I don't know how I got here. I opened youtube to find some music to play in the background while I work, now I'm 15 minutes into evaluating whether a soft play empire is for me or not.
This particular pooh-trap has also captured me. Walking down a country lane, then BAM, hanging upside down from my leg from a TH-cam tree, building my soft-play empire.
I think I learned more about running in a business in 15 minutes watching your video than I did in 20 years working for a multinational corporation. Thank you for being so open, honest and frank about your business and what you've learned. I wish you every success.
i wonder if he has some business degree? hes definetly a very good businessman when ive seen most business owners are clueless idiots. fun fact thou even super duper smart long term businesses can close ie the entire legacy car makers of the west will be bancrupt within 5 years thanks to chinese electric cars. BUT if you arent as smart as this James is dont even try getinng involved in any business.
I came to this video thinking it was an ad, wondering where the sell was. I left this video with knowledge and as a subscriber. Your delivery is exceptional, congratulations on your well deserved success
Excellent video but Success depends on the actions or steps you take to achieve it. Building wealth involves developing good habits regularly putting money away in intervals for solid investments. Financial management is a crucial topic that most tend to shy away from, and ends up haunting them in the near future.., I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life!!
Just been looking at companies house, and checking out his portfolio of companies. He’s legit for sure and worth a few quid. He has 12 active directorships so this man knows what he is talking about. Hats off to the knowledge and sharing of info. Nice one.
@ where do you find the time? Even if all these were managed by a trusted and faithful manager, and with your YT channel you have to be doing 12-16hrs a day? Similar to Daniel Louisey from Asheville, another of my YT subs. Where is your work/life balance set James? Recreation, partner, relaxation etc? Serious question!!!
@@Grumpygrandad68 I do work every day, but I don’t manage any of it. It’s just not my skill set; never has been. I’ve always employed people to do the managing. I am growing the companies they’re operating them. I think “who can do this better than me not how can I do this”
@ do you find it difficult seeking the right trusted manager? What is retention like James? You must have such trust and treat them well, it’s the only way. Carrot or stick?
Most books repeat the same old advice, but Uncommon Paths to Wealth by Borlest is different. It’s filled with strategies that changed the way I think about success
I know Larysa Caba. she trades for everyone I have come across. I met her twice at a meeting in Germany and after her lectures from Ella I had to personally ask her to be my financial advisor. she is definitely good.
The value in these videos is insane, Thank you so much for telling us how it really is in business and giving us advice on how to improve the business model!!! This is why I watch every video you post on here. 🔥🔥🔥
Not sure why this video popped up on my feed, thought I’d give it a watch for a couple mins regardless. Ended up watching the entire video and subscribing. Your delivery and knowledge/information is valuable within any business, keep up the great work!
Haha. This is a question our parent friends ask ourselves. “How much do they make?” Can’t believe this was the first video recommended to me this morning. Wow, great communication, now subscribed. Thanks for the amazing content!
I’m a business owner. I know and practice a lot of this stuff, but still found your video really interesting, especially as you’re in very different sectors. You should definitely go and talk at colleges or universities if you can find the time. I’d have loved to have someone like you come and talk to me when I was an 18-year-old business studies student.
I was totally sceptical about this fella when he popped up in my stream but having watched a bunch of videos now, all he does is give solid advice it’d take a decade+ to learn on your own. I can’t help but root for the guy, hope he continues to do well.
My area used to have 4 of these playcentres now it's only got two, and one of them is opening and closing seems shakey. The one that's doing well is open late doing bowling, lazer tag, astropitch soccer etc. and is part of a national chain. The thing I saw cited as crushing them was insurance costs. Lots of news articles about 90k quotes. The particular clientele you get in these spots can be unusually litigious. I think taxes on these type of businesses in Ireland is quite favorable which is why so many farmers are incorporating petting zoo's or other tourism and leisure elements. Maybe insurance is more competitive in the UK we have a lot monopolies over here with insurers and banking.
Some of the best ways I've seen soft play diversify is opening them up to the evening young adult events with a bar in the evening (adults love the nostalgia of soft play too)
Started the video thinking this place looks familiar, only for you to confirm my suspicion😂Been to that exact same location when I was a kid roughly 15 years ago. Grown up now and finding out who the owner is a full circle moment😂Great video, appreciate the knowledge and also for giving me a good memory to look back to
Im a property landlord and developer, and my vertical integration is designing and drawing my own planning schemes, doing the building works, managing the portfolio, cleaning the short stays, building my own website/brand awareness. All in house. My next VI is i'll be growing my shortstay (eg airbnb's) massively next year and will be doing all my own linen. Per turnaround cost me £15 per bedroom. By doing my own linen, I'll get it down to under a £1
I did the numbers on a soft play centre near me and realised it wasn't making much money at all and couldn't understand why they wouldn't add more functionality and services into the huge space. You sir have confirmed my worries and my ideas!
i love seeing successful entrepreneurship stories like this. people who dedicate their life and time to master a niche and know so much about it are geniuses in my eyes
Used to work at one and the owner said if they had their time again they wouldn't do it, because the risk of getting sued for injuries is so high. A kid bumped their head and won £180k (company at fault), which was really tight on the business. A woman claimed she fell down the stairs but cctv proved that as false. So i think he was stressed more about getting sued absorbing funds rather than turnover
Would be great to see a video from you, James, regarding company structures, holding companies, LLP, etc etc. When would you need to do any of these, the benefits, etc.
Quality video, my mum had a soft play business but didn't have the location or scale. Skipping middle men: Buying direct from Manufacturers in China, India etc is great but they will still be using middle men, generally you're moving the problem around and the manufacture will charge you a fee to sort that problem on top of the middle mans margin, which is hid in the invoice. Might be worth re-looking at :)
When you were talking it felt like it was me talking. I love that my thinking is becoming so alike to yours! Learnt alot from you! Looking forward to our podcast in Jan! The business has scaled a fair bit since I applied 👀
So weird that this vid randomly popped up, me and the wife have talked about starting a similar business in our local area also doubling as a nursery, this vid was a great insight and might give us a bit more motivation to look into it more! Great Vid 👍👍
I'm in hospitality and am around ~33% profit margin across my 27 Airbnb's. Hearing aiming for 10% is good, made me feel slightly wealthier lol as 4 years in, still not used to that feeling of keeping the minority of what one brings in
Fantastic video and what a guy! Really open and honest appraisal of the leisure and hospitality industry - well presented and nicely animated. Best of luck with the business and thank you for sharing your story. You've got a new subscriber!
Morning James. I’ve been waiting for you to do a video on this subject as it’s something I’ve been interested in doing for years.Id like to have a soft play and themed mini golf next to each other possibly sharing the kitchen,we have nothing round our way like this.Unfortunately I’ve spent last ten years being busy earning a living in the plumbing industry so never got round to turn ing my dream into reality.I will be coming to you course next year so hopefully I can grow my plumbing business and step back from the tools allowing me to follow me dreams.
Most soft plays probably close at 4pm . About the model or E.E, could you close for an hour and re-set up the space you have e.g flat pack the soft play and move in arcade equipment (bar area- snooker) or even turn into a night club 🎵, for then the older generation to have there fun while still in one empire. Soft play close at 4, reopen at 5pm- 1am same place but different style. Just a thought keep it up mate 👍🏼 (easier said then done) also merchandise or school trips to your centre (contact schools in off peak)
I absolutely love videos like this! I hadn’t really considered the economies of scale aspect of it. As a service based business based upon me as the service provider I can retain a much higher amount of the profits but it’s not as scaleable if just my time for money.
Great video, good content and well made. I have always wondered how much money soft play centres make, as I do with every business I encounter. I enjoy learning about the business “hacks” that mean some businesses thrive and others die in the same market. Thanks for sharing your wisdom
Interesting, soft play centre locally to me declined dramatically over a 5 year period. Started off great, was packed most of the time, had all the new mod cons and air guns etc. Then after a few years, things were breaking and ball pits were becoming sparse. This is the bit on your graph where the place needed fixing/replacing items/investment. Unfortunately, all that happened was the balls got topped up and then the customers dipped, the place got worse until almost everything was in need of repair. They just shut up recently, took a load of money off people for birthday parties and ran off into the sunset. Was actually disgusting really, they called up people to get money upfront for the upcoming parties booked, knowing it would close shortly. Great insight, glad you painted the picture so clearly, you certainly know your stuff. I feel well equipped to take something like this on now, but sadly lack the dedication to submit so much energy into a hospitality/leisure business, fair play to you.
I'd love to see you make a video on how much you think building a business is down to luck, how much to strategy & what these things do to aid or hinder your risks/diversification.
New TH-cam feature seems to be working for you and other, you go to check notifications and by magic, its swiped to a new video. Very random. However you've mentioned some really good ideas to keep my mind fresh.
Prior to the 08 financial crash, such finance was achievable. In today's world there is not a bank who would provide that finance to a 21 year old. Or anybody for that matter unless of course they already had cash or assets to act as collateral. Walk into a bank asking for £300k and a business plan and you will be laughed back out of the door, sadly.
80-100k in pocket money after all that effort just really doesn't seem worth the headache and continued effort, it doesn't weigh up. This country really is set up to suck every penny from business owners.
It's the legacy that building the business brings. 100k profit over 10 years is 1m! You can work 10years at a regular 9-5 and never see a glimpse of that. You can have 100k in a savings account and not make anything close to that % even with compounded interest. Yes it's more effort and the long game but that's the entrepreneurs journey I guess.
Not sure what planet you live on where 100k in profit after a year is unfair, that is incredible. Ask 99.99999% of the general public and they'd be chuffed with that. He's paid his tax, paid his employees' wages, paid his rent, and has 80-100k left in the bank? Woe is the life of the successful businessman, he'll never buy a private jet at this rate.
I work for company that make and supply fitters with netting, rope cargo nets, v bridges/step bridges spiders webs, buoy swings etc.. We are so busy at the moment. Love my job.
Enjoy your videos James. One thing about this particular example though is that the day nursery is a completely different business, different staff, different space, so there aren't really any shared costs in running the 2 businesses. A better example, if staying within food, might be using a restaurant to create pre-prepped meals or a product that could be sold wholesale, so using the same location and staff to run the additional revenue stream. Enjoyed the video though, it gives people a great way to think about using their existing overheads to increase revenue.
Heating costs and rent/mortgage costs are presumably 'free'. Sounds like a good fit. Now he just has to think about how it can make money in the early mornings and evenings - maybe show movies or a pub or fitness center for adults whilst kids are playing?
Rent is charged per sq ft. So dividing the space doesn’t make it free, it just means it’s shared, but the cost is paid by one of the businesses. Same for heating. Day nurseries require a lot of space, def not free. This particular example is not an additional revenue stream, it’s a separate business entirely.
Some staff would be different, but the kitchen, for example, would be the same and share its costs across the two businesses. The kitchen wouldn’t need to be any bigger because it would be used at different times. during the regular school day from the nursery, then at weekends/holidays for the soft play.
Really insightful thanks. Do you have any videos on the specific systems and processes that you put in place for your businesses? It seems like that is the most important aspect of scaling, so would be great to see a video on it
Sounds like the day nursery combined with the play area is a recipe for success that you’ve found you essentially have a captive audience of kids who know full well that behind the wall of their day nursery is a huge play area and they all want to visit and they want to come and play
Really interesting video. Having spent countless hours at Soft plays over the past 6 years, it's very eye opening. I would note that in your calcs around 7 mins- surely only 16.67% of the gross £1 would be VAT (not 20%)?
I wondered if anyone else had noticed the same thing. Only a little change in the calcs, but the extra 3.33% can make a fair bit of difference to a business model!
Hi James, love the content! I'm curious how much of your daily life do your businesses take up? Does thinking, organising, and running them consume most of your day? If you were just an employee in your own businesses, earning let's say £40k and working 8 hours a day with 16 hours of personal time and no stress, would you prefer that lifestyle?
I’m absolutely addicted to work. I love working. I do some work every day - even if it’s just mental thinking. So yes I am consumed. It’s in my DNA. I love my family and wife too, but they get who I am.
Not sure if it was the same in UK (I imagine it was) but here in Ireland, a few years back, insurance costs for soft play centers skyrocketed over night, just near killing the industry in Ireland. Would love to hear thoughts on how V.I. could support solving a problem when it's entirely out of your control. 🤔
Why not use the commercial kitchens as a dark kitchen for take away on uber/just eat etc on the evenings when the play centre is closed??? 🍕 🌭 🍔 Could even just sub let them to other start ups and not have to run them once handed over to the night team? You will have the contacts from the deli wholesaler and economies of scale. No brainer to me? Only risk is if they screw up the kitchen - but deposit covered that risk off - or turn your cafes into franchises like Wendy’s locations etc
All makes sense, but ultimately, your primary business still has to make money to begin with and for a certain amount of time, before being able to layer in additional revenue streams
Hi James this video was fantastic tyvm. One question. So you have set all these companies up, do you have them all under one holdings company? What does the structure look like? Do you use any software to manage accounts between them? How do you manage management of all these industries you are involved in. Seems very tough!
You should consider the rental value when deciding your profitability, you 4 four modes of production, enterprise, labour, capital good, and land, all of these should make a return on investment or you are not meeting opportunity costs
A friend of mine has a soft play unit. Half of its soft play & half a day Nusery. His now looking at doing adult nights where adults can use the soft play. Sell more expensive food & drinks.
Love this Jamie, as a young inspiring entrepreneur, this is very interesting. I'm also from Basildon and would love to be apart of this business to help it grow. I always wondered about the costs and margins on this type of business.
Absolutely amazing content! So valuable. For someone young, looking to learn, do you have any books you would recommend that maybe shaped your perspectives/gave you the skills needed? (if they came from books!)
I have 600-1m liquid and 5 family members (whom I support) eager to work 24/7. I'm at a loss what to start at the moment. We do lots of property development, however the profit is getting worse and worse so it's only really covering our labor atm. Interested to hear your thoughts on what you'd do with 5x time + money in the bank. Appreciate it!
As a fellow entrepreneur, you are doing a great service for those wanting to start out AND for those experienced people who can sometimes lose their way. Keep it up mate.
I don't know how I got here. I opened youtube to find some music to play in the background while I work, now I'm 15 minutes into evaluating whether a soft play empire is for me or not.
Lol “Welcome To TH-cam.”
Yeah, my fate too, very engaging presenter and entrepreneur, from humble acorns grow mighty trees. I'm gonna go find some assets to sweat.
Same. Never watched any content like this but wow it was good content
This particular pooh-trap has also captured me. Walking down a country lane, then BAM, hanging upside down from my leg from a TH-cam tree, building my soft-play empire.
Same here
No course being sold. No pie in the sky rubbish. Just valuable business insight. What a great channel.
I think I learned more about running in a business in 15 minutes watching your video than I did in 20 years working for a multinational corporation. Thank you for being so open, honest and frank about your business and what you've learned. I wish you every success.
i wonder if he has some business degree? hes definetly a very good businessman when ive seen most business owners are clueless idiots.
fun fact thou even super duper smart long term businesses can close ie the entire legacy car makers of the west will be bancrupt within 5 years thanks to chinese electric cars. BUT if you arent as smart as this James is dont even try getinng involved in any business.
I came to this video thinking it was an ad, wondering where the sell was. I left this video with knowledge and as a subscriber. Your delivery is exceptional, congratulations on your well deserved success
He has a
BUYING BUSINESS MASTERCLASS but yeah, not really selling it that hard, and that's great
He's a beanhead.
Of course its an advert
Excellent video but Success depends on the actions or steps you take to achieve it. Building wealth involves developing good habits regularly putting money away in intervals for solid investments. Financial management is a crucial topic that most tend to shy away from, and ends up haunting them in the near future.., I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life!!
You're correct!! I make a lot of money without relying on the government,
Investing in stocks and digital currencies is beneficial at this moment.
Job will pay your bills, business make you rich but investment build and wealth long term, the future is coming.
Life is easier when the cash keeps popping in, thanks to fiona blanco. fx services. Glad she's getting the recognition she deserves
@@MonicaO.ParkerWow! Kind of in shock, you mentioned expert, FIONA BLANCO. What a coincidence!!
Thank you Lord Jesus for bringing expert like FIONA into my life and my family, $14,120.47 weekly profit Our lord Jesus have lifted up my Life!!!
Just been looking at companies house, and checking out his portfolio of companies. He’s legit for sure and worth a few quid. He has 12 active directorships so this man knows what he is talking about. Hats off to the knowledge and sharing of info. Nice one.
27 active companies actually but companies house has me existing at 4 different people. Who knows why ! Thanks for your kind words.
@ where do you find the time? Even if all these were managed by a trusted and faithful manager, and with your YT channel you have to be doing 12-16hrs a day? Similar to Daniel Louisey from Asheville, another of my YT subs. Where is your work/life balance set James? Recreation, partner, relaxation etc? Serious question!!!
@@Grumpygrandad68 I do work every day, but I don’t manage any of it. It’s just not my skill set; never has been.
I’ve always employed people to do the managing. I am growing the companies they’re operating them.
I think “who can do this better than me not how can I do this”
@ do you find it difficult seeking the right trusted manager? What is retention like James? You must have such trust and treat them well, it’s the only way. Carrot or stick?
Most books repeat the same old advice, but Uncommon Paths to Wealth by Borlest is different. It’s filled with strategies that changed the way I think about success
This is a really interesting topic. I never thought about how much a soft play center could make. It's great to see behind the scenes.
Absolutely. It’s surprising what goes on behind the curtain. There’s a lot of potential out there.
For sure. I’ve been thinking about ways to boost income. It seems like having a good plan is key.
Definitely. I heard about Larysa Caba. She seems to help people find ways to enhance their earnings with smart strategies.
That's a great point. I’ve heard good things about Larysa too. She seems to have a thing for guiding people in the right direction.
I know Larysa Caba. she trades for everyone I have come across. I met her twice at a meeting in Germany and after her lectures from Ella I had to personally ask her to be my financial advisor. she is definitely good.
The value in these videos is insane, Thank you so much for telling us how it really is in business and giving us advice on how to improve the business model!!! This is why I watch every video you post on here. 🔥🔥🔥
Not sure why this video popped up on my feed, thought I’d give it a watch for a couple mins regardless. Ended up watching the entire video and subscribing. Your delivery and knowledge/information is valuable within any business, keep up the great work!
Haha. This is a question our parent friends ask ourselves. “How much do they make?” Can’t believe this was the first video recommended to me this morning. Wow, great communication, now subscribed. Thanks for the amazing content!
The comments of genuine praise (honestly) for this video is amazing. I learned soooooooo much
I’m a business owner. I know and practice a lot of this stuff, but still found your video really interesting, especially as you’re in very different sectors. You should definitely go and talk at colleges or universities if you can find the time. I’d have loved to have someone like you come and talk to me when I was an 18-year-old business studies student.
This is better than school and uni 😅 so much info, inspires new entrepreneurs, and shows numbers and what it takes to get into and run a business!!!
I was totally sceptical about this fella when he popped up in my stream but having watched a bunch of videos now, all he does is give solid advice it’d take a decade+ to learn on your own. I can’t help but root for the guy, hope he continues to do well.
My area used to have 4 of these playcentres now it's only got two, and one of them is opening and closing seems shakey. The one that's doing well is open late doing bowling, lazer tag, astropitch soccer etc. and is part of a national chain. The thing I saw cited as crushing them was insurance costs. Lots of news articles about 90k quotes. The particular clientele you get in these spots can be unusually litigious. I think taxes on these type of businesses in Ireland is quite favorable which is why so many farmers are incorporating petting zoo's or other tourism and leisure elements. Maybe insurance is more competitive in the UK we have a lot monopolies over here with insurers and banking.
Some of the best ways I've seen soft play diversify is opening them up to the evening young adult events with a bar in the evening (adults love the nostalgia of soft play too)
Thank you so much for sharing, we need more people like you in the UK!!!
Started the video thinking this place looks familiar, only for you to confirm my suspicion😂Been to that exact same location when I was a kid roughly 15 years ago. Grown up now and finding out who the owner is a full circle moment😂Great video, appreciate the knowledge and also for giving me a good memory to look back to
Can’t begrudge people like this a single bit of their success. 100% deserved and imagine what you’d learn if you could spend a week with them.
Im a property landlord and developer, and my vertical integration is designing and drawing my own planning schemes, doing the building works, managing the portfolio, cleaning the short stays, building my own website/brand awareness. All in house. My next VI is i'll be growing my shortstay (eg airbnb's) massively next year and will be doing all my own linen. Per turnaround cost me £15 per bedroom. By doing my own linen, I'll get it down to under a £1
Clever man, well done on your success mate the UK needs more entrepreneurs
Your a great man to put such an effort in to share your experience with us!
I did the numbers on a soft play centre near me and realised it wasn't making much money at all and couldn't understand why they wouldn't add more functionality and services into the huge space. You sir have confirmed my worries and my ideas!
i love seeing successful entrepreneurship stories like this. people who dedicate their life and time to master a niche and know so much about it are geniuses in my eyes
Wow I didn't expect to watch a video as good as this today. First thing that sprung to my mind is my wife is qualified to own a day nursery!
Used to work at one and the owner said if they had their time again they wouldn't do it, because the risk of getting sued for injuries is so high. A kid bumped their head and won £180k (company at fault), which was really tight on the business.
A woman claimed she fell down the stairs but cctv proved that as false. So i think he was stressed more about getting sued absorbing funds rather than turnover
Genius. Build an ecosystem of businesses where you own the entire value chain!
Would be great to see a video from you, James, regarding company structures, holding companies, LLP, etc etc. When would you need to do any of these, the benefits, etc.
@@WeixDraqz we discuss this stuff more on my podcast channel.
Quality video, my mum had a soft play business but didn't have the location or scale.
Skipping middle men: Buying direct from Manufacturers in China, India etc is great but they will still be using middle men, generally you're moving the problem around and the manufacture will charge you a fee to sort that problem on top of the middle mans margin, which is hid in the invoice. Might be worth re-looking at :)
When you were talking it felt like it was me talking. I love that my thinking is becoming so alike to yours! Learnt alot from you! Looking forward to our podcast in Jan! The business has scaled a fair bit since I applied 👀
Channel and videos finally getting the recognition they deserve. Well done!
I have no background in business and I found that absolutely fascinating! A great insight into how businesses work.
This is very informative. James speaks well and I’ve never been so interested in setting up a soft play business! 🙌🏻😂
I love this, real practical business advice explained in a straightforward way, no fluff, easy to grasp high level concepts. Thanks a lot!
New viewer, genuinely amazed by your content. I've just hit the subscribe button which is quite rare for me. Keep up the great work 👏👏👏
Welcome aboard!
So weird that this vid randomly popped up, me and the wife have talked about starting a similar business in our local area also doubling as a nursery, this vid was a great insight and might give us a bit more motivation to look into it more! Great Vid 👍👍
Literally had this chat last night too. Where do you live? I want to compete with you
What a great video, amazing insight into how this model works. Thank you for sharing
Wow, if all your videos are this good, this is another revenue stream set up as well I guess! Really happy this popped up on my recommendations!
I'm in hospitality and am around ~33% profit margin across my 27 Airbnb's. Hearing aiming for 10% is good, made me feel slightly wealthier lol as 4 years in, still not used to that feeling of keeping the minority of what one brings in
This is a fantastic video James. Great honesty. You are a skilled businessman.
Fantastic video and what a guy! Really open and honest appraisal of the leisure and hospitality industry - well presented and nicely animated. Best of luck with the business and thank you for sharing your story.
You've got a new subscriber!
Impressive stuff. Don't think I would have expected a play centre to be the basis of a business empire.
Great video. Well presented. Highly informative. I love seeing people doing well. This man deserves all his success
Really clever James, I remember seeing you at the Basildon party man world on stilts 😂
Morning James.
I’ve been waiting for you to do a video on this subject as it’s something I’ve been interested in doing for years.Id like to have a soft play and themed mini golf next to each other possibly sharing the kitchen,we have nothing round our way like this.Unfortunately I’ve spent last ten years being busy earning a living in the plumbing industry so never got round to turn ing my dream into reality.I will be coming to you course next year so hopefully I can grow my plumbing business and step back from the tools allowing me to follow me dreams.
Most soft plays probably close at 4pm . About the model or E.E, could you close for an hour and re-set up the space you have e.g flat pack the soft play and move in arcade equipment (bar area- snooker) or even turn into a night club 🎵, for then the older generation to have there fun while still in one empire. Soft play close at 4, reopen at 5pm- 1am same place but different style. Just a thought keep it up mate 👍🏼 (easier said then done) also merchandise or school trips to your centre (contact schools in off peak)
I absolutely love videos like this! I hadn’t really considered the economies of scale aspect of it. As a service based business based upon me as the service provider I can retain a much higher amount of the profits but it’s not as scaleable if just my time for money.
One of my favourite channels ❤ thanks for another fantastic videos 😊
Great video, good content and well made. I have always wondered how much money soft play centres make, as I do with every business I encounter. I enjoy learning about the business “hacks” that mean some businesses thrive and others die in the same market.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom
Interesting, soft play centre locally to me declined dramatically over a 5 year period. Started off great, was packed most of the time, had all the new mod cons and air guns etc. Then after a few years, things were breaking and ball pits were becoming sparse. This is the bit on your graph where the place needed fixing/replacing items/investment. Unfortunately, all that happened was the balls got topped up and then the customers dipped, the place got worse until almost everything was in need of repair.
They just shut up recently, took a load of money off people for birthday parties and ran off into the sunset. Was actually disgusting really, they called up people to get money upfront for the upcoming parties booked, knowing it would close shortly.
Great insight, glad you painted the picture so clearly, you certainly know your stuff. I feel well equipped to take something like this on now, but sadly lack the dedication to submit so much energy into a hospitality/leisure business, fair play to you.
I'd love to see you make a video on how much you think building a business is down to luck, how much to strategy & what these things do to aid or hinder your risks/diversification.
Plenty on the channel around that. I think luck helps only if you don’t look for it.
@@JamesSinclairEntrepreneur Thank you
Excellent video. I run a B2B Ltd co... but have always wondered about softplays. Fab content, definite subscriber.
New TH-cam feature seems to be working for you and other, you go to check notifications and by magic, its swiped to a new video. Very random. However you've mentioned some really good ideas to keep my mind fresh.
Video idea - what did you organise and what did the business plan look like for you to get the bank to loan a 21 year old £300,000
That’s definitely been covered here on the channel. Watch my 0 to 1m video ( if I had to start again)
@ will check it out 👍🏻
Prior to the 08 financial crash, such finance was achievable. In today's world there is not a bank who would provide that finance to a 21 year old. Or anybody for that matter unless of course they already had cash or assets to act as collateral.
Walk into a bank asking for £300k and a business plan and you will be laughed back out of the door, sadly.
@@liamc5783 Thank you boomers! The young will never own a home and we will be happy.
80-100k in pocket money after all that effort just really doesn't seem worth the headache and continued effort, it doesn't weigh up. This country really is set up to suck every penny from business owners.
It's the legacy that building the business brings. 100k profit over 10 years is 1m! You can work 10years at a regular 9-5 and never see a glimpse of that. You can have 100k in a savings account and not make anything close to that % even with compounded interest.
Yes it's more effort and the long game but that's the entrepreneurs journey I guess.
That’s why you get people to work for you, and that’s why you scale your business and open more locations.
He’s not working day to day in the business. He owns multiple of them. With ten of those, that’s £1m - not too shabby at all!
Not sure what planet you live on where 100k in profit after a year is unfair, that is incredible. Ask 99.99999% of the general public and they'd be chuffed with that.
He's paid his tax, paid his employees' wages, paid his rent, and has 80-100k left in the bank?
Woe is the life of the successful businessman, he'll never buy a private jet at this rate.
He says the company has net profit of 100k. He probably has already taken a wage out, and that 100k is after that deduction
Thanks for this. We are a social enterprise/not for profit, potentially looking at opening a softplay as part of our development - so some great info.
I work for company that make and supply fitters with netting, rope cargo nets, v bridges/step bridges spiders webs, buoy swings etc..
We are so busy at the moment.
Love my job.
Enjoy your videos James. One thing about this particular example though is that the day nursery is a completely different business, different staff, different space, so there aren't really any shared costs in running the 2 businesses. A better example, if staying within food, might be using a restaurant to create pre-prepped meals or a product that could be sold wholesale, so using the same location and staff to run the additional revenue stream. Enjoyed the video though, it gives people a great way to think about using their existing overheads to increase revenue.
Heating costs and rent/mortgage costs are presumably 'free'. Sounds like a good fit. Now he just has to think about how it can make money in the early mornings and evenings - maybe show movies or a pub or fitness center for adults whilst kids are playing?
Rent is charged per sq ft. So dividing the space doesn’t make it free, it just means it’s shared, but the cost is paid by one of the businesses. Same for heating. Day nurseries require a lot of space, def not free. This particular example is not an additional revenue stream, it’s a separate business entirely.
Some staff would be different, but the kitchen, for example, would be the same and share its costs across the two businesses. The kitchen wouldn’t need to be any bigger because it would be used at different times.
during the regular school day from the nursery, then at weekends/holidays for the soft play.
No ego. I like that sir.
Love your transparency in the businesses you are involved in 👍❤️
Really insightful thanks. Do you have any videos on the specific systems and processes that you put in place for your businesses?
It seems like that is the most important aspect of scaling, so would be great to see a video on it
Brilliant video. Previously worked for a leisure chain (trampoline parks) but in head office. Wish I had watched this video beforehand.
I love your piano jazz hands, reminds me of the bloke on the house show.
Thank you for putting in the ground work and sharing your knowledge
The day nursery on the playsite is a great play!
This is great stuff. Went to a few kids parties when you were personally doing them and they were hilarious!
Love his confidence in front of the camera. Go on son
Sounds like the day nursery combined with the play area is a recipe for success that you’ve found you essentially have a captive audience of kids who know full well that behind the wall of their day nursery is a huge play area and they all want to visit and they want to come and play
7:10 Blimey, you need a bigger whiteboard James!😮
Came across this today!
You are a super guy 😅
Here’s to making money 🍺 😁👍
Is your trick paying your workers minimum wage on 0 hour contracts, and doing the bare minimum of maintainance and cleaning?
What an excellent, insightful and well delivered video. New subscriber gained.
Really interesting video. Having spent countless hours at Soft plays over the past 6 years, it's very eye opening. I would note that in your calcs around 7 mins- surely only 16.67% of the gross £1 would be VAT (not 20%)?
I wondered if anyone else had noticed the same thing. Only a little change in the calcs, but the extra 3.33% can make a fair bit of difference to a business model!
Outstanding video, i learn more from these than any business course or degree. Thanks for sharing
Hi James, love the content! I'm curious how much of your daily life do your businesses take up? Does thinking, organising, and running them consume most of your day? If you were just an employee in your own businesses, earning let's say £40k and working 8 hours a day with 16 hours of personal time and no stress, would you prefer that lifestyle?
I’m absolutely addicted to work. I love working.
I do some work every day - even if it’s just mental thinking. So yes I am consumed. It’s in my DNA.
I love my family and wife too, but they get who I am.
Not sure if it was the same in UK (I imagine it was) but here in Ireland, a few years back, insurance costs for soft play centers skyrocketed over night, just near killing the industry in Ireland.
Would love to hear thoughts on how V.I. could support solving a problem when it's entirely out of your control. 🤔
Why not use the commercial kitchens as a dark kitchen for take away on uber/just eat etc on the evenings when the play centre is closed??? 🍕 🌭 🍔
Could even just sub let them to other start ups and not have to run them once handed over to the night team? You will have the contacts from the deli wholesaler and economies of scale. No brainer to me? Only risk is if they screw up the kitchen - but deposit covered that risk off - or turn your cafes into franchises like Wendy’s locations etc
All makes sense, but ultimately, your primary business still has to make money to begin with and for a certain amount of time, before being able to layer in additional revenue streams
This was actually a really interesting video, feel like I actually learned something. Thanks
Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity 😊
Hi James this video was fantastic tyvm. One question. So you have set all these companies up, do you have them all under one holdings company? What does the structure look like? Do you use any software to manage accounts between them? How do you manage management of all these industries you are involved in. Seems very tough!
This was fascinating! Thank you!
Thank you again for a valuable lesson learned!!
You should consider the rental value when deciding your profitability, you 4 four modes of production, enterprise, labour, capital good, and land, all of these should make a return on investment or you are not meeting opportunity costs
A friend of mine has a soft play unit. Half of its soft play & half a day Nusery. His now looking at doing adult nights where adults can use the soft play. Sell more expensive food & drinks.
Great explanation and really smart work 👍
Morning James, thanks for sharing your journey.
Love this Jamie, as a young inspiring entrepreneur, this is very interesting. I'm also from Basildon and would love to be apart of this business to help it grow. I always wondered about the costs and margins on this type of business.
Nowadays, just install ultra fast WiFi, a bunch of comfy chairs and a vending machine.
They will bring the entertainment.
Absolutely amazing content! So valuable. For someone young, looking to learn, do you have any books you would recommend that maybe shaped your perspectives/gave you the skills needed? (if they came from books!)
Really enjoyed this. Brilliant video.
I have 600-1m liquid and 5 family members (whom I support) eager to work 24/7. I'm at a loss what to start at the moment. We do lots of property development, however the profit is getting worse and worse so it's only really covering our labor atm. Interested to hear your thoughts on what you'd do with 5x time + money in the bank. Appreciate it!
Omg I used to work here at the Wembley branch 😂 good old days when I was 18
What an amazing video: thanks for the transparency.
James for PM .
This guy is the man!
As a fellow entrepreneur, you are doing a great service for those wanting to start out AND for those experienced people who can sometimes lose their way. Keep it up mate.
Since you love doing so much stuff in house, why not waste management company? I have a couple ideas why, but I’d love your thoughts.
Nice one James, love the level of detail 💪