Since its inception, ShareAndComparePlay.com has introduced transparency, collaboration and child-focussed design to the Indoor Play Market; we believe that these values provide the best way of the revolutionising the market for operators, children and families.
The information our community and we have provided has transformed the industry, standing as the only independent source of information when previously the reliance was on play suppliers who sold equipment to survive.
In this, we feel tremendous satisfaction and thank everyone that has contributed to forums, attended our seminars and advertised their services.
Each review matters, each star rating provides insight into the quality of suppliers and each bit of information shared halves the challenges and doubles the potential rewards.
Unfortunately, in such small and niche markets, doubters remain, harbouring significant power and influence; those that seek competition rather than collaboration, those that resolutely put self interest before progress, perhaps not realising that in the end, the alternative to progress is decay.
And so to the evolution of our solution, these are just a few of the changes that we will soon be making with the sole aim of building on our core values and better serving both the market and the debate:
·We will be removing website advertising for soft play suppliers, the tables determining the best suppliers will remain
·We are re-designing our well reviewed and popular seminars and making them available for purchase digitally
·We will be introducing a new consultancy service regarding business plans (the only source of independent advice for business plans in the market)
·We plan to use our unique information set to introduce a new service reviewing Indoor Play Suppliers, an independent design review and comparison service to ensure you achieve value for money when choosing a play supplier
We hope that you are as excited as we are about these enhanced services; we believe they will provide inspiration, information and innovation in our beloved market that needs it so much.
These changes will occur in the next few weeks, please let us know if you have any thoughts or feedback.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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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