When Should You Cancel an Event Or A Class At Your Indoor Playground Due To Low Registration?

On my Play Cafe Academy Youtube channel as well as back on episode 149 of my Profitable Play podcast I talked about how to price for your services– and specifically classes and events.

And after I published that content, I got a really great question that I wanted to address.

The question was regarding when we should consider CANCELING an event or a class based on low registration numbers.

Because in the example I gave, one of the assumptions I made in order to share my calculations was that the event or class we were pricing would actually SELL OUT.

And, as we all know, life is not always perfect or always butterflies and rainbows, especially as a small local business owner. After a few years in business and plenty of hard work generating positive word of mouth and 5-star reviews and establishing a customer base– sure, your events might all sell out fairly effortlessly.

However, that’s NOT always the case– especially when you are first starting out.

So the first thing I wanted to mention here is that, when your events do NOT sell out simply by posting the link on social and sending out an email to your list– one DIRECT cost related to the event that you should factor into your pricing and profit margin calculation is the amount you may need to spend to advertise your event– whether that’s through influencer partnerships or facebook or instagram ads. 

And if you’re totally lost– don’t worry about it– just go back and watch this pricing how-to YouTube video to learn more about how to price your events based on profit margin to create a sustainable, profitable, and JOYFUL business that actually PAYS you.

So anyway, when you’re first starting out, that may be another direct cost to account for. And I do also have several episodes about effectively advertising events to lessen your ad spend here.

BUT, what happens if, despite your best efforts, only a few people register? When should you pull the plug and cancel the event, refunding the tickets for those who already purchased?

Well, the simple answer would be to say that– if it would cost more to HOST the event than to cancel and refund– if you’re going to LOSE money on the event– you should cancel it.

But then this would be a pretty short article. Plus, we already know things aren’t always that black and white in the real-world. And if you’re like me and you’re using your events to get new people in the door and as a marketing tool to generate party bookings, there are other things you may want to consider in your process.

Here are a few things I personally considered, other than the obvious– PROFIT– before canceling an event.

1) What percentage of those already registered are NEW customers?

If a large percentage of attendees were members or repeat customers, I knew there would be a really good chance of them being understanding of a cancellation, and it would likely NOT result in a big loss of future business for me.

However, if I note that many of the people registered have NEVER been to my facility, not only would canceling leave a TERRIBLE first impression, there’s also a good chance these people will never return, register for another event, or become a member or book a higher ticket item like a party. 

These customers who are not yet fans are also more likely to voice negative opinions or leave bad ratings and reviews after the disappointment of a canceled event, leading to further loss of business.

It is SO true that you only get ONE chance to leave a first impression on your customers, which many times led to me hosting events and seeing it through even if I lost a small amount of money on it.

Again, I knew that based on our marketing strategy that the potential revenue from those customers was much greater than the small amount lost on that event.

2) Would low attendance detract from the event experience for the customers?

Now there IS an exception to what I stated previously. If low attendance would render the event kind of meaningless or would result in a poor experience for attendees, I’d definitely lean towards canceling it EVEN if many of the customers were new.

For example, if the event was a new parent social or a group activity or a social skills class– if only a few families come, they will likely feel as if their money and time was wasted.

However, if the event was a craft the children were to work on individually and their experience is not really affected by how many people are – or are NOT in the room– I would likely still host it again, if most customers were new to my business.

3) How much have I already invested and can it be repurposed?

If I have already sunk a lot of costs into the event and I am not able to recoup it or use it should the event be rescheduled, I was definitely more likely to go through with the event.

I would try to use the event as an opportunity to take pictures and videos and generate marketing assets for my business so it was not a total loss and so it can improve my marketing for future events, leading to more ticket sales.

4) Would canceling free up my staffing hours and resources in a way that would be beneficial to other parts of my business?

Many times, especially during our busy season, I would let our staff (whoever was scheduled) give their opinion and factor that into my decision about whether or not to cancel. Of course, I would have to evaluate the other factors first– but sometimes my staff would REALLY be counting on the hours for that event. 

And since retaining employees is one of the most difficult things in this industry, I might be motivated by this factor when making my final determination. I did my best to also offer alternatives and move the schedules around a bit or instead offer the chance to work an extended open play or something like that– to make revenue despite the canceled event and refunds.

But oftentimes, my staff would surprise me and ASK me to cancel. Maybe they had plans they wanted to make or maybe they had a test to study for.

The point here is to ASK and listen– and use that to help make your decision a bit easier.

And if you want to see what’s working for real-life indoor playground owners RIGHT NOW in 2023, download my free “What’s Working” guide below!