Help! ideas required for child based business

littlemiss123

Hi,

I live in a very family orientated, relatively new village and there are no business childcare activities and so thought this is an ideal market to set up a new business.

My initial thoughts are; soft play centre, play bus, ceramic cafe but wondered if anyone had any other ideas. There are 2 nurseries already, the soft play centre hit a no as the company letting the business space has said the landlords are unable to get a lease for this type of business.

Anyway would really appreciate any other ideas

pleasedelete

How much have you got to invest?

We looked at soft play a few years ago. We had a building but kitting it out inside was best part of £100 k. Quite high running cost as well.

paulwf

Do some research and think about what the demand will be in 5 years time as you need a business that will be sustainable. At the moment it is a new village, it sounds like it has attracted lots of families but what happens as they start to grow up?

The area my parents live in was built in the 1940's, I think a lot of families moved in then and we saw a lot of people die off and buildings not kept up to standard around 1990-2000 as these people started to age. Of course there will be lots of movement both into and out of your village, but you may find the current influx of families with young children isn't sustained.

littlemiss123

Thanks for the pointers, the village is everexpanding and built with families in mind- lots of parks/woods/walks/cycleways etc so hoping the market will still be there in years to come.. but always something to bear in mind.

We have about 100k we could find for the right business. . pleasedelete- did you decide on a business venture in the end?

lincroft1710

littlemiss123 wrote: »

We have about 100k we could find for the right business.

£100K to invest?? A lot of people come on this board looking for new business ideas who probably don't even have £100. You're clearly a person who realises starting a new business often means a hefty investment.

There was a thread some months ago from someone who wanted to buy either a hospitality bus to convert to a playbus or a ready converted playbus - sorry can't remember which. Again I can't remember exact details, but it didn't seem a viable proposition, although the circumstances were slightly different as he wanted to take the bus to various schools in a large metropolitan area.

Have you asked any local families with suitably aged children if they would be interested in paying for their child(ren) to use a playbus? Preferably people you don't know that well as family and friends to be encouraging rather than frank and honest in such cases.

Sooki

Someone I know has opened a cup cake cafe, and is running cup cake workshop parties for kids and everything was booked up before she opened the shop!
But she was cooking at home before this and built up a client base from Facebook & twitter etc..

Savvy_Sue

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Have you asked any local families with suitably aged children if they would be interested in paying for their child(ren) to use a playbus? Preferably people you don't know that well as family and friends to be encouraging rather than frank and honest in such cases.

And make sure you have some ballpark figures to give when you ask that question. Yes, I'd have loved to take my young children to playbuses / soft play / ceramic cafes etc, BUT not often at the prices being charged when they were young.

pleasedelete

littlemiss123 wrote: »

We have about 100k we could find for the right business. . pleasedelete- did you decide on a business venture in the end?

Hi. We got change of use on the building to residential (after being told that we wouldnt get it many times) and converted it to a house.

We did also look at day nursery - very glad we didn't do that as it is now a saturated market here with many struggling.

kingfisherblue

I know of a pottery painting business, suitable for all ages, that opened in a relatively prosperous village near me. The owners were also happy to travel to groups such as Brownies, Women's Institute, etc. They were happy to work evenings and weekends, as well as during the week, to get business.

However, it is a luxury market in many ways, and is a 'one-off' type of place for families to visit. They have just closed down, depsite being placed between two large towns.

I assume a ceramic cafe would be similar to pottery painting, so bear in mind that altohugh you can attract different age groups, it isn't an activity most families would repeat very often.

d1087

Do swimming classes!!!!
Look up water babies, they make loads of money - think there are franchises aswell so might not need that much....obviously you need a local pool though??

littlemiss123

Thank you for all of your helpful replies...
how much would you be happy to pay I wonder?