to continue

Imagine a play centre capable of improving the health and happiness of children and adults; how much would you pay to use it? We know that play is critically important to Child (and Adult) Wellbeing and yet I have never seen an Indoor Play Experience / System designed to achieve desirable and holistic outcomes for which Parents (or Government) will pay a premium.

The “process” of Bikram Yoga has been patented, thus forming a “barrier to entry” and providing income from intellectual property in the form of Franchising, Books etc…

With many Towns having several play centres and Barriers to starting a play Centre relatively low, the market represents an open goal for Entrepreneurs able to develop valuable concepts and accompanying Business Models. Now is a great time to invest in unique (think protectable) Brands, Concepts, Systems, Technology and Relationships that provide compelling reasons to visit.

Bikram has introduced Yoga to new markets

In the last six months, I have introduced Bikram to friends and friends of friends that would never have previously considered yoga, it has now replaced their gym schedule and they drive hours out of their way to attend.

Think, what new markets can you cater for in a unique way? Children with special needs? Children between 10 and 14 years old? Schools needing Play Space or classes? Children wanting to get fit? Child Wellbeing rather than just Play?

Payment in advance means not only is each business cash rich but the pricing strategy is designed to motivate specific behaviour before credits expire. The expiration of credit is a little annoying but it means I go more often, increasing the likelihood that I will feel the benefits and continue attending

Ryanair, Easyjet, Health Clubs, Insurance, Amazon, Google et al…each demonstrates how we can use pricing strategies to create / manage demand, generate cash and establish alternative revenue streams. Think carefully about your pricing strategy; not solely in terms of how much you should charge but how you want it to influence behaviour and help achieve your business objectives

Real estate is precious, “sweat the asset”

It is perhaps apt to talk of sweating the asset but each studio is located in expensive areas for real estate, there are black dots on the floor to indicate where you can place your mat, thus maximising revenue per square foot. I am not sure if soft play operators think about maximising revenue per sq/ft but this is a good reminder of how every inch of space matters, you are paying for it, after all.

Here are a few steps to consider when designing your business model:

1. Develop unique added-value concepts and experiences that deliver exceptional benefits (protect your ideas if possible / valuable enough)

2. Design a Business System (everything from the IT System to hosting a party) that delivers consistent results and an opportunity to scale (i.e. design one centre as though you are going to build a 1000)

3. Allocate at least 10% of your project value to design services; engage a design firm that is capable of exploring your entire concept and creating a business system rather than just “designing” your soft play equipment

4. Implement, test and share knowledge rapidly to increase sales, reduce costs and most importantly, keep customers happy.

Please let me know your thoughts or any stories in play where people are doing the above.

Learning from 7 Year Olds (Play Design)

2010-07-19T07:55:00.003+01:00

“Design” and the adoption of its methods, tools and thinking will increasingly be the difference between success and failure for Indoor Play centres.

It is thirty years since Indoor Play Equipment was developed and it is changed little in a World that has changed a lot. It is time for us to re-imagine our industry and Design (not just of Equipment but of the entire Business System and overall Experience) is without doubt the key to transformation.

As part of this process, we must take inspiration from wherever it resides; we must talk to children, learn from the way they play and be the conduit for their imaginations. Our role is to interpret Children’s needs based on what they show / tell us and turn observations into ideas and subsequently into financially viable products and businesses.

In my experience, the play design pyramid is the wrong way around. Play areas are “Designed” by adults sitting behind a computer “Dragging and Dropping” standard items and the Environment / Experience is hardly Designed at all.

Although you could argue that Soft Play Equipment is proven, I would suggest that instead we are building play areas that are virtually identical and in time many will therefore become commodities and commercially redundant.

As part of our efforts to motivate and inspire Soft Play Suppliers and Play Operators, we have been planning “When I Play I Want.com,” a Crowd Sourcing competition where children get to participate in inspiring the next generation of Indoor Play Experiences.

As part of developing the competition, last week we visited Wat’s Dyke Primary School and spent a couple of hours with a Class of 7 year olds, these are a few of things we learned by listening and observing:

• Collecting: The whole class (boys and girls) love collecting things, everything from a series of dolls to stickers and cards

• Naming: Names were very important, not only the names of children and their friends but the names of their toys and teddy bears (by far the most popular toy they brought from home)

• Social: The play and learning experiences were more social than I recall; play was at the centre of the way children learned and developed / maintained friendships. The potential of play to develop social skills was evident, is anything go to be more important in the economy and child wellbeing during the next twenty years?

• Identity: The whole class loved to draw, to write their name, to leave their mark

• Safety: In the safe environment of the classroom and a teacher of whom they were evidently fond, they felt free to express themselves and share their ideas (if only workplaces could achieve the same freedom mixed with order)

• Noise: With children comes noise, full stop.

• Play time: Unstructured and with minimal interruption from adults resulted in all kinds of weird and wonderful games (aka total mayhem) and conversations that are part of the social learning experience.

• Classroom: Filled with artwork, the classroom was an expression of the Children’s creativity and I imagine it changes constantly. When was the last time a play centre covered its wall in paintings by Children (or even better, allowed them to draw on the walls)?

All of this in ninety minutes. If it doesn’t change the way you design and operate your play centre then sorry, you are missing a BIG opportunity; plain and simple, you must get out more and be prepared for constant trial and error to be successful in this or any other business.

PS. I never did get used to being called Mr Lymer so I settled for being called Mr Beardface, it seemed to cause much amusement.

Soft Play seminars, an update!

2010-04-13T13:55:00.002+01:00

The start of 2010 has been an exceptionally busy time; we have already operated more of our seminars for people starting a soft play centre than we did throughout 2009.

After a short break to re-fresh content and develop new services, we are out and about spreading the word in the next few weeks; we are in Liverpool (Yellow Sub) on Thursday 22^nd April and Watford (Parents Paradise) on Monday 26^th April.

Soon, we are likely to reduce the number of seminars as we add more content to ShareAndComparePlay.com; for now we are scheduling one or two a month depending on the level of interest.

A unique offering, our seminars are the only truly independent source of information for people starting an indoor play centre and the only series of presentations covering the following:

· Key trends / success factors to consider when starting your play centre (they are not what you think)

· Why the business model needs to change and how you can benefit like no other play centre in the UK

· Play Design; what you need to know and no one else will tell you

· Independent business plan / financial information from operational play centres so that you can use real figures to evaluate your ideas

· The modern day buying process; “How to save £10,000’s starting your soft play centre”

· An interview with a successful play operator able to answer any questions you have

· Introductory meetings with leading suppliers of equipment needed to start a play centre

The feedback from the seminars has been one of the joys of our work in the last few months; the ideas discussed are really beginning to change play design and the buying process for soft play equipment, it is such a pleasure to see things beginning to change

Thank you for your support, we hope to see you soon.

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the Indoor Play Supplier Comparison Website that Saves Play Operators £10,000s. The only source of independent reviews on every Supplier to the Play Industry, ShareAndComparePlay.com works to revolutionise the Play Experience for Children and to enable Businesses to profitably understand and meet the future needs of Families.

Follow us at Twitter.com/shareandcompare or (Un)subscribe to our Blog by e-mailing us

Suppliers, the soft play industry needs you!

2010-04-13T13:06:00.005+01:00

ShareAndComparePlay is an independent voice in indoor play; our purpose is to provoke thought and encourage innovation whilst providing transparency throughout the value chain (by providing comparison services) for those willing to invest in new products and services.

In my fifteen years in the industry, there has been virtually no value creation or innovation and consequently the ecosystem is in decay; soft play suppliers are not making enough money to spend on R&D whilst non-core suppliers don’t invest in the market because they cannot see the ROI.

If this continues, what will the market look like? More importantly, how will we design and operate the play experiences that children need to learn the skills required to their lives in an increasingly complex world?

Although at times it may not sound like it, we see a very positive future for the indoor play industry but it requires (perhaps painful) change. As a result of our blogs, website and soft play seminars, we are beginning to see the next generation of play operators demand new services and the option to work in a way that reflects their ideas and business ethos.

At present, the supply side of the ecosystem does not seem able and / or willing to meet the needs of this next generation of play operator.

This situation leaves us with a dilemma; we have helped to create demand for new products, services and ways of working that suppliers either don’t understand or aren’t capable of serving. As a result, we are frequently asked by frustrated entrepreneurs / operators if we will provide the service and thus potentially threaten our vow of independence (not sure if this can be true when the market is not providing a service).

In short, this blog is an attempt to encourage suppliers to meet this pent up demand; it is an invitation to all suppliers to consider the following opportunities (this list is by no means exhaustive) and get in touch, these products and services are in strong demand and one way or another we need to meet demand:

• Independent Business Consultancy (operational and business model innovation)
• Social Media / Web / IT Consultancy
• IP Free Soft Play Design and Costing Services (Chargeable)
• Property finding services
• Marketing / Character Development / Visualisation
• Product innovation (Particularly for children over ten years of age)
• Commercial Education products (Edutainment)
• Courses (ranging from Sports to Cookery and Art classes)

As the suppliers able to provide such services are likely to be new to the market (or an established supplier looking to innovate their business model) then we are willing to explain further the opportunities and standards required for participation. If you are unsure or confused about ShareAndComparePlay.com for any reason then please get in touch and we will reveal all.

I am not sure of the response to this call for action and so as our business continues to expand, the following criteria will determine our actions:

• Is our action for the overall good of the play industry?
• Are reputable suppliers able to meet the needs of the market?
• Does our involvement conflict with our independent position?
• Do we have the skills, capability and resource to deliver an exceptional service?

I hope this helps clear things up for now (or at least encourages communication); any thoughts, comments or questions, please let us know.

PS. I would suggest that the answer to the lack of spending on R&D is collaboration and an open-source approach to the development of key products but that is a post for another day.

Connecting the (Indoor) Play Community

2010-03-18T19:24:00.006Z

Since it was established in the 1970’s, the Indoor Play Community has been a fragmented and disparate group of organisations taking an individualistic and short-term approach; we can see the results today, a community that consistently underperforms its potential in a fight for survival.

The characteristics of such zero sum markets are typically decisions based on short-term self interest, fear, incomplete information, emotion and attachment to the familiar rather than business rationale and creative embracing of the possibilities of change; ultimately, this limits potential and investment causing markets to shrink and in time, disappear.

Not a pleasant picture and so in 2009, we started ShareAndComparePlay with the objective of raising the standard of play provision in the UK; we hoped that this in turn would encourage investment and innovation, reversing the trend.

Although our small company started life as an exciting experiment, the three key values we embraced to achieve this objective were freedom of information, transparency throughout the value chain and collaborative working.

In some ways, our progress has been in advance of what we anticipated whilst in others resistance has meant that we have taken time to find alternative methods of spreading the word. In recent months, we have been working on several key initiatives to broaden the impact of such values and more of our services are being designed to better support existing operators; if we can help operators to become more successful, the circle of possibility raises upwards.

One such initiative is the collaboration between ShareAndComparePlay and Play Operators to form a new Community of Play, Play Connected. As the name suggests, our medium term aim is to create a more connected industry incorporating suppliers, operators, associations and parents / children who use the play experiences that we create.

The first meeting has taken place with astonishing results for the participating operators, the open nature of the meeting resulted in breakthroughs in terms of access to Management Information that can potentially transform the profitability of the play industry.

The next meeting is scheduled for April when more details will be agreed regarding the organisational structure but an interim progress report (requested by several people) is as follows:

· All organisations in the Play Community will be encouraged to participate; membership will be free although certain standards will have to be achieved to become a full member (membership is restricted for a little while as we implement the programme)

· ShareAndComparePlay.com and Play Connected will work together to introduce the best possible value deals from suppliers of all items needed to start and operate an indoor play centre; suppliers will have to pass an approval process to be certified by Play Connected

· The benefits that each member receives will be in direct proportion to the contribution that they make to the community

· Play Connected will explore innovative ways of generating additional revenue streams for soft play centres at both an individual and collective level

· The organisation will not be run by committee; we would like in time to create a full time role but it will generally be a democratic organisation ran by its members

· Play Connected will work with ShareAndComparePlay.com to produce quality content that will raise the profile of indoor play and encourage investment

· The structure of the collective is to be clarified but it is likely to be a co-operative of partners working towards common objectives

· Play Connected will aim to provide “Thought Leadership” and research in mission critical areas such as Information Technology, Social Media and Child Wellness

Our hope in time to provide a path to success for indoor play; we aim to inspire creativity, best practice and innovation throughout the play industry so that ultimately we can provide the best play experiences for children.

If you look at successful industries throughout the world, there is an acceptance that no organisation exists in a vacuum. In IT for example, the degree of interconnectedness will often determine the level of overall success, we hope this is the first step towards using these principles to grow the pie for all.

We will update again soon but if you have any comments, questions or wish to register interest in participating, please get in touch.

Questions to ask when starting an indoor play centre

2010-03-16T17:04:00.004Z

This is the first week in a month that we are not running one of our “how to start a soft play centre” seminars; we are taking the opportunity to update content and plan the schedule for the next few months.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of running the seminars is the convergence of creativity, enthusiasm and curiosity as prospective play operators evaluate the viability of starting an indoor play centre.

Reflecting on the latest seminars, there are three key questions that together we seek to address on the website and in more detail at the seminars, these are as follows:

1. What are you aiming to achieve by starting a play centre?

The answer to this question will impact upon every subsequent decision. In simple terms, there are some people that wish to create a lifestyle business (earn a living and improve the play experience) and there are others (increasingly so) that are serial Entrepreneurs wanted to build shareholder value. Each has its merits; it is however important to understand your personal motivations and objectives and develop your business plan accordingly.

2. What kind of play area do you want to build?

The Indoor Play Centre business is due a revolution in terms of business model and design. The design is perhaps the easier to address in this short note but I would suggest you ask yourself a simple question and explore the answer fully; “If an indoor play centre had never been built, what would your perfect play centre look like?” Seek the answer and build accordingly.

3. What does a Sustainable Play Centre Business Model look like?

This is the fundamental question of our time (not just in the soft play industry); the traditional model of “Pay and Play” has yielded only limited success and is unsustainable, (certainly at the scale we have seen in the last few years). We need to work together to re-think and re-imagine a new play experience and accompanying business models of which there will be many.

Asking the right questions is merely the start. The possibilities will only begin to reveal themselves once you, we and the entire play community begin to experiment and are open to the answers; I happen to believe that the future is rosy for the brave.

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the Indoor Play Supplier Comparison Website that Saves Play Operators £10,000s. The only source of independent reviews on every Supplier to the Play Industry, ShareAndComparePlay.com works to revolutionise the Play Experience for Children and to enable Businesses to profitably understand and meet the future needs of Families.

Follow us at Twitter.com/shareandcompare or (Un)subscribe to our Blog by e-mailing us.

Our birthday / our plans for Year 2...

2010-02-17T11:39:00.004Z

February 16th 2010 was our first birthday!

As we start year two, we decided to scribble a few New Year resolutions; this is what we have come up with so far (suggestions welcome):

• Start the national play design competition for children (urgent)

• Produce innovative information to raise awareness of play / attract investment into soft play centres

• Spread the word of technology’s potential to facilitate innovation in indoor play

• Promote a child-focussed play design agenda (a return to the fundamentals of activity without purpose and natural / free play)

• Connect more people

• Prototype quicker; fail faster; implement (continually)

• Rewarding excellence in democratic way whether for operating a play centre or producing great products / services

• Collect, collate and share information to give play operators the tools to better run profitable play centres (implement new services for existing play operators)

• Improve price comparison services for products and services used when starting and operating play centres

• Continue to invest in developing the most cost effective advertising platform in the indoor play industry (reduce cost for new / innovative suppliers)

• Continue to express and share opinions (play is too important not to engage in respectful debate)

• Enable play centre products and services to be researched and purchased on ShareAndComparePlay.com

• Facilitate open source collaboration throughout the value chain and work with suppliers to embrace transparency

• Enjoy the journey as we progress from a scrappy start up to professional SME passionate about transparency, openness and collaboration

• Find ways (or support companies) in providing products / services that are needed and yet not available

• Invite anyone and everyone to participate

• Become even more open

• Drink more hot chocolate

• Play more…

As is tradition, we might not keep to all our resolutions but the intent is certainly there; please let us know what else we can do for you. Thanks for visiting.

Managing / Sales Director - ShareAndComparePlay.com

2010-02-16T09:33:00.003Z

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the founding Division of a Group that develops social and comparison websites. Founded on the principles of transparency, freedom of information and sharing experience within a community, ShareAndComparePlay.com (S&CP) aims to re-invigorate the Indoor Soft Play market.

Launched in February 2009, (S&CP) is already one of the Soft Play markets most visited and respected websites with a reputation for sharing independent and valuable information. Building on initial success, there is an ambitious and far reaching agenda to unite the play industry towards a more creative, profitable and child-focussed future.

This vision for a dynamic Soft Play market requires a high-calibre Managing / Sales Director to fulfil its potential whilst leading S&CP in the next stage of its development.

We would be delighted to accept applications from passionate and enthusiastic individuals with the following:

Experience / capabilities

A reputation for behaving with integrity and with the ability to unite all stakeholders in a fragmented industry
Experience of the Indoor Play industry with a passionate vision of a child focussed agenda
A solution-led sales approach that can be adapted to independently work with clients to develop web marketing strategies; demonstrating why the industry should embrace transparency and an information sharing / open source philosophy
Understanding of (or willingness to learn) the capabilities of Social Media / Web technologies to revolutionise the Soft Play industry
Creative and passionate about enabling people to find and utilise information that facilitates the provision of profitable play experiences
A thoughtful and creative leader with the ability to adapt to rapidly changing opportunities

Personal

Passionate about creating the best possible indoor play industry / play experience for children
A personable and professional self-starter who is also capable of working with the Share And Compare team and clients of all sizes
Interested in exploring the possibilities of Social Networks and Communities as forms of decision-making and comparison
Excellent communicator with ability to engage, educate, inform and sell

Other details

Ethically-orientated, Share & Compare Ltd benefits from a unique shared ownership structure to attract, support and reward talented and creative people that achieve desired results.

The remuneration package will be competitive but the Equity incentive programme is one of the main attractions of the package, it is proven to create significant capital appreciation when results are achieved.

The successful candidate will preferably be based in the North West of England but travel will be throughout the UK (and possibly Europe / the USA).

To apply, please forward your CV and covering letter to contact@shareandcompareplay.com quoting PLAYMD1002.

The Spirit of Ethel / Thank you

2010-02-01T07:48:00.003Z

As this is such a personal situation, I have been unsure whether I should write a short note; in the end, I thought it the best way to say thank you for everyone’s support in recent days.

On occasion, when you write a blog or communicate for the most part via a website, you wonder if anyone is out there; feedback is often limited until we meet in person at seminars or talk on the phone.

Well, last week I was reminded that we are by no means alone. My beloved Nana Ethel passed away and I have been overwhelmed and thankful for the understanding and kind words of comfort from suppliers, colleagues and users of ShareAndComparePlay.com.

Ethel was a beautiful, funny, energetic, caring and loving lady that we adored and we miss her presence beyond measure. A playful and spirited Nana who loved to laugh, she has been an inspiration throughout our lives and she will live forever in our hearts and minds.

I will treasure the memories and her passing has reminded me of the special role that Grandparents play in the lives of all children fortunate enough to know them; if I was opening / designing a play centre, I would create a special place for Grandparents to participate.

We are a small company and so are trying to keep the impact on our business to a minimum but a little disruption has perhaps been inevitable. I am very sorry but we have had to postpone the seminar scheduled for the 8th February and are currently re-arranging to accommodate the people that were booked on this date; several new dates will be confirmed in the next few days.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

With love to my family and many thanks to those who have sent us messages of condolence.

Love and best wishes
Gareth

Indoor play centres, how much is a customer worth?

2010-01-20T18:40:00.005Z

Question: Marketing, how much should a play centre spend?

Answer: Nobody knows for sure but this may change your mind…

At our recent seminar for people starting a soft play centre, one Entrepreneur reminded us that companies he has previously worked with (large Supermarkets) calculate marketing spend based on anticipated lifetime value of a customer; a very different number to what they would spend if based on people who occasionally nip in for a can of beans.

This conversation reminded me of a post by Seth Godin that has rattled around my head for weeks, once again he succinctly outlines the business case for “Embracing Lifetime Value;” these two events got me thinking.

What is the lifetime value of a child to a soft play centre and what should consequently be spent on Marketing a soft play centre?

If you run some very basic numbers, you can begin to calculate (in Financial terms at least) the value of each visitor to your play centre.

(Excuse the simplicity of the numbers, these numbers are likely low but they illustrate the point).

Assuming the entrance fee is £5 and a child visits with one parent once a week, between the ages of 0 and 8, that would be worth £2080 to the play centre. The child loves the play centre and has each birthday there, inviting 15 friends at £10 per head, that is worth another £1200. Finally, Mum or Dad comes along on each visit and has a coffee and cake spending £4 per visit; this equals £1664 over the lifetime of the period.

In total, one child that loves your play centre but is an average or low level user is worth £4944; this does not include the intangible value of parent and child being your part-time marketers.

In terms of Marketing spend, this raises several interesting questions:

· What would you be willing to spend on Marketing to initially attract parent and child?

· What Marketing initiatives offer best value to you and the customer?

· Once your centre is known and liked by child and parent, what additional services can you offer that increases the lifetime value? (I bet in can easily but doubled or tripled)

· Perhaps most importantly, what do you spend on maintaining and enhancing the play experience so that the lifetime value is protected?

My plan for 2010 was to write shorter blog posts so I will save my “answers” for future posts, for now I just wanted to invite everyone to spend a couple of hours profiling customers, calculating lifetime value and thinking of their business plan for a soft play centre; it is an exciting number.

PS. Surely, a CRM system is a must for every soft play centre; I am constantly amazed at the priceless data that we let walk out of the door!

What if Steve Jobs & Disney designed indoor play centres?

2009-12-17T18:44:00.005Z

What if your budget was limitless, who would you ask to design your indoor play centre?

Well, if your family fortunes survey asked 100 people, most people would likely agree that Steve Jobs (Apple / Pixar) and the Disney team would "probably design the best play experiences in the world".

Alas, we don't have a magic wand (or an infinite budget) but this article about the redesign (more re-imagining) of Disney stores might give you a few clues and ideas as to what your design dream team might come up with:

"Disney Stores, which the media giant is considering rebranding Imagination Park, will become more akin to cozy entertainment hubs. The chain’s traditional approach of displaying row after row of toys and apparel geared to Disney franchises will be given a high-tech makeover and incorporated into a new array of recreational activities. The goal is to make children clamor to visit the stores and stay longer, perhaps bolstering sales as a result."

"Cozy entertainment hubs"; what an opportunity that can be replicated by entrepreneurs starting and operating soft play centres; ironically, the main concern of Disney executives "was that the concept was so lavish that parents would try to use the stores as day care centers," what a great problem to have!

We have talked frequently in blogs and our starting a play centre seminars about key trends that represent significant opportunities for play centre operators:

- The potential of social media in play centres to connect people and grow revenues

- Soft play centres becoming a third place, a family entertainment hub and meeting place within the community

- Designing indoor play experiences that engage all senses and move beyond reliance on soft play equipment that primarily provides a physical play experience

Disney seems to agree and with typical flair, they are bringing a new level of design thinking from which we can learn:

"Theaters will allow children to watch film clips of their own selection, participate in karaoke contests or chat live with Disney Channel stars via satellite. Computer chips embedded in packaging will activate hidden features. Walk by a “magic mirror” while holding a Princess tiara, for instance, and Cinderella might appear and say something to you.

It’s your birthday? With the push of a button, eight 13-foot-tall Lucite trees will crackle with video-projected fireworks and sound. There will be a scent component; if a clip from Disney’s coming “A Christmas Carol” is playing in the theater, the whole store might suddenly be made to smell like a Christmas tree."

These ideas are not only inspirational in terms of play / experience design, it is also exciting that the decreasing cost of technology means that play providers can replicate these features at reasonable cost; we are now only limited by convention and imagination.

Finally, if you are developing a business plan for your soft play area, may I suggest you ask, "how can I learn from Disney and complement the traditional sources of income for play centres (entrance, food, parties)"?

- Can I develop my own brand and characters to sell merchandise or would it be better to work with a recognised brand such as Disney?

- Why not sell toys (via a cooperative website or association with a local toy shop)?

- Why not allow parents to book holidays whilst their children play (another opportunity to use Twitter / social media in your play centre)?

- What if I started a book club and established an affiliate scheme with Amazon or a children's book store?

I have been asking these questions since it became clear that play centres could be at the centre of the combined "on-line / off-line" era. I am still not sure why so few people are taking the initiative; if Steve Jobs or Disney were sitting alongside you, what would they be asking?

Honesty box for independent "starting a soft play centre" seminars

2009-12-16T16:08:00.006Z

Since 2007 when Radiohead bravely experimented with an honesty system to sell “In Rainbows,” I have been fascinated how such economic initiatives revolutionise business models, influence demand and propagate ideas.

As you know, we like our experiments (Free influenced the founding of our Company) and trust our community so it seemed an interesting (and scary) idea to use an honesty system in the pricing of our “How to Start a Soft Play Centre” seminars to demonstrate the value of spending a day with us in January.

According to Wikipedia, an honesty system is:

“a philosophical way of running a variety of endeavours based on trust, honour, and honesty…granting freedom from customary surveillance…with the understanding that those who are so freed will be bound by their honour … not (to) abuse the trust placed in them.”

Although we know our seminars to be extremely popular and valuable (you can read feedback here), the challenge we face in fully adopting a fully fledged honesty box system is that unlike Radiohead, we have released no albums (believe me, that is a good thing) and unless you have attended our seminars (where capacity is limited to fifteen) you have no way of measuring value in advance.

Therefore, reflecting the principles of trust, value and honour in pricing the seminar became the most important considerations. After much thought, we decided to maintain the current price but at the end of the seminar, ask attendees to value the day they shared with us. If they think the value of the information we share is not worth £100 (+ VAT), we will refund the difference; this does not cover failure to attend where we offer alternative dates. Don’t worry, if you join us and value the day at more than £100, we will not ask you to pay more (unless you really really want to).

Like all experiments, we can’t predict the outcome but we hope this shows our confidence in the value of the information we share, the trust we place in the users of our website and those attending our seminars; this also hopefully makes it even easier to get your hands on all the independent information you need when starting a soft play centre.

Ultimately, we also hope that by again trying something new and risky, we inspire and / or encourage soft play suppliers and indoor play centre operators to experiment with business models and adopt ideas from outside the indoor play industry.

As always, our future is in your hands…over to you.

Now we all have the power; "Yes sir/madam, of course"

2009-12-14T10:01:00.007Z

Leading and working in transparent times is challenging and even scary to some; however, this same risk offers untold possibilities as we discussed in "Twitter in Play".

Each day, we encourage soft play suppliers and other organisations to open their business to social media and in the words of Seth Godin, lead with their glass jaw.

Once again, Seth has written a concise insightful note for leaders in transparent times who are worrying and planning rather than doing, listening and evolving; an excerpt:

When your staff sees how much power you've given random consumers, they'll freak. And then, magically, they'll start treating customers differently, because maybe, just maybe, this customer is the one who's going to use the power. Suddenly, the answer to, "do you know who I am!!" is, "yes sire, forgive me."

Social media and transparency, jump in and see what happens.

Why is play not all aflutter about Twitter?

2009-12-09T11:57:00.004Z

Depending on who you believe, Twitter is either:

1. “A real-time short messaging service that works over multiple networks and devices”

Twitter

2. “A playground for imbeciles, skeevy marketers, D-list celebrity half-wits, and pathetic attention seekers.”

Daniel Lyons, Newsweek

3. “A tool for connecting people with people and people with information; a tool that at its highest manifestation can change lives and empower people to change the world”

Gareth Lymer, ShareAndComparePlay.com

Whatever your thoughts, you have likely heard about Twitter (we have been presenting on Social Marketing in play for almost twelve months) but as of yet, the play industry has yet to embrace Twitter or Social Marketing to reach anywhere near its potential.

Let’s go back to basics and remove the distraction of technology and hype.

Organisations exist to create products, services and experiences so valued by people that they are willing to exchange their time, effort and money to benefit.

In the case of Play, we are asking parents to trust that we are creating and providing valuable experiences for the most precious of people who cannot fully articulate their thoughts and needs whilst the impact of the experience may not be felt for many years.

As the indoor play centres we design, build and operate impact children for the rest of their lives, is it not our responsibility to figure out new ways to create value; to observe and listen to customers, sharing information and collaborating to invest in the play experiences of the future?

Today, technology enables us to listen and observe children and parents, to gather, analyse and utilise information so that we can better provide transformational (play) experiences and yet we choose to ignore the opportunity; why?

There are a woefully small number of soft play suppliers (three to my knowledge; as it happens, the same three suppliers that have embraced our website / transparency) and a relatively small number of play operators that use Social Media to exchange information with (prospective) customers and the broader community.

Furthermore, those organisations that use Twitter et al waste the valuable attention of their customers by talking solely about their business. This is like being the guy at a party who continually talks about himself rather than genuinely being interested in others.

Just because you are being ignorant using Twitter rather than in person, doesn’t make those that just talk about themselves any less of an ass.

In terms of opportunity, the potential of Social Media in play is infinite. To get the ball rolling, here are three simple opportunities where Twitter and / or Facebook can be used by play centres:

• This prototype toy for kids sends Tweets to parents to say what the child has been playing with. Why can’t we use a similar principle to gather information as to what children use and like on indoor play equipment (so we can track which events they like rather than us guessing)? Why can’t we communicate this to parents on a big screen so they can “see” what their child is doing?

• Weather often equals a busy play centre and yet it is difficult to predict either. Why not incentivise customers to use Twitter to let you know if and when they will be visiting so that you can adjust staffing accordingly? A better service for customers and more profit for play centres.

• Why not establish a social network around your play centre so that parents can exchange information on parenting and then meet at your play centre when they like; if you can facilitate new connections, you will win (and so will your customers)

Whether you believe Twitter is for “imbeciles…/…half-wits”, has the potential to change the world or somewhere in between, in coming weeks we hope to persuade of the potential of social media to provide additional value to customers of play providers / suppliers and significantly grow the value of the play industry.

In the meantime, can we persuade you to take the first step of visiting Twitter and registering your name? 5 minutes could change your life, or at least, your business.

What we can learn from Walt Disney...(and thanks Paul)

2009-12-01T10:31:00.004Z

In September 2001 whilst we were at Disney World, my wife bought me a paperweight engraved with this quotation by Walt Disney:

“You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world…but it requires people to make the dreams a reality”

In short, business is all about people.

This valuable message is one that I have carried with me for many years; business is so much easier when you respect and trust the talents of others, enjoy their company and share a common purpose.

I write this blog at this moment because ShareAndComparePlay.com will soon be losing its Managing Director, Paul Smith.

I have been friends with Paul for many years and we started our first business together in 2002, since then we have started two companies, sold one and travelled throughout the world looking for innovative products and services to introduce to the UK’s indoor play industry.

When Paul started working with us in March, it was at a time when we were largely unknown with few soft play suppliers aware of the potential to engage with customers and prospective play operators using our website. At this time, Paul was the one leading the way to contact suppliers and spread the word, a thankless and difficult task at the time but one that he pursued with typical vigour, skill and ultimately success.

Although we did what we could to persuade Paul to stay, there are certain things that even we can’t change (like moving Kilkenny to the UK); the reasons for Paul leaving us are twofold.

Firstly, Paul and his family live in Kilkenny, Ireland. If you have ever visited this beautiful place then you will understand why they choose to live there but also be aware that it is two hours from Dublin which makes travelling to the UK and back in a day or two (it involves a 3am start) a challenging affair.

Secondly, the birth of Holly Mae in March means that Paul wishes to be at home a little more than he has been in the last few years and so he will be leaving us to work in Ireland which means he can for the first time in many years, work in the country in which he lives.

We would like to thank Paul for his dedication and leadership during the last eight months and I would like to thank him for working with me for so many years on a journey that has been extremely rewarding; we wish him well in his new role and I will do my best to hold the fort until additional help arrives.

Our dream of a world where children can live their dreams continues and so as Walt said, we require people to work with us (this doesn’t just mean colleagues but also partners and individuals with a passion for play); therefore, the search will begin in the New Year for a new Managing Director capable of continuing the good work started by Paul, there is still lots to do.

Thanks for your support.

Announcing our new association for play operators

2009-11-30T14:13:00.005Z

Imagine…

…a vibrant, creative and prosperous community of play operators where ideas are freely shared and connections easily formed, information is available for comparison without prejudice and as one, the community rises to meet the challenge of providing (profitable) play experiences that help prepare children for living their dreams.

We have been working with this vision in mind for over twelve months and we have tried to unite disparate groups, convinced that we share a common purpose.

However, the connections are not as easy (or widespread) and information sharing is not as transparent as we believe it needs to be if the community is to prosper. As such, after numerous requests (and saying no, choosing instead to try and partner/unite existing associations), we have agreed to facilitate a new association of play operators (and possible other stakeholders), for now we are calling it “Play; Connected.”

In January, we will invite founder members to meet to set the wheels in motion. There are no pre-conceived ideas and anyone (from soft play suppliers to children) passionate about play will be able to contribute; the more people that participate, the stronger the community becomes.

As an independent member of the play community, ShareAndComparePlay.com is happy and well positioned to facilitate and support a project such as “Play; Connected,” we will share our technological expertise and infrastructure where it can add value (something we have offered several times to existing associations, without success).

We already have several new projects planned to support play operators and although we hope our values of “Freedom for Information”, “Transparency” and “Connecting people” will be shared by the group, we will only be a participant / facilitator and our website will continue to act with total independence.

If you would like to register your interest in attending future meetings or participating in any way, please get in touch; 2010 should be a year of great progress for the Soft Play industry.

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the Indoor Play Supplier Comparison Website that Saves Play Operators £10,000s. The only source of independent reviews on every Supplier to the Play Industry, ShareAndComparePlay.com works to revolutionise the Play Experience for Children and to enable Businesses to profitably understand and meet the future needs of Families.

Follow us at Twitter.com/shareandcompare or (Un)subscribe to our Blog by e-mailing us.

How to lose an argument online...the socialisation of soft play

2009-11-25T13:04:00.004Z

Since January, we have been encouraging the indoor play industry from soft play suppliers to play centre operators to collectively explore and discuss the future of play; only through intelligent and creative exploration can we grow the industry and share the positive impact of "activity without purpose".

As developers and enthusiastic users of web technology, we believe in the potential of online communities to discuss important topics and collaborate in developing insightful solutions, our aim is to facilitate these discussions as broadly as possible.

To some, the socialisation of information is uncomfortable but we are beginning to see the embracing of this change with people using and contributing information more freely. In the last few days, I read this blog by Seth Godin discussing how to lose an argument online and how to make the social web work for you.

As one of the most popular bloggers on the web, this guy knows what works and this is what he says:

"Earn a reputation. Have a conversation. Ask questions. Describe possible outcomes of a point of view. Make connections. Give the other person the benefit of the doubt. Align objectives then describe a better outcome. Show up. Smile."

Simple, but effective.

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the Indoor Play Supplier Comparison Website that Saves Play Operators £10,000s. The only source of independent reviews on every Supplier to the Play Industry, ShareAndComparePlay.com works to revolutionise the Play Experience for Children and to enable Businesses to profitably understand and meet the future needs of Families.

Follow us at Twitter.com/shareandcompare or (Un)subscribe to our Blog by e-mailing us

Soft play suppliers, your reviews count!

2009-11-01T08:43:00.007Z

When we started ShareAndComparePlay.com, it was an experiment to test if we could revolutionise an industry we care deeply about, by introducing the following philosophies:

1. Provide valuable and corroborated information, for Free
2. Introduce Transparency, improving standards and reducing costs
3. Facilitate collaboration to enable innovation in play (involving children, parents, play operators, soft play suppliers, designers and schools)

Since our launch in February, this “experiment” has evolved into a commercial organisation enabling growth in the play market and with the potential to support change in subsequent markets, such as weddings.

To introduce each of the above, we developed and rapidly tested several strategies, inviting all stakeholders to share what we have learned so that they may invest in the future and prosper.

In the last few days, Spi Play (where I was previously a shareholder and Director), one of the “traditional” soft play equipment suppliers took up our offer. What was scheduled to be a two hour meeting took four hours; we discussed the changes that our presence has caused and how the market may evolve, both a threat and opportunity for an organisation such as Spi.

As previously discussed, “radical transparency” is likely the most controversial and difficult of trends that are resulting from our launch. The value-added by each organisation is laid bare (add no value and you will be eliminated) and all strengths, weaknesses and actions will be exposed to the market.

The essence of transparency for me is that each business must imagine that each and every communication, installation and quotation were being exposed to a capacity-filled Wembley stadium; future customers being able to judge each action and make informed decisions.

In reality, no organisation is ever going to achieve 100% satisfaction all of the time, at least in part because a positive or negative experience is in the eye of the beholder. However, what is important is that organisations engage with reviewers, encourage customers and employees to participate in the play community, allowing all to learn and share their experience.

In the case of Spi Play, I was pleased that they have responded to a recent negative review by calling the customer (who re-visited our site to say he was much happier), accepting that they dropped the ball in that particular case and then committing their organisation to valuing each star rating.

It is in the latter point that the role of the reviewer has commercial impact. Our algorithm means that each star awarded has real value in terms of pounds. This is because that more people each week are visiting our site (thanks again) as they start an indoor play centre and the worse an organisations overall rating, the lower they appear in our listings and the less likely future play operators are to make contact.

In an “eco-system” such as ours, each participant has an important role to play; ours is to provide an independent platform for information exchange; the suppliers is to listen, engage and contribute; the (prospective) play operators is to share their experience and use the information in making decisions.

In terms of advice for play suppliers and others (the offer for a meeting is always open if you would like to personalise the information and share our experience), this is a (very brief) summary:

- Participate with the play community. Share experience and expertise using our play forum (please don’t just make it an advertisement for your business) and by commenting on blogs; if you have insightful views, please tell us and we will publish them or interview you for softplay.tv

- Encourage your customers and prospects to review your organisation. If you have no ratings, not only are you at the bottom of the charts, play entrepreneurs are assuming you have something to hide

- Look to innovate by forming partnerships so that you can share the costs of R&D (more about this in a future blog); no one organisation is profitable enough to invest in developing the play areas that children dream about and play operators will want to buy. Participating in our play design competition is an alternative and low-cost method of innovating, contact us to learn more

- Consider exposing your value chain to the free market for comparison. For example, if you manufacture play equipment, consider listing as a components supplier so that people starting a play area can choose which elements of your proposition they want to buy. Transparency enables working with "best of breed" in each supplier category (e.g. maintenance, design etc) , invest and compete in each category to provide customers with genuine choice and value

This is an exciting and potentially prosperous time for the play industry; we hope more organisations continue to embrace the potential of the three philosophies that started it all.

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the Indoor Play Supplier Comparison Website that Saves Play Operators £10,000s. The only source of independent reviews on every Supplier to the Play Industry, ShareAndComparePlay.com works to revolutionise the Play Experience for Children and to enable Businesses to profitably understand and meet the future needs of Families.

Follow us at Twitter.com/shareandcompare or (Un)subscribe to our Blog by e-mailing us

Equity for Punks-Financing a Soft Play Centre

2009-10-27T16:09:00.004Z

At our seminars for people thinking of starting a soft play centre, one of the topics we explore is alternative business models that will make owning a play centre more profitable and less risky. Inevitably, this leads to discussions regarding the failure rate of indoor play centres and the cause of such failures.

Although quite low in comparison to other types of business, over-borrowing / spending on capital equipment using Asset Finance is the most common cause of failure, particularly prior to 2008 when funding was easier to obtain. As any respectable asset finance company will tell you, it is only a positive solution if you borrow within your means and in line with your (reduced) sales forecasts.

At ShareAndComparePlay.com, we see our role as being to encourage thought and innovation for the Indoor Play market, not only in the supply of soft play equipment and other tangible items but also in the business model and value proposition of soft play centres; it is in the interests of all that play centres prosper.

One of the things we encourage all entrepreneurs to consider is alternative methods of funding such as equity finance; in particular, we are intrigued with the possibility of selling equity to members of the local community (for relatively small sums in exchange for special offers etc...) that will hopefully be customers of the play centre.

It has long made sense that selling equity is a less risky proposition for entrepreneurs (than perhaps placing your house as security) and the benefits are numerous.

In recent days, I heard that Brew Dog brewery was attempting to raise finance by running a scheme called Equity for Punks that is a similar concept; 10,000 shares are to be sold to individuals that either drink the beer or just want to own part of a brewery.

If you are thinking of starting a soft play centre, I suggest you study Equity for Punks and evaluate some of the following potential benefits of such an approach:

· You would be starting your play centre with less reliance on debt / burdened by payments (at least until you are profitable and declare a dividend)

· You would have a loyal customer base from day one (if you own part of a soft play centre, are you not more likely to make that your preferred venue?)

· You will have a community of stakeholders on which to build a more diversified offering and to whom you can turn for feedback (you will need to think carefully regarding modus operandi and what ‘powers’ to give individual shareholders)

ShareAndComparePlay.com runs workshops for play centres to help them utilise Social Media to position themselves at the centre of the community. Raising finance is yet another application for these free tools as they provide an avenue to recruit and communicate with the local community for feedback or investment opportunities.

If you are thinking a starting a play centre, contact us and we would love to outline how you can use free tools to raise investment. If you have tried this route to finance, please share your experience.

ShareAndComparePlay.com-LIW news!

2009-10-22T19:10:00.009+01:00

As each person with a dream will testify, it can be scary and lonely as you develop your ideas and seek to convince the World they can make a difference.

Well, after the amazing feedback and the number of people that visited us at the LIW, we no longer feel scared nor alone; knowing that people value our service has given The Share & Compare Play team a fantastic boost; thank you!

This was the first time we met many of the people that use ShareAndComparePlay.com and someone even walked up to say “I LOVE your site, what you are doing is really helping;” someone else said they had only come to the show to see little old us, we could not have been happier.

Although we had a limited budget and decided at the last minute to attend, our Graphic Designer worked wonders in creating a stand that was a physical representation of our indoor play equipment comparison website; as you can see, we also had our ideas table from our forthcoming competition to re-design the indoor play experience.

More photographs are available on our Leisure Industry Week Flickr stream, below are a couple of things I found particularly interesting and worthy of further exploration:

This children's Go-Kart can be made by children and dismantled before being re-built as something else. This product is exciting because it reflects a trend towards Free Play, enabling children to make their own play experience, this trend still has a long way to go but this is a great start.

VEQTOR Play released details of their exclusive agreement to design and install Soft Play Equipment utilising Disney characters. The introduction of the Disney brand for us by Indoor Play Centres reflects significant potential for Entrepreneurs seeking to start the next generation of soft play centre.

We have been talking for a while about the need for sensory play, engaging all of the senses of children playing rather than solely providing a physical play environment. Most play areas now have a soft play football pitch but when walking the show, I saw this sports area where all kinds of activities could be played on sand; really exciting possibilities with this if you have the space.

Were you at the LIW? If so, did you see anything innovative that interested and excited you? We would love to hear from you.

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the Indoor Play Supplier Comparison Website that Saves Play Operators £10,000s. The only source of independent reviews on every Supplier to the Play Industry, ShareAndComparePlay.com works to revolutionise the Play Experience for Children and to enable Businesses to profitably understand and meet the future needs of Families.

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PS. Thank you to all my colleagues at ShareAndComparePlay for all their work in creating the site we dreamed of. Karen, Richard, Paul and Matt B...we could not have done it without you!

Developing a Mission Statement for Play

2009-10-13T16:23:00.007+01:00

A few days ago, researching for our Starting a Soft Play Centre seminar, I stumbled upon this article about a Montessori School in San Francisco and these words jumped out at me:

“Nature lays down a plan for the construction both of personality and social life, this plan becomes realized only through the children’s activity when they are placed in circumstances favorable to its fulfilment...”

… Montessori who based every idea she developed about childhood learning primarily on years of observing children doing what they naturally do… understood child’s “play” to actually be what we adults think of as work. It’s how they come to master their environment.”

Supporting what children naturally do; a simple philosophy that the modern day Indoor Play Centre should have at its core, from Design to Operation.

Intrigued, I conducted a little more research and again was excited by the Mission Statement of the Montessori School referred to in the article:

"We provide a foundation for the excitement of learning, at an age when learning is effortless for children. And we create a harmonious atmosphere so children can develop all aspects of their personalities—physical, social, intellectual, and emotional."

Judith Flynn, Founder and Director, Montessori Children's Center

As we encourage new Play Operators to look beyond focussing solely on the purchase of soft play equipment and instead facilitate the use of all senses in play area design, these words and this purpose resonate as reflecting our vision for Indoor Play Centres as Centres of Communities that support the Development of Children through Play.

Recently, ShareAndComparePlay.com began to prepare a revised Mission Statement to reflect our Purpose and Values; this is what we prepared a few weeks ago:

“We Dream of a World where Children freely create and enjoy Play experiences that help them to live their Dreams.

Our role is one of facilitating the sharing and comparing of valuable experiences and information within the Play Community.

Learning through listening, observation and collaboration, we help organisations to profitably provide Play Experiences and support children in the natural process of play; to the benefit of all.”

If you are starting a Soft Play centre, do you have a mission that guides your thinking and communicates your purpose? If not, can I suggest that you start developing one that reflects your purpose, values and core proposition?

A little more Research shows that Wikipedia refers to “Child Centred” Education being at the fore of the Montessori Method, as it should be at the Centre of Play Design; the following statement is intriguing from a Design perspective:

“From the moment the child enters the classroom, each step in his education is seen as a progressive building block, ultimately forming the whole person, in the emergence from childhood to adult. All focus is on the needs of the child.”

Exchange the word “Classroom” for Play Centre and this begins to reflect the holistic approach to Soft Play Design that we must begin adopt if we are to develop the Next Generation on Indoor Play Facilities.

In summary, three questions:

- If you are Starting an Indoor Play Centre, are you thinking holistically and adopting a child centred approach to the Design of your Indoor Play Experience?

- Are you communicating your vision to Suppliers, Investors and Community in the same passionate tones as the examples above?

- If Dr Montessori was your Play Designer, how do you think your Indoor Play Centre would look and operate?

An interesting and potentially prosperous future awaits those that can answer these questions positively.

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the Indoor Play Supplier Comparison Website that Saves Play Operators £10,000s. The only source of independent reviews on every Supplier to the Play Industry, ShareAndComparePlay.com works to revolutionise the Play Experience for Children and to enable Businesses to profitably understand and meet the future needs of Families.

Follow us at Twitter.com/shareandcompare or (Un)subscribe to our Blog by e-mailing us