Check out the progress of a new park!

Greetings all, thought I would key you into a park that is in the making.  All Together Skatepark is being built in Seattle Washington and is going through many of the things that you all might be interested in.  Starting up a park in a city is expensive, starting one indoors even more so.  Check out their progress here: http://www.alltogetherskatepark.com .  Many of the people that helped me get going when I owned a park are working on this new iteration.  One thing that hopefully you all are learning is that it takes a lot of help and a lot of information to get all your services and setup together.  Chris is making it happen in Seattle now.  Do you have another project to help us all look at the process of making a park or advancing a park?  Let me know (contact info on right) and I will help you promote and plan.  Don't forget that I have a good book on opening a park and obviously this blog is a good resource too.   Good luck ATS.

Business models for a skatepark

When considering how to make a business like a skatepark, one must look at other models to see how they run their business, and what a skatepark can use as their model.  The basic model used by many skateparks looks a lot like a roller rink, movie house, or amusement park.  In this model, patrons pay entrance and enjoy their time.  From many of these skatepark operations we see a reliance on entrances as the means of supporting the park.  Due to the fickle nature of skateboarders and often reliant on weather to drive people indoors, this model may not be the best one for every environment.  Unlike movies that change their show every week, skateparks are very static in their offerings.  Often change requires money and time, which is hard to come by sometimes especially if entrances are and have been down.   Similar to this model is the amusement park.  The largest parks rely on people traveling large distances to participate.   6 flags has an enormous budget and spends extensive money on innovation and novelty.  This model requires a lot of funds, advertising, and less change, but is similar in operations as a skatepark.  Both of these businesses have high prices, often have one to two visits per person per year, caters to older children and adults, and uses a captive audience and high food mark ups to make most of their money.  They also have the advantage of not offering a specialized skill sport as their only draw, which makes them more capable of appealing to a larger audience.  The point of these two operations that I feel could be emulated (copied) would be the easy to prepare and relatively profitable food choices, and the layout of amusement parks as a way to offer different experiences in a park within the confines of your building's space.  Food, if possible, needs to be a part of a park that relies on entrances as a means of income.  Offering something for the fans, friends, and parents of the patrons allows you to maximize the market and profit from visitors to your park.  Everyone gets hungry and thirsty but not everyone can ride your ramps.  Providing and monopolizing on every visitor can make your business profitable.  Similarly you can offer a different experience in your park's confines by laying out your park into different skate areas.  You could have a street course, a tricks area, and some miniramps, all typical parts of a skatepark.  But if they are crammed one on top of another, then the idea of "park" is gone.  What if you had areas that were designed for these types of skaters separated with walkways, seating areas, concession carts and the like, to provide "park" to your skatepark.  While some could argue that these areas don't maximize the skating which is what these parks are selling, I would counter that you are actually offering more than just some ramps pushed up against the wall.  You are offering a skate scene, and this is crafted and manipulated by you.  While a movie house is offering the latest flicks, it is also offering a movie experience that differs from your home.  Similarly, an amusement park understands that quality attractions do bring the customers in, and getting them to stay, relax, and have fun requires spaces  where they can relax, meet up, and eat food.  Looking to these aspects of other similar businesses can help you create a skatepark that is interesting, unique, and profitable.  I will blog soon with other examples of business models that could work for different types of skateparks.