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

If you live in an area like we do in Western New York (we’re in Rochester!) with beautifully hot summers and cold snowy winters, you’ll know that your options for your child’s birthday party are largely dependent on the weather.

As an August baby, we always had small family parties outside at my house. But, with sons born in November and March, we are always left to book an indoor venue for their celebrations, if we chose to have them that year. While those with children...

In an earlier blog post, I discussed the 7 things I no longer do in my indoor playground business as I have grown and matured as a business owner.

I referenced Michael Hyatt, who, in many of his books and programs continuously refers to designing your ideal days and weeks as “the desire zone.” Operating within your desire zone, as he describes it, simply means you are spending the bulk of your time doing what you both love AND are good at.

While there are many tasks I cut...

At Climbing Vines Cafe & Play, we offer a variety of services from classes and camps to open-play and private events. It’s our adult and child-friendly birthday parties, though, that we have chosen as our focus.

While we, of course, put time and resources towards making each aspect of our business the best it can be, I have found that having one primary focus helps us best serve our customers. Having one top priority has also helped our indoor playground stand out against our local...

Over the last 3 years in business, we have gathered a tremendous amount of feedback from our community. While we try and take all of this into account and make improvements and changes based on the needs of our customers, we sometimes get suggestions that we choose to not implement.

This isn’t to say that we don’t value these suggestions or the customers who make them. However, I firmly believe that if you try to please every person who comes across your business, you will end up...

HOW OPENING A PROFITABLE INDOOR PLAYGROUND HAS BROUGHT JOY, OPPORTUNITY, AND VALUE TO OUR LIVES ABOVE THE INCOME IT PROVIDES!

As an owner, I am constantly scrutinizing my business and making tweaks to our processes and systems to maximize our profits and elevate our clients’ experiences, and often forget to reflect on the immeasurable joy this venture has brought to our family.

Yes, there have been tough times-- lots of tears and many hours spent away from my family while getting our...

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE FOR OUR 3RD BIRTHDAY 

Exactly THREE years ago, my husband Chris and I were finally able to see almost a YEAR of our hard work come to life when we opened Climbing Vines Cafe & Play and hosted our first birthday party for a lucky little one!  

Since then, we have hosted over 550 parties, held over 200 special events and classes, and greeted thousands of smiles that walked through our door.

It has undoubtedly been the most difficult, yet most rewarding...

DOWNLOAD- The 10 Questions Checklist- PDF

If you are one of the brave souls considering play-cafe ownership, congratulations! The time for diving in and implementing this business model is NOW. With many retail spaces closing, real-estate vacancies are on the rise causing rent (on average) to experience a simultaneous decline and therefore the barriers-to-entry in the brick-and-mortar space are lower than ever.

One of the reasons for these vacancies is the increasing demand for convenience....