Soft Play seminars, an update!

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.

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Indoor play centres, how much is a customer worth?

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!

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

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.

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.