Business, Marketing, and Life Advice for Play-Based Business Owners

5 Good Reasons to NEVER Open a Brick-and-Mortar Business

Feb 11, 2020

Well FIRST I need to explain this title and this topic-- because I already know what many of you are thinking. Don’t I encourage and teach entrepreneurs exactly how to be successful in, very specifically, a brick and mortar industry? Well, the answer is YES. 

And even though I believe success and happiness are very possible in the brick-and-mortar space, this journey is NOT for everyone. 

So you can call this my “tough love” blog for all of my brick-and-mortar...

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Book More Birthdays: 9 Ways to Pack your Party & Private Event Calendar

Feb 03, 2020

As you likely know if you’ve been following me for a while, we focus on birthday parties at our indoor playground locations.

We rely on having a booked-out party calendar every single weekend to be able to be successful. I love being able to look at the month ahead and know with certainty that not only will all of our bills and team members be paid, but also that I can pay myself consistently as the business owner.

Even if you do NOT plan on making parties your main focus, relying on...

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How We Keep Our Indoor Play Space Clean: Top 7 Tips

Jan 28, 2020

Something that we are consistently asked by customers year-round, but especially when we are in the throes of flu-season, is how we sanitize our space and keep it clean.

While I can’t speak for other facilities, I know that keeping our space sparkling clean is a top priority. After all, my own children play there daily-- so I have a personal stake in the effectiveness of our cleaning procedures as well.

So today I’d love to shed some light on how we manage to keep germs at bay...

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6 Reasons We Are Switching our Business Point of Sales System to Aluvii

Jan 13, 2020

Something that I carefully examine at the end of every year of business is how we could have saved money, been more efficient, or offered a higher level of service.

One thing that has stuck out in my mind for the past FOUR years-- yes FOUR years-- in my business is all of our different systems and software and processes and how ineffectively they all integrate together, causing a MASSIVE bottleneck in our business.

“Which systems?”, you might be wondering. After all, running a...

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Indoor Playground/ Play Cafe Business Model Trends for 2020

Jan 13, 2020

Something I am careful to do constantly is monitor other indoor play spaces in order to best understand what’s working and what’s not working in the indoor play industry. 

As we kick off a new year, I wanted to share 4 emerging trends that have been increasing in popularity, especially during the last 18 months or so.

For current indoor playground owners and prospective owners alike, adapting to at least 1-2 of these trends to accommodate changing customer preferences will be...

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11 Most Commonly Asked Questions I Get From Prospective Indoor Playground Owners

Jan 05, 2020

As you know we just wrapped up 2019 and I want to give you guys a kind of year-end wrap up as we head into the new year and I wanted to answer the 11 most frequently asked questions I get from prospective indoor playground owners!

So I dug through my email inbox, my youtube channel comments, my Instagram & Facebook messages AND all the questions inside of my group coaching program Play Maker Society and THESE are the eleven questions that come up again and again and again.

 

...

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4 Things I'm Leaving in 2019 (HELLO 2020!)

Jan 01, 2020

Happy New Years everyone!

If you’re reading this on the day this post was published, then we just kicked off 2020, and I hope you had an AMAZING time celebrating with your families. If you are anything like me, you LOVE this time of year because it means reflection and goal-setting.

But this New Year’s looks a little bit different for me.

You see-- in years’ past my “resolutions” were all about things I wanted to do MORE of in the new year. I wanted to exercise...

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2019 in Review-- The Lessons We Learned and the Challenges We Overcame-- Together

Dec 30, 2019

Earlier this week I put an ask out to the 100+ entrepreneurs in my group coaching program, Play Makers Society. I asked for them to share either:

  • One significant thing they’ve learned this year on their business journey

  • One roadblock or issue they encountered that surprised them, OR

  • One piece of advice they’d give their former selves or other prospective business owners

And, wow. 

Their responses were so detailed and insightful, I had to choose a handful of them to...

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6 Productivity Tools I Couldn't Live Without

Dec 20, 2019

As I wrap up 2019, I’ve been reflecting on the things I’ve done best this year, and where I still have room to grow. While 2019 has been a year of massive growth, both professional and personal, I still struggled much of the year with organization.

For the first several months of 2019 I felt like I was constantly juggling a million things at once and I was always left frantic, feeling like I was forgetting something or that I was going to let something important fall through the...

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Highlighting Another Incredible Play Space: The Tot Spot in Oneida, NY

Dec 19, 2019

I first met Tanya, the owner of The Tot Spot Play Center, when she signed up for my Play Cafe Academy program and enrolled in my group coaching program, The Play Maker Society. Tanya, a Pediatric Occupational Therapist, quickly worked through the program content and worked alongside her supportive husband and family to open her doors just a few short months after enrolling! Does Tanya look familiar to you? You may remember her from her PCA testimonial on our YouTube channel here!

Her passion...

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Can I Send You My NEW Free 2024 "What's Working In The Indoor Play Industry" Guide?

I asked 11 Play Cafe Academy and Play Maker Society members what is working RIGHT NOW in their businesses to attract customers and grow sales. I want to send you their answers in my FREE newly updated 2024 "What's Working" Guide!