Business, Marketing, and Life Advice for Local Business Owners

It’s May 2020, and we are right in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis and all of the uncertainty that comes with it.

I’ve been paying attention to the conversations happening on podcasts, YouTube channels, and inside Facebook groups, and I’ve actually been quite surprised at the comments being made.

Understandably, a lot of people are feeling scared and stuck, and like their dreams are on pause.

However, the surprising part to me is that a lot of prospective business owners...

I’m writing this on March 24, 2020- while we are smack in the middle of a global health crisis. I live in New York so we have been quarantined for just over a week, and indoor playgrounds around the country have been mandated to close until further notice.

While “social distancing” seems to (so far) be “flattening the curve”, so to speak (with the main aim of “flattening the curve” being to prevent a sharp peak of cases and spread out the infection...

This past week in our Play Maker Society group coaching program (which is an optional way for Play Cafe Academy members to really uplevel their game and accelerate their success with the program) we had a veteran (10 year!) Starbucks manager answer questions and WOW, she provided some amazing insight!

While the full 1-hour training (plus MY 1-hour training on my lessons in operating a profitable cafe) is only available for Play Maker Society members, I did want to share a few of her insights...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...