Cafe with play area - good idea?

fernliebee

I think you may be fairly limited opening only school hours TBH. I was thinking that you meant run a normal cafe but have a good play area alongside. I know in a cafe I worked in when I was younger a huge chunk of the day's profits were made early morning, people getting a coffee en route to work sort of thing, however this again is entirely down to location.

I think the PP who mentioned sharing premises was on to a good idea personally. Also how about running it more like a mum's and tod's group but with much more focus on the mums IYSWIM. Have plenty for little ones to do but have a more adult bit set out with nice tables and chairs, nice cakes and tea etc, could maybe have things like books/ toys/ cards/ crafts on display to buy, that sort of thing, it would surely be much cheaper and more feasible to run during school hours if you were just hiring a town hall/ church hall type place to run it from. Maybe if it was run alongside some sort of community project (ie a womens craft group/ young parents group/ grandparent carers scheme etc) you could obtain some funding to help you on your way.

bestpud

apples1 wrote: »

My husband and I do run a business and If I could have a pound for the number of times I've heard Mums suggest this we could give up work and retire! Do remember that just because you and many other Mum's would like to have one to go to it does not make it a profitable business. I can't imagine anyone without kids wanting to go to a cafe full of children so you will have a limited client base and they will only come at limited times of the day.

I knew people who set up a wonderful soft play with great cafe, homemade food and cakes etc and went under after less than two years. You need to research ALL the cost involved for everything including good staff and then think could you really fill it with enough Mums spending enough money (that's the critical bit) to make a profit. The odd NCT group and a few groups of Mums buying a couple of coffees won't pay the rent let alone - rates, insurance, staff, cleaners, food costs, maintainance, advertising, bank charges............

The lovely comfy chairs would be great but not so great after Blackcurrent juice on them and the little one that didn't quite make it to the toilet and the ketchup stain etc. The maintainance just on a day to day basis would be horrific and unless it was spotless nobody would speak well of it as a place to take kids. Any toys not fixed to the premises will walk and fixed play equipment gets wee on it, blood from nose bleeds, and food mashed into it (despite all those signs that say no food on the equipment). You would need lots of baby changing facilities (constantly cleaned) and you would have a very big health and safety requirement. There is a reason these places are expensive and a reason they have signs up saying you cannot take any of your own food or drink (as that's pretty much the only way to make a profit). Most Mums resent this and many will smuggle in snacks and buy very little from you whilst their kids play on your equipment.

I wish you well but try to think it through as a business rather than a Mum and see if it still works for you.

Good point!

I wasn't really thinking of fabric covers but I guess big puddles would quickly mess up any comfy chair.

I'd thought of cleaning the toys etc but, yes, you also have a point about everything else - carpets probably wouldn't work but parents wouldn't want to put littlies onto a hard floor in case the topple over...

Quite a minefield really, isn't it!

Good job you're reseaching it first OP.

Have you asked on parenting boards as well?

Primrose

Sounds like a good idea in principle. In all such cases it will be a question of location, location, with indoor & outdoor play areas for all weathers. Also, I suspect you will also need to have acquired a Public Health Certificate which I believe all people involved in catering / food establishments have to acquire. The Environmental Health Department of your local council will be able to update you on what course/s you would need to attend to obtain this certificate.

Do you have a farm shop near you? if they don't have a cafe, they might be interested in having a tie-up with you if they have some suitable spare space, then you would get the benefit from footfall from the shop perhaps visiting you as well.

diddyangel

This one is VERY popular, I think its a great idea!
http://www.mocha-mama.co.uk/

csh_2

RoxieW wrote: »

Ok - so not sure if this is in the right place but wanted to gauge mummy opinion and also any of you who are business owners??

There are several cafes in our town but my friend and I travel to the next town which has a cafe with a play area for the little ones. We chose to do this because the kids enjoy it more and we get to have a coffee in peace, even though it is out of our way to go there. This led to us chatting about the possibility of opening something similar in our town. Its just the very seedling of an idea at the moment so I'm just researching demand, how feasible and how much it would cost to set up.

I feel there is demand as like I said, we will go out of our way to go there. There are a couple of larger 'play centres' with cafes that are also out of the way and rammed to bursting point. What do you guys think?

There is a premises in town that is coming up for rent (rumour) - and would be ideal size wise but obviously we would have to refit it with a cooking area, tables, chairs etc.

We are both stay at home mums at the moment but I'd like to think we could make a go of it. I'd say she's the chef (she does fantastic cakes!) and I'm more the business side We get on really well and I think we would work well together.

Any one want to throw up any advice, suggestions or things for me to chew over. Like I said, it really is just a seedling of an idea at the moment.
Thanks

Hi, I regulary travel outside my own town for things because there are none in mine. However, there is a very good reason for this. My town has no footfall whatsoever for local businesses. We are not 'on the way' anywhere.
There is a reasonable population BUT not that many folk venture into things locally.

The next town over to me is prime commuter belt with train station, motorway links etc and has lots of things for children and plenty of passing trade as well as home trade IYKWIM

3 miles down the road here is a barren wasteland.

I would certainly research if any business would be viable in your town before even beginning to work out how you would plan a cafe.

Whats in your town centre just now? Whats closed down recently? If there are cafes just now, who uses them?

LJM

i think it is a good idea there are plenty of normal cafes around and 9 times out of 10 i wouldnt class them as child friendly but to have some where like this would be lovely we have just had one open up on the iow and already within a couple of weeks the owner said he has been busy everyday,he charges obviously for food and drinks but the play is free. i would have to say though that a lot of cost initially would be huge the play areas alone if you are looking at the ball pool type of thing are expensive,insurance,business rates etc but in the end im sure it would have a huge turnover and be a success. i hope you decide to go ahead with it

Becles

Is there anyway you could adapt it to appeal to more groups of people?

You could open at 8am and sell bacon baps, takeaway coffee, pre-packed sandwiches and childrens packed lunches for people to collect on the way to work and school.

You could have an online ordering system for lunches, so local workers could order and pay for their lunch online and it would be ready and waiting for them just to pop in and collect. That would be appealing as it would cut down queueing time which eats into their lunchbreak. Or possibly look into delivering food to them.

Lotus-eater

RoxieW wrote: »

but we would only really be interested in opening 9.30 - 3pm

Well best of luck then, because I can't see you making enough money to run a business like this in those hours.
Go away and find out some of the costs first, before you even start thinking about what cakes you want to sell. Work out the rent, business rates and insurance, work out how much profit you need to make every single day, add on a few pounds for you both, some money for a cleaner if you don't want to start early and work very late. Don't forget staff if you need them, they need paying even when they are on holiday and even the lowest paid ones will probably earn more than you for a couple of years. (That's when most businesses go bust)
Then work out the rough cost of fitting out a cafe, because to get what you want, it's horrific.

The one close to me, opens 7am till 8pm, later in summer when they have tables outside till 10pm. They have all the local babies groups in and I bet you any money you like, if you suggested to them removing a couple of complete tables and chairs and replace them with play equipment, they wouldn't even consider it, lose too much money on those tables.
I live next to a prosperous well heeled town, money isn't an object and they still have to work those hours.

That's the reality of running a cafe, it's bloody hard work, long hours, worrying about every extra penny you can make/the tens of thousands you have invested each/the tens of thousands you have borrowed from the bank, then going home at night and seeing the kids as you sort out the books/accounts.

Gingham_Ribbon

bestpud wrote: »

or better still breast feeding allowed throughout the cafe?

I think that's a legal requirement, is it?

My opinion is that you can either go down the cafe route or the soft play centre route. If it's too play centre-y you'll not get any customers that don't have children. If you go the whole hog and set up a play centre, it may be very successful, especially as you don't have another near you.

There are loads of play centres near us. There are also several cafes that have a few bits for tots to do. One has a bag hanging up with rattles and soft toys etc, another has an area with a large toy that has several things to do round it, sitting in the middle of a couple of tables.

I liked the one that the toddlers could play at - the ones with just a few rattles etc were nice as they were obviously welcoming to families, but that sort of thing is easy to bring along anyway.

A decent menu for children is important to me. I hate going somewhere and finding out that all I can offer my children is a full cost adult meal or something crappy from the freezer.

Gingham_Ribbon

I didn't notice the times you wanted to run it. That's unlikely to work. If it's childcare that's an issue, there are ways round that, but investing in a business and having it fold because you can't put the hours in will be a nightmare.