Preparing your Indoor Playground or Family Entertainment Center for the Corona Virus Impact

Regardless of whether or not you are personally worried about the effect of COVID-19, as a business owner or a potential business owner, taking proper precautions could mean the difference between your business surviving over the next several months or not.

Depending on your area, you may already be feeling the impact. In some countries and U.S. states, public gatherings have been limited or banned, and it looks like more and more locations are beginning to follow suit to prevent the spread of the virus.

So, what does that mean for indoor playgrounds?

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Well, many indoor playgrounds are already seeing a SHARP decrease in open-play traffic and are feeling the pressure from their customers to cancel or postpone events and parties.  Facilities that offer memberships are seeing an unprecedented rate of membership suspensions and cancellations.

There is no question that our industry will feel a large impact as people are beginning to “socially isolate” and limit their non-essential public functions.

SO, WHAT CAN WE DO?

Again, it is all about doing whatever you can to prepare RIGHT NOW. To reiterate, no matter how much personal fear you have about contracting the virus and falling ill-- you MUST think of the public opinion on the matter AND any mandates or preventative steps the government or health officials may impose that will affect you.

1) CONSIDER A COMMERCIAL DEEP CLEAN OR TREATMENT 

Investing in deep-clean or preventative treatment of your facility NOW could benefit you in a few different ways.

The most obvious, of course, is that you want (and NEED) your facility to be as clean as possible for the safety of your guests and your staff. 

Deep-cleaning measures to consider are carpet steam cleaning and sanitizing as well as professionally cleaning all structures not part or your normal sanitation measures. Steam cleaners and other commercial machines can reach crevices that normal cleaning measures cannot, therefore offering a higher standard of cleaning.

Commercial cleaning businesses will likely become BOOKED very quickly so schedule your cleaning NOW-- to ensure you will get service as soon as possible. You may want to schedule a second cleaning as well, just in case!

Other treatments to consider are preventative treatments like MicroShield 360. MicroShield 360 is EPA registered and FDA approved for food contact surfaces. It colorless, odorless and non-toxic for humans and animals. 

It prevents germs, bacteria and pathogens from adhering to any treated surface. While traditional disinfectants are effective for seconds and are a reactionary solution, the MicroShield  antimicrobial coating system constantly fights germs and prevents their development. Be preventative, not reactionary and contact them today at 800-686-4360 or visit their website here.

If you do decide to invest in a deep clean or a preventative treatment, don’t keep it to yourself! Take videos and photos and share them with your customer base via email and social media.  The more action they see you taking, the more likely they are to continue patronizing your business.

And throughout the next several months-- EVERY dollar and EVERY customer will be crucial.

2) REVISIT AND REVAMP YOUR CLEANING PROCEDURES

Even if you do decide to invest in a professional cleaning or treatment (you should!) you should still take the time to sit down with your management team to seriously reevaluate and make necessary improvements to your cleaning procedures.

First, visit the CDC website for a list of recommended cleaning supplies that combat the COVID-19 and other viruses like the flu. 

We have a daily, weekly, and monthly deep cleaning list that staff members must check off, initial, and date when they complete a task. This documentation (and accountability!) helps us to ensure that no one is cutting corners or neglecting any procedures that will keep our facility safe.

Since the COVID-19 virus, we now disinfect multiple times a day with wipes (instead of at the end of the day) and require that guests wash their hands and use sanitizer before they enter the play area and before they exit the play area.

We have also added additional “mouthed toy” buckets and sanitize them throughout the day, as much as possible. We also have added additional hand-sanitizing stations and left out more wipes for customers to use, which they appreciate. In most cases, customers WANT to be able to participate in the cleaning process and don’t mind wiping things down before or after their child uses them because it’s in their best interest to limit germ exposure as well. After all, we all want to stay healthy!

And-- STOCK UP on cleaning supplies, if you have not already. Most don’t expire for multiple years, so stocking up now in preparation for a shortage will not be a bad thing even if you end up not needing some of what you stockpile.

Disinfecting wipes, toilet paper, paper towels, sanitizer, hand soap, and disinfecting sprays are all item that should be on your list.

Once you revisit your cleaning procedures, don’t keep them to yourself!

Keep an open line of communication with not only your staff but your customers as well. Let them know exactly what changes you’re making and what steps you are taking to keep your indoor playground business clean and safe.

We made a video of our cleaning procedures and it’s been great for peace-of-mind with your customers.

Of course, regardless of your procedures, we need to face the reality that public gathering spaces like indoor playgrounds may need to close temporarily to prevent the spread of the virus.

However, until that happens, we need to keep moving forward and take whatever steps we need to in terms of retaining our income as a business.

3) RE-EVALUATE YOUR SICK POLICY FOR EMPLOYEES AND PREPARE FOR ABSENTEES

While you’re revisiting your cleaning procedures, you may as well look at your employee sick procedures as well and make sure all of your team is aware of your expectations around sick days.

To keep your facility safe, I recommend NOT allowing employees to come in if they are ill. Before the COVID-19 panic, we did allow employees to work if they exhibited cold-like symptoms with no fever or anything like that.

However, we are now recommending that any employee feeling under the weather should stay home until they are feeling better.

This is easier said than done, though, because it IS cold and flu season!

I would recommend looking at your current team and schedule and making sure you have coverage (even if it has to come from friends or temp employees) should a large number of staff fall ill at once.

You should also make sure that ALL of your training and operating procedures are documented, at least in writing, if not ALSO in video form.

We have ALL of our facility procedures documented and video recorded in google drive so that any new team member or temporary team member can get up to speed extremely quickly.

Because we are not sure how the government with mandate quarantines, etc. -- it’s best to prepare for worst case scenario.  

And while you’re at it-- make sure all of YOUR tasks and responsibilities are documented as well. Hoarding of information or knowledge is a recipe for disaster for small businesses because you never know when you, the owner, will need to take a step back and delegate your tasks

This is information provided by the Center for Disease Control: 

Prepare for possible increased numbers of employee absences due to illness in employees and their family members, dismissals of early childhood programs and K-12 schools due to high levels of absenteeism or illness:

Employers should plan to monitor and respond to absenteeism at the workplace. Implement plans to continue your essential business functions in case you experience higher than usual absenteeism.

Cross-train personnel to perform essential functions so that the workplace is able to operate even if key staff members are absent.

Assess your essential functions and the reliance that others and the community have on your services or products. Be prepared to change your business practices if needed to maintain critical operations (e.g., identify alternative suppliers, prioritize customers, or temporarily suspend some of your operations if needed).

4) CONFIRM AND ENFORCE YOUR SICKNESS POLICY FOR CUSTOMERS

In addition to tightening up your sick policies for your employees, be sure you also reevaluate your policy for admitting sick children and parents to play.

And the biggest thing? ENFORCE it. Let your customers see you are taking illness seriously (all times, but especially now!). You may upset some “rule-breaker” customers who want to bring their ill children to play, but you will reinforce your best customers’ trust in you-- and that will pay off more in the long-run. Remember, it’s not ALL about the short-term cash flow-- we are looking to build successful, sustainable businesses that will thrive for years to come.

While I don’t necessarily recommend the procedure some other indoor play centers of taking the temperature of all children before playing, I do think the staff member at the check-in counter should do a visual examination of the child (and care givers if needed) as they come in. If there are any visible (runny nose that’s not clear liquid, rash, etc) or audible (cough, etc) signs of illness-- that child should not be admitted to play.

I would also have employees keep their eyes and ears open throughout the day for signs of sickness.

The key here is to not only educate your staff on these policies, but your customers as well. Print out your exact written policies in addition to posting them on social media and your website. Hang them on the wall, place them on the outside doors, and make them available and clearly visible at your check in counter!

Empowering your team with the tools and information they need to make informed decisions and explain those decisions to your customers will be crucial to ensuring these policies are enforced correctly and without hassle.

I would also email your policy out to your email list.

Not only will it let people know that you are serious about not admitting sick children to play (so you can save them a trip if they won’t be admitted!) but again, you will also reinforce the trust ALL of your customers have in you.

It shows them that you value their safety and are willing to forgo some short-term cash flow in order to keep their health at the forefront of your priorities.

5) PREPARE FOR A DECREASE IN OPEN PLAY TRAFFIC, PARTIES, AND EVENTS

If you’re able to stay open without interruption, you should still plan for a decrease in your traffic until the virus is under control.

During this time, I would emphasize your birthday offerings (that can be booked months and months in advance!) to generate some quick cash as well as any package or membership sales you can offer that don’t need to be used right away.

For parties that are scheduled in the coming weeks or months, we have been offering to postpone parties whenever possible until it’s safe to host it.

We’ve also been offering to move the parties we have booked to the family’s home instead of our facility since that’s currently safe to do. We have set aside some of our equipment, toys, crafts, and sensory bins that we have in storage and can bring them to any location upon request.  Of course, this may change as the course of the pandemic changes, but for now-- this remains an option.

We will likely be cancelling all events at least until easter-- but will be offering alternatives which I will discuss in my next point.

Something we are doing to prepare for a decrease in traffic is also ramping up our retail sales. We ordered TONS of extra stock of puzzles, activity books, coloring books, and anything else that can keep children busy at home until it’s safe to be out in public again.

We plan to make our retail section more visible and are training our team to up-sell customers on retail items by offering bundle deals (buy 3, get 1 free-- etc) to generate additional revenue.

We will also be utilizing Facebook and Instagram ads to increase our online retail sales-- since we can technically affordably ship anywhere in the U.S.

6) DIVERSIFY YOUR REVENUE STREAMS SHOULD YOU NEED TO CLOSE

In addition to preparing for a decrease in traffic and focusing on the revenue streams that do not rely on having visitors at your physical location, you should also seek to ADD additional revenue streams to stay afloat.

Here is a list of things we are considering to help mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 virus on our business:

1. Virtual Events: Instead of hosting in-person events, we are now selling tickets to “virtual events”, meaning that we will be either mailing supplies or allowing customers to pick them up (for now) from our location and then conveening in an online space (like a closed Facebook group). For example, we had a “sensory block” making workshop planned and instead we are mailing out supplies to registrants (for a fee) and the instructor will be doing a live video inside the closed event to provide instructions and answer questions. We are going to also encourage that other participants share videos and photos and discuss their projects and how their children are using and liking their sensory blocks! To execute this, all you need is an event booking software or a way to take payment, and a closed Facebook group!

2. Virtual Workshops: In addition to my workshops for play space owners, we are also hosting virtual workshops for parents now! We are partnering with sleep consultants, teachers, occupational therapists, and MORE to host virtual workshops for parents on either Zoom or inside a closed Facebook group. For example, if schools close, parents will be home with them for several weeks and will need ideas for activities to do with them! Therefore, we have teachers that have different specializations hosting workshops to teach parents how to plan, prep, and execute different sensory and/or educational activities-- and parents are loving it so far! Since children with special needs will likely see a suspension in services during this time, we have specialists also hosting workshops to give these parents some options in terms of things to try on their own at home until services resume.

3. Online Story-Times or Classes: In addition to workshops and classes for parents, we are also doing kids activities online as well! We will have staff reading stories over our social media channels on live and providing some of our other classes (which exact ones are TBD virtually)! While the live story times will be FREE and will not generate direct revenue, we expect that customers will enjoy and appreciate it and it keeps us top-of-mind with our customers!

4. “Take-Home” Craft Kits and Sensory Bins: To keep our staff busy (so they have hours!) and to keep revenue coming in, we have also been prepping take home craft kits and sensory bins for purchase. Since schools will likely close, again, parents will be in need of easy activities to do with their children! We have been going through all of our craft supplies (popsicle sticks, paper, felt, pom poms, etc) and scouring pinterest and have been coming up with craft packs using these mix-matched supplies! Currently we are only selling these in-person but will be adding an e-commerce option on our website within the next few days as well! For sensory bins, we have been providing supplies and printed out instructions and pictures and all parents need to do is use their own container-of-choice. Our favorites include crinkle paper and dried beans with small plastic toys to “treasure hunt”, baking soda and cheap hair conditioner (fake snow!) to scoop and mold, and colored pasta or rice with scoopers and tweezers! Again, we do not provide a container for them (since everyone likely has an extra Tupperware container lying around!) so we are able to buy supplies in bulk and price them affordably, while still making a comfortable profit margin!

5. Virtual Events: If you’re able to keep your cafe open, mobile or to-go ordering is always an option! While we don’t see this as a huge potential revenue stream for us since we are in an area with lots of coffee shops-- it COULD be a great revenue stream for you! Because we use Aluvii, mobile and text ordering IS possible. If customers can’t bring their children in to play, they can hopefully at least stop in for a drink and purchase some sensory bins or craft packs!

Remember, these new revenue streams are in addition to the pivots I already recommended for your parties, events, and retail sales.

And who knows, maybe one or more will “take off” and prove to be a sustainable new revenue stream for your business!

7) PARTNER WITH OTHER LOCAL BUSINESSES 

Remember, other local businesses will be suffering as well. It might be a good idea to reach out to other local owners and see how you could work together. Whether it’s a bundle offer (like a membership plus some kids meals if you’re partnering with a nearby restaurant) that you’re using to generate an influx of revenue OR a service you can offer together while you are both closed (like a virtual class or workshop), NOW is the time to plan!

It’s important to come together as a community at this time and support each other as best we can!

8) CONSIDER A SBA LOAN IF YOU’RE IN THE UNITED STATES

Recently the U.S. government announced they’d provide disaster relief loans for any small businesses affected by COVID-10. Here is an excerpt from the SBA website:

“The President took bold, decisive action to make our 30 million small businesses more resilient to Coronavirus-related economic disruptions. Small businesses are vital economic engines in every community and state, and they have helped make our economy the strongest in the world. Our Agency will work directly with state Governors to provide targeted, low-interest disaster recovery loans to small businesses that have been severely impacted by the situation. Additionally, the SBA continues to assist small businesses with counseling and navigating their own preparedness plans through our network of 68 District Offices and numerous Resource Partners located around the country. The SBA will continue to provide every small business with the most effective and customer-focused response possible during these times of uncertainty.”

SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans offer up to $2 million in assistance for a small business. These loans can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing.” 

If you are fearful that you’ll be able to pay your fixed costs or pay employees during this crisis-- click here for the process to apply for a loan.

I will be posting lots of tips over the coming days and weeks about how to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on your business-- but if you have questions, comment them below!