Owning a skatepark can be as complicated as you make it. I've seen some barn based parks that simply float a key system around for friends and the like. Making a living owning and operating a skatepark however requires a lot of work to get paying customers in the door. The complexity of a skatepark then makes for a lot of activities for the owner and managers. Here are a list of some of the main activities a skatepark owner should be completing on a monthly basis.
Promotions
schedules - park and staff - calendar year tweaks and plans
advertisements - monthly and target market specific
Events planning-
stocking, buying goods
inspecting ramps
manning the desk
talking with suppliers and key partners
meeting with finance people both investors and accountant
inventory
financial review (reconciling the cash register, imputing into quickbooks, reviewing costs -v- income
cleaning
replacing broken supplies, fixing, painting, refining
Community outreach, public relations
Outreach to area organizations for cross promotion and group visits
Managing skate team
upgrading systems and controls.
meeting with staff, training staff
calling and corresponding when appropriate
Updating web, social media, other media
Skating a little too!
Lots to do every month undoubtedly. Try to get some of these things handled by delegating. Paying for services is a good way to increase staff's feeling of importance as well so maybe promotions, or staffing, or updates can be handled by savvy hourly staff or salaried managers. Taking the time to be the leader of the business is necessary so don't just man the front desk but also don't be totally absent from the front desk either. Good luck!
Showing posts with label skate parks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label skate parks. Show all posts
Friday, October 17, 2014
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Vacation Time is GO Time
If you ever wondered why some kids only come down once a month or once a year to your park, maybe you need to wow them every time they are there. This sounds like a lot of work, but really what I am talking about is the little things, the things that matter to a customer. How do your people interact with the skaters and the parents? Can they improve? How clean is the park? Can it be cleaner? Fresh paint, new trash can lids, and new posters can really make a difference. Could you spend a few hours patching things a little before the vacation holidays to make the park shine for the guests that haven't been able to come since their last school break? Could you get your screw gun out and make a new little fun box, pull out an old rail, put in a little vert extension on the mini-ramp? These little tweaks aren't going to put your business over the edge cost wise but they could very well be the difference in getting repeat customers. So part of your go-plan should include tidying up for the crowds, and re-emphasizing customer service and friendliness to you staff.
As long as we are on plans for retraining your staff, a holiday membership drive could be another needed emphasis this xmas. Every entrance should have membership details in their hands. What sort of cheap advertising can you get them to take home? How about a calendar of events, or a calendar of park photos, friends and associates of theirs ripping it up at your park. Bulk orders of these bring your cost per person down, and what a great add on to that membership. While you're at it, why not blow up some kid photos to poster size and decorate your park with them? If you have someone on staff with a great camera, pay them to take some photos and throw the stuff together. It is well worth the effort and the employee will really enjoy the "promotion". With all the new people coming down with their friends from out of town, make the most of their visit to encourage them to be members, talk the park up, and come back again! Happy Holidays.
As long as we are on plans for retraining your staff, a holiday membership drive could be another needed emphasis this xmas. Every entrance should have membership details in their hands. What sort of cheap advertising can you get them to take home? How about a calendar of events, or a calendar of park photos, friends and associates of theirs ripping it up at your park. Bulk orders of these bring your cost per person down, and what a great add on to that membership. While you're at it, why not blow up some kid photos to poster size and decorate your park with them? If you have someone on staff with a great camera, pay them to take some photos and throw the stuff together. It is well worth the effort and the employee will really enjoy the "promotion". With all the new people coming down with their friends from out of town, make the most of their visit to encourage them to be members, talk the park up, and come back again! Happy Holidays.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Expand Your Brand
As you are able to separate yourself out from operations, expansion is always an option. Unfortunately if you are cash strapped, expansion is going to have to be done by bringing in more investors. While many of you are probably wary of this, there are many people out there who are looking for good investments, and having a solid product with solid sales and a solid growth plan are keys to attracting investors. If you want to go big, you have to think big. If you think that you want to simply run a park that is open from this hour to that, then you can expect to remain at that level. If you have a vision whereby you want your brand to expand and grow, then this has to be your vision and you have to plan for this. As a skatepark, how can you grow your brand? One way is like Woodward, where your specialty is camps, and your expansion becomes events. There are many companies out there looking for venues that are flexible enough to help them market their own events, and your place could become that venue. Lots of work would then be focused on achieving this goal. Similarly if you have a product and a retail presence, you can become a larger presence with that product. Look at an area that is underserved in your market and exploit that. Lastly you can expand like DC Shoes, Vans shoes has as well, creating more parks in more cities. The key to what they do is to look at what their brand is, and use that as the center of the expansion. Reinventing your brand, or creating a logical offshoot of your brand (extreme events, camps etc) can help you move into a new level of business where you are not only more successful, but also more profitable. A good exercise would be to sit down with your management team and see if they can envision this change with you. Bringing in people who share your vision and have a quality skill set is also a good idea. Good luck.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Multi-use room?
They say that if you have space, something always fills it. My garage is a good example of that, as I can't put the car in there anymore. But what about the space you have that isn'g getting used in the skatepark. If you have or can carve out some space with a temporary wall the space will be used and often it will generate revenue. Many of the bounce houses and other kid friendly places around use party rooms to generate income. These party rooms often are rented above and beyond the price of skating (or bouncing in the above scenario) and come with a food requirement too. If you have a space that you can make comfortable with tables and chairs, this would be a perfect way of getting weekend and weekday traffic with groups. Birthdays, meetings, specialty classes, card games, private areas during events, whatever you can think of, this space could serve many needs that you can also put a price on. While some might be worth more (parties) others like card games and meetings can fill times during the days you don't have many customers. So don't fill your room with junk and clutter, use it to make money and provide a good service for your clients.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
How to start a skatepark with little to no money
So a lot of people are interested in starting a skatepark, but unfortunately they don't have much, if any money. I have been asked frequently about getting parks running without a substantial investment from the business originator. Honestly speaking, this is very hard to do. Imagine if you will, someone who has earned a bit of money in their life, and they are interested in your plan. When they hear that you won't be adding any funds yourself, they decide it is best to go elsewhere. Why? Because you have little to risk in the venture. Sure you have your time and you have the organization, but in the end, what would keep you from simply walking away because you haven't made any money and bills are piling up at home? What would the investor in this situation do? Sound like a good place to put money? When buying anything, people want assurances that they will get their money back and usually they want more than they put in. It is the money that you put in that helps them make this decision easier. If you are asking for no more than you are investing, or even less, then it is something people will consider. Even banks don't want to loan money to businesses that need it, unless they have the money in the bank to "secure it". This is why getting a morgage is easier than getting a personal loan, the property backs it up so if a person defaults on the loan, skips town so to speak, the bank still has a sellable house to recoup any loss. It is the same with a business like a skatepark.
So what is to be done? The only option that works is the Co-op model. A co-op is where a group of people with similar interests or needs get together as a group to create buying power. Here's a real world example: People in a community join together to buy power as a single entity. When one house buys power it has little wiggle room to get a better rate. But if a community of 100-500 houses get together, they can get a better rate. So if your town needs a skatepark, and the town won't build one, then you as a skater/biker will have little influence on your own. But if you all join together, you can either force the city into action (which is a typical tactic) or you can start one yourselves.
How can a skatepark be a Co-op? First of all let's make a few assumptions, that there are over 500 skaters in the surrounding community that needs a park, and there is little to no places a person can go to skate. (I will use skater as shorthand for bikers as well, I hope this is ok.) If each of these skaters were to scrape together $1000, and were willing to join together in a group to get their individual needs met, then a skatepark could gather $500,000 to start a park. If the park were to be smaller, the investment could be too. So if you know 10 skaters and they know 10 others, and they all know 5 others, you now have 500 people. By setting up an account (so people can see their money is safe), you have now gathered enough to start a park. Of course it will take organizing, but you have the investment, one of the hardest things to get. Lets say you want this to happen but getting $1,000 is to hard. What about $20 per week? Basically if a person were to put away $20 a week, they could have the investment together within a year. With automatic transfers, this would be easy enough for the average person.
So now that the investment end is dealt with, what would the business look like. 1. it could be totally private with only the investors/members allowed to use it or it could be part private with days of pay for skating, or, it could be all public, with the investors taking their money from the profits in the form a a dividend (when there is enough money in the bank, the extra is given back to the members. 2. It would be run by a board of directors who are voted on by the members. Once the people agree to start the Co-op and put the money up for it, a board is established (even a temporary one would do at the start), and the board then makes decisions for the park. 3. The membership is responsible, in the end, for keeping the skatepark going, so if it is totally private, the money that the park needs for the next year is paid by the members (if say the operating costs were $100,000 then each member would need to pay $100). 4. Members are usually required to work at the co-op in some fashion (office, desk, what ever).
Sound like a good idea? I think it is one of the few ways today to get a park going without really deep pockets. There are publications about co-ops on the web if you want more information on how to make one. I'd be willing to help, let me know if you are interested.
So what is to be done? The only option that works is the Co-op model. A co-op is where a group of people with similar interests or needs get together as a group to create buying power. Here's a real world example: People in a community join together to buy power as a single entity. When one house buys power it has little wiggle room to get a better rate. But if a community of 100-500 houses get together, they can get a better rate. So if your town needs a skatepark, and the town won't build one, then you as a skater/biker will have little influence on your own. But if you all join together, you can either force the city into action (which is a typical tactic) or you can start one yourselves.
How can a skatepark be a Co-op? First of all let's make a few assumptions, that there are over 500 skaters in the surrounding community that needs a park, and there is little to no places a person can go to skate. (I will use skater as shorthand for bikers as well, I hope this is ok.) If each of these skaters were to scrape together $1000, and were willing to join together in a group to get their individual needs met, then a skatepark could gather $500,000 to start a park. If the park were to be smaller, the investment could be too. So if you know 10 skaters and they know 10 others, and they all know 5 others, you now have 500 people. By setting up an account (so people can see their money is safe), you have now gathered enough to start a park. Of course it will take organizing, but you have the investment, one of the hardest things to get. Lets say you want this to happen but getting $1,000 is to hard. What about $20 per week? Basically if a person were to put away $20 a week, they could have the investment together within a year. With automatic transfers, this would be easy enough for the average person.
So now that the investment end is dealt with, what would the business look like. 1. it could be totally private with only the investors/members allowed to use it or it could be part private with days of pay for skating, or, it could be all public, with the investors taking their money from the profits in the form a a dividend (when there is enough money in the bank, the extra is given back to the members. 2. It would be run by a board of directors who are voted on by the members. Once the people agree to start the Co-op and put the money up for it, a board is established (even a temporary one would do at the start), and the board then makes decisions for the park. 3. The membership is responsible, in the end, for keeping the skatepark going, so if it is totally private, the money that the park needs for the next year is paid by the members (if say the operating costs were $100,000 then each member would need to pay $100). 4. Members are usually required to work at the co-op in some fashion (office, desk, what ever).
Sound like a good idea? I think it is one of the few ways today to get a park going without really deep pockets. There are publications about co-ops on the web if you want more information on how to make one. I'd be willing to help, let me know if you are interested.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
More Business Models for Skateparks
Some skateparks try to work like Golds Gym but they often don't go all the way. Patrons pay a monthly fee, a membership, and skate when they want. Unfortunately this model is not very successful for skateparks because of the high cost often asked for up front. With a 12$ session fee versus a $50 monthly fee (I've seen more), kids, teens, adults and their parents are wary about how much they will use this service. Unlike Golds Gym where anyone with a pulse can sign up, skateparks are in a smaller market to attract people to their service. Because Golds Gym can get so many people in, and the industry has accepted their 25$ or so cost, they are able to make money with lower monthly premiums. But in many ways, skateparks can operate like this too, it just takes someone to start. First a park would have to eliminate sessions, and thus also eliminate $12 fees. The only way you can get in the gym is pay the monthly fee, with a credit card. If the market can support this idea, then the skatepark can run like a gym. But since no parks are doing this now, an owner would take some risk to pull it off. Why? Basically gym style pricing schemes would offer the skatepark more financial security because it collects money on a monthly recurring basis. These memberships are tied to credit cards that are automatically charged each month. So say that 500 members all pay $50 a month to skate for as much as they want, the skatepark is looking at a $25,000 revenue stream per month. This revenue can be taxed differently too as it is not "entrance" fees which often are taxed like concert tickets. Within this scenerio, planning becomes easier because revenues are relatively constant. Added emphasis and efforts are given to keeping the membership going and happy. I am sure a few parks out there would like to know that this sort of money was coming in monthly. Even without food or other sales, revenue of $300k per year would be welcome in many parks. So Golds Gym is not the worst way of looking at your business structure, but you should see what your market can take before you change your current park's finances.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
How to start an indoor skatepark
As a guide I thought I would break down what a novice would need to do to start a skatepark from scratch.
1. Formulate a plan - how will it work, who will work it, how will you pay your bills, what business structure (tax and liability issues) will you have?
2. Do some research - Do you even know where you could put a park? What are the costs per month of the building? taxes? parking? how will people get there? How many skaters are there, and how many of these will pay to skate?
3. Get your finances in order. Do you have money? Do you have enough to exist for 6 months without earning a cent? How long will you be able to have expenses without making money before things will get stressful? The longer you can last, the longer you will last. You will need build up time with lots of expenses and no income. What happens too if people are slow to respond? Plan for the worst case scenario, and work for the best. Can you spread your own finacial liability out with other investors?
4. Market before you have anything going. Start the buzz early.
5. Plan for a media blitz for when you open, get all the free press you can. Invite web, print, tv to your place. Have an "event".
6. Maximize your revenue. Don't just rely on skateboarders to pay the bills. Sell food, stuff, lessons, rentals, private park hours, party rooms, party events, christian events, before and after school events, camps, demos, advertisements, group lessons, what every you can. There is no shame in making this business work by selling things, this is your business, you have to pay yourself, your taxes, lights, sewer, trash, etc.
7. Keep it clean, think of the parents. Parents want a safe place for their kids, they are the ones footing the cost of this place. Make them happy with a nice place to watch, use the rest room, read whatever. Sell them things while they are there.
8. Network - skateshops, other parks, parks departments, community service, police, whomever can help you get people in the door.
9. Keep good track of your expenses. This takes time and effort. Make sure you have a good system to record data for you, what sells, what doesn't, who comes, who doesn't. Use your data to improve your business.
10. Hire good people who are kind yet firm about helping you stay in business. Free only means you paid, not them. You aren't competing with free, free offers nothing but ramps and rails, you offer lights, food, supervision, air conditioning, heat, a phone, a pair of eyes that are ready to help if someone is hurt. This is worth money and people need to understand this.
11. Free yourself to do business things - If you are spending all your time at the park, hire someone to help you do the things you need to do. Spend some money. Is your money better spent hiring someone to man the front, or design an advertisement?
12. Celebrate your members! Make them want to belong!
1. Formulate a plan - how will it work, who will work it, how will you pay your bills, what business structure (tax and liability issues) will you have?
2. Do some research - Do you even know where you could put a park? What are the costs per month of the building? taxes? parking? how will people get there? How many skaters are there, and how many of these will pay to skate?
3. Get your finances in order. Do you have money? Do you have enough to exist for 6 months without earning a cent? How long will you be able to have expenses without making money before things will get stressful? The longer you can last, the longer you will last. You will need build up time with lots of expenses and no income. What happens too if people are slow to respond? Plan for the worst case scenario, and work for the best. Can you spread your own finacial liability out with other investors?
4. Market before you have anything going. Start the buzz early.
5. Plan for a media blitz for when you open, get all the free press you can. Invite web, print, tv to your place. Have an "event".
6. Maximize your revenue. Don't just rely on skateboarders to pay the bills. Sell food, stuff, lessons, rentals, private park hours, party rooms, party events, christian events, before and after school events, camps, demos, advertisements, group lessons, what every you can. There is no shame in making this business work by selling things, this is your business, you have to pay yourself, your taxes, lights, sewer, trash, etc.
7. Keep it clean, think of the parents. Parents want a safe place for their kids, they are the ones footing the cost of this place. Make them happy with a nice place to watch, use the rest room, read whatever. Sell them things while they are there.
8. Network - skateshops, other parks, parks departments, community service, police, whomever can help you get people in the door.
9. Keep good track of your expenses. This takes time and effort. Make sure you have a good system to record data for you, what sells, what doesn't, who comes, who doesn't. Use your data to improve your business.
10. Hire good people who are kind yet firm about helping you stay in business. Free only means you paid, not them. You aren't competing with free, free offers nothing but ramps and rails, you offer lights, food, supervision, air conditioning, heat, a phone, a pair of eyes that are ready to help if someone is hurt. This is worth money and people need to understand this.
11. Free yourself to do business things - If you are spending all your time at the park, hire someone to help you do the things you need to do. Spend some money. Is your money better spent hiring someone to man the front, or design an advertisement?
12. Celebrate your members! Make them want to belong!
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