Jack The Lad

Heres a quick calculation for you:

Startup cost £110000= $330,000 approx

$330,000 @ 7% over 25 years= $2300 per month

$2300 divided by 23 working days average per month taking into account public holidays ect.

Assuming a $6 charge per kid you would need 17 kids per day to pay the loan off (this excludes TAX).

Then you need $$$ for staff and running costs ie Electricity, water, insurance ect.

In a nutshell you are going to need about 50 kids a day at $6 a time just to cover the loan and running costs before you get anything out of it.

IMHO thats a big ask. Maybe once you are in country and get a better feel for the place and know what the markets like for this kind of thing

UKNZAUS

cheers bud !!!

I was going to wait until I'm there anyway - I couldn't get a full picture without actually being there

Anyhow, this would be MY place and people would flock from all over the world just to visit MY soft play centre

Also, I could rely on you lot bringing your kiddies in every day now, couldn't I ?! lmao

thanks again x

Michelle

uk+kiwi

Just to add:

It would be highly unlikely that you would get/want a 100% loan for the business (especially if you had not long lived in the country IMO). So in terms of repayments, a capital figure of x amount should be deducted.

I don't actually think 50 kids/day is unrealistic. But it would have to be well located and with some good marketing. A really bad one where we used to live would get a minimum of 100 kids/day and it was in a dodgy football clubhouse or something - with some kiddie ride-ons, a couple of slides and a bouncy castle. More of an indoor playcentre than soft play. Not a pleasant place at all, but I liked the owner and the kids enjoyed it enough.

Michelle, to answer your question, it was hubbie who actually thought of doing this (soft play). Researched it in the UK (too expensive - 200k+ set-up) so thought about it in NZ. And from what we saw there, we thought we could do a much better job.

I also don't think the outdoorsy nature of NZ rules it out if you are, for example, in Wellie or Auckland since the weather can actually be pretty crap and cold for a few months of the year and parents would love to go there. Christchurch would be a good place too. Plus you could always close over the Summer - great! (Or perhaps there's a market with pre-schoolers whose mothers don't want them in the sun much?) There is one on the North Shore by the way (great coffee & muffins ).

But we decided against it since I personally would not want to spend much time in one. Because I don't like them much and would want to be doing other stuff. And then there's the fact that it would be (hopefully!) packed with other people's young kids.

We thought of this a couple of years ago when our children were younger, but now that our youngest is 5, we hardly ever go to such places so wouldn't want to run one now. Having moved on from the whole relatively short lived toddler phase, we have other interests now. Worth bearing in mind, although if you love being with young children it may not affect you. Also, you could have a manager and staff in place.

Good luck. I'm sure the right place in the right location could do well. But think big catchment population (rules out a lot of NZ)

Jack The Lad

Carmen I agree. But if you read one of Michelles other posts she states how much money they will be taking over to NZ. So with that in mind they wont be that far off my figure (which was the £110,000 not the possible £125,000) which is at least 3 years old.


Now imagine this on a school day. 50 kids in one school day is a lot. At weekends you will cream it but not too sure on school days.

Agreed. However the $$$ of the premises will be much higher which will affect running costs. In fact I hadnt even added rental for premises so those cost will be higher.

PS I know Im putting a downer on this but I hate for Michelle or anyone to go into this without knowing all of the pit falls

Apple12

Now imagine it on a summers day, or on a Sat competing with school sports. IMHO this is not something that kiwi parents would naturally take too, there is much more of a diy attitude and there is so much free stuff available outdoors for kids.

Perhaps a business model that works better in the UK than in NZ.

uk+kiwi

I agree with a lot of what has been said (which is why on balance, we decided it wasn't for us) BUT I know people running these places and they are making money - both in the UK and in NZ. For the record I am referring to profit, not just a healthy revenue which essentially means bugger all.

My FIL knows the owners who set up a soft play franchise company in NZ (sorry, THE soft play franchise company) and they are doing very well. I can't think what it's called and personally I don't think it's that great, but the business model is working very well for them.

Apple, I hear what you're saying about the kiwi way and you are right that there is a bigger DIY entertainment philosophy and sports focus than in the UK, but children are still very indulged in many areas of NZ with entertainment and leisure activities that includes soft play centres. Soft play centres are mainly aimed at children aged 1-5, ie those who have yet to start school and thus lots of weekend sport. Although they do cater for children up to the ages of 10 usually.

The one we visited in Auckland was as busy as one we would go to in the UK, if not more so. It was midweek during term time on a rainy early December's day. I can recall it was a Wednesday for some weird reason given that it was over a year ago now.

On a similar vein to kids indulgence. We have family in Blenheim that can't believe how many toys kids in the UK have compared to where they live (I was somewhat embarrassed when they visited - we have too much junk!), BUT I was stunned at the Xmas pressies my MIL's neighbours kids had on Auckland's North Shore, compared to my kids, for example when we were there last.

Off to cook tea now - Jack, re: perfect husband - spot on!!

Jack The Lad

Yes I am

Apple12

Aaahhh now I understand, it is the Auckland effect again... that seems to pop up quite often

shell and mark

Hi There..
My OH was on here the other week asking about Soft play areas he works for a company in the uk who actually builds them and was wondering about doing the same in New Zealand, he's actually away in Austria at the moment building one in a massive shopping centre...they are quite big business in the Uk and Europe but don't know about NZ...........
Good Luck with your Idea !!
Michelle

Gill and Rob

www.chipmunks.co.nz/

Check out the above web site.
The Rotorua one has been up for sale a couple of times or so it appeared since we got here 4 years ago.
Gill

Jack The Lad

Looks very good

Bet that wasnt cheap to set up

UKNZAUS

Thanks for all your valuable info!

I am still only a couple of days into my decision to run my own business yet - nothing is set in stone - jeez I don't even have Residency lol. Also, I may not even like it in NZ (although I doubt it, but never say never!) and want to return to UK!

I do know I want to work with kids - I'm retraining as a Childminder when I get there, so if it all goes pear-shaped and we can't afford to do it, I'll still get to work with kids anyway! My business will have to wait a few years ... I'm only in mid-20's so it's not like time is running out for me! I would like to buy out an 'old, retired' soft play centre and build it up my way - so thanks for that link Gill Like i said though, I'm still only a couple of days into my decision and have LOADS to go through before I do eventually proceed - I need the hassle of getting out there first too - does help

Keep bringing it on - it all helps! Thankyou so much again x

Michelle xx

PS: Jack, Carl had a look at your figures and said although it looks impossible, a few twangs here and there and they look a lot better

uk+kiwi

Hopefully you are right with that Apple.

Birdey

H Michelle
Was browsing the web and came across an Australian site called Lollipops which may be of use to you. They franchise kids indoor play areas. It may not be of any use either, but perhaps worth a look.

dlmckay

Hi there,

Chipmunks in Henderson charges $5 for 3-4 yo, and $9 for 5-11 yo. The price is for as long as you like. The shed they are in gets uber hot in the summer and you cannot take drinks in - I'm guessing they make more with the cafe than they do on entry fees.

They also do parties, which consist of a private room to eat nuggets in, you bring your own cake and they drag out some hapless staff member in a chipmunk suit. That cost us $150 for 10 kids!

Lollipops is likely to be at a similar price level, I haven't been to one, but I do know that they run daycare programmes from there.