Want to open a cafe. How?

[Sneezer]

I want to start a childrens play- cafe.

Still very much in the " this is a great idea" stage 😂

I'd need a very specific venue which would be hard to find. How do i even begin looking? In our old city there were a handful of similar places that were so good! But ultimately always closed due to rent rises. Parents loved them.

How do I start financially?

Assuming all goes well, how financially rewarding would it really be? Not sure if I'm signing myself up for every hour under the sun working for nothing great. I currently earn very well with child friendly hours and am self employed.

I'm not sure where to even start 🤷‍♀️

Honestly. I think it's a terrible idea. And one that will see you hemorrhage money.

Definitely what I needed to hear, thanks Copper!

Every cafe that was geared up like this in my town closed. I think it must be so hard to make a living out of a cafe like that.

In our old city there were a handful of similar places that were so good! But ultimately always closed due to rent rises.

You said it yourself.

Keep what you've got. Play cafes are great because they are cheap and the kids can spend hours there. Not a money maker.

What do you do out of interest?

Why don't you stand in the garden and burn £10 notes instead.
Cafes open on cheap leases and then close as they are never viable
Expensive to set up a professional kitchen
You need great loos and changing facilities- not cheap
People with children spend 3 hours over 1 coffee
Cafes are not great places for children?

£50,000 to start up and run for a year? That is a guess based on a similar industry that we work with. Assume you will work 7 days a week 12 house a day initially.

Why not approach an existing cafe/hall/whatever and ask if you can run coffee morning/stay and play sessions there? Much easier to disentangle yourself if it doesn't work. And if it's a roaring success you can build on it.

The only place near me still doing this does it part time. They have a lovely grown up, Chilled out, plush cafe/bar with fancy toastier/bruschetta type bar food.

Then 3 mornings a week they open up the basement for parent/child play cafe. The whole floor is covered with mats, rugs, big cushions, type being out tonnes of kids toys, invite an NCT lactation consultant to attend and make sure they have lots of deep, cream filled massive cakes for sale as well as some small iced biscuits for the kids.

They portion off a part of the normal cafe upstairs for buggy parking and make sure that music playing throughout is building is low key and not sweary.

They probably don't make much from this, but it's mid week and mornings before the lunch crowd hits so it's business they wouldn't be getting at an otherwise quiet time.

Sorry but if you need to ask fundamental questions like that on here I’d suggest this isn’t for you.

While I agree with some PP it's not certainly not a dead cert it will fail but it will be hard work.
Imo you need the following
Food & hygiene cert
Heath & safety cert
Fire regs cert
First aid cert ( not strictly needed but a good idea )
lots of disposable income for rent , insurance , good kitchen equipment, wages, child proof/ing .
Good contacts for food/ drink supplies
Reliable staff
Very good knowledge of intolerances/ allergies .
And of course the right place to set it all up .
If you are seriously considering this get your H&S + F&H exams done now . It will give you some idea of what you are letting yourself in for before you start laying out the big bucks.

As a PP said what about using a local hall during set mornings each week? My friend goes to one that operates like this.

Mrsgrindah, respectfully when I started doing what I do now, I didn't know the basics. I began earning very well in a short amount of time and as I say, fits perfectly around my children. Although they are older now so less of an issue. I'm always ready for a challenge, that said, I won't be stupid financially.

The play cafe is more of a fun vessel to support other parent related things really, and some excellent childcarers I know of are looking to move on from their setting and that's what got my brain ticking over really.
Realistically I think It'll be a lot of work for little return, perhaps I should look to invest my money in something else.

I'm just not sure what! But I'm itching for a challenge.

Thanks all! It's been whirring about my head for a few days but my wife is away with work and I haven't seen any grown ups worth discussing it with so needed to put it out there and have someone remind me of the realities, although I did know really. Was briefly excited!

I’m not saying you should know the basics I am just saying there’s more obvious and reliable places to start your research.

I have been planning my fantasy play cafe for a couple of weeks now! I think I would have the play area fully separate/gated and have 30min timed sessions for a set amount of children, at about £3 a go, bookable in advance or turn up and hope for space. Would ensure an income over time throughout the day and minimise the ‘1 coffee over 3hrs’ crowd. I’ve got loads of other ideas and I’ve drawn up a full imaginary business plan (I get bad insomnia and this sort of thing helps me to drift off!) ....I think it would work in my area. However I have no idea what the property rents and business rates would be which would be the major deciding factor in whether it would be a viable business. Maybe get in touch with your local council and ask for that info as then you will be able to see if you can bring in enough income to cover the basic outgoings and wages etc, before you get too far down the line of planning. Good luck! My friend opened a speciality cafe and is just celebrating their third year, not a play cafe but has a lot in common with one, so it is possible. A lot of work for the first few years however!

Don’t think of it as in investment, think of it as an expensive hobby

Honestly, unless you’re an eccentric millionaire you’d be mad to give up a well earning flexible career to run a cafe with play centre

Mskantonic, yes this is probably a fantasy cafe too really

I really loved the ones in our old city, i know everyone was devastated when they closed.

I think I'm just a bit bored. Need to find a less risky hobby clearly

There is a very successful one in a town near me but it is a very affluent area full of yummy mummy types with loads of disposable cash who wouldn't dream of going to any of the massive softplays around here which can be a bit feral (both kids and parents).

I know they have a function room that they do fancy birthday parties in (which is always fully booked) and they do lots of seasonal events too plus adult things on some evenings (bookclub, knitting club etc.)

If you got a job in the type of place you want to run, you're guaranteed NMW and no financial risk to yourself, unlike if it was your own business.

If you still want to do it after a few months and a good understanding of how much money goes in and out of the business and whether you're prepared to risk what is likely to be tens of thousands of pounds minimum, you're probably not of sound enough mind to be working with children and the public .

For instance my local posh soft play. It's £4 or & £6 depending on age. When there. If I get a chance, I'll buy a coffee at £2.50.

This is an amazing venue that if you pm me, I'll happily link.

I'm not sure how they make enough to stay open.

What was the mn thread about the soft play fancy place in London that served vegan shit but no drinks. It sounds like a lesson. Child's play, possibly

I've seen a great idea recently - a super ethical
Cafe combined with a refill eco retail business. So you either go for the cafe and yummy handmade organic blah blah cakes (and a play bit if you want) and / or you spend some serious cash buying lots of dried goods / toiletries etc in refillable pots / bottles.

Strikes me as a good way to maximise your income by having service and retail in one space...

Actually the most successful one near me has a stay and play with a play-worker in a basement, and a cafe for parents upstairs. My daughter wouldn't stand for it but it sounds a cracking idea.