How much are you willing to pay for activities like this?

[Ohdoleavemealone]

Last March we were meant to launch an inflatable theme park but thank to Covid it never opened.
We intend to open during the next half term but are having trouble deciding on a pricing structure.
For background, we have decided to use a school as our premises instead of a commercial property which means we have access only to the school hall and toilets. We can only fit in 10 tables to start with due to social distancing. This means we have to carefully balance the price to make sure we our making enough money and being good value. This is proving tricky.
Would people mind giving their honest opinion on the price structure below? If you haven't been to one of these, it is a bit like a trampoline park, but a giant bouncy castle instead.
For the prices below you will get :
1 hour bounce
A table allocated to your group (can mix 2 households) in full view of the only exit.
Table service
Everyone at the table is elligible to bounce, whether for 10 minutes or an hour.
Staff are instructed to play with and entertain the kids so the parents can drink their coffee in peace.

Numbers will also be quite low making it safer thna places like flip out.
Prices :
table of 2 - £20
table of 3 - £ 25
table of 4 - £30
table of 5 - £35
Table of 6 - 40

Would you pay these prices?
For comparison, local flip out charge £13.50 per person and £1 for spectators.
I appreciate comments.

Gosh OP some people seem to just enjoy being horrid but there's also good advice on here. I don't know if this has been mentioned but have you considered doing evening sessions for adults? A friend hired out a place like yours for their 30th. It was for 1.5 hours and we were allowed to order take away pizza. I wouldn't want to do it a second time but all the other people had a great time. Could that increase your income in hours when you otherwise wouldn't have children there?

If DP and I take my 2 kids to Freedome (local trampoline park)- which is massive and has other stuff too like an assault course, dodgeball, basketball, rope ladder etc then it costs in total £24 for an hour and £30 for 90 mins. Adults go free if not bouncing.

If I had 2-5 year olds it would only be £6 per child to attend the preschool sessions (adults still free)

So no way would I pay £40 for us to have an hour on a bouncy castle in a school hall - no matter how big it is!

@flashylamp it sounds like it’s too late though and OP has already spent a lot of money on something they may not be able to make work. That’s why I feel bad.

A bit conflicted- possibly but I'm not sure I'd be interested except in a price per child. I did bounce a bit at a trampoline park but my pelvic floor is not really up to it and I'm nervous of injuries, so was only on for 10 minutes or so.

I guess if you've already invested you should have a go perhaps. But I'd sell three monthly family passes for that price, and then go all out on the catering to make cash. Also I was surprised that the trampoline Park didn't have Tena Lady to buy in the loos

The worry for me comes when you said that if the school thought it was dangerous they wouldn't allow it. No, no, no. They think its OK because they think you've got the safety aspect sewn up. It's not their job or their livelihood, it's yours. Aren't trampoline accidents a major cause of child injury?

We have one local that 'pops up' different venues. So lots of different Inflatables in a hall. It's around 10 pound per child per hour.
Pre covid no table seats. Parents just follow the kids around. Coats and bags heaped in a corner.

The place was rammed.! We only went as a friend wanted us to go.

I’d pay those prices, I have quite a big age gap between kids and an activity they’d both do would be great. However, I’d probably only go once as I wouldn’t want my four year old bouncing around with wobbly, performance parenting dads.

No, the price is too high and we could go to many places for that much.

Plus I’d not be happy with all the mixing in a pandemic and would worry about it being thoroughly cleaned inbetween sessions given the size of it. The mixed ages bouncing would also put me off.

@MyDcAreMarvel

Also I hate with a passion places that allow adults to join in. I don’t want a 14 stone dad falling on my tiny five year old.

Agreed. Don’t let parents on. Kids only. Charge for them and a lower level for parents.

Sounds like a fun concept though. Good luck

I would state adults only for the under 5 section, but either charge them £1 or nothing as they’ll only be supervising their small child, not enjoying bouncing. You mentioned earlier about doing an under 8 bounce one hour in the mornings, I’d rethink that as most the kids who want to come will be under 8, but you really should think about doing it in age groups. My son got a black eye from a much older kid on a bouncy castle just doing normal bouncing, I wouldn’t be going back if there were much older kids bouncing the same time.

Freshly painted hall and new lighting system paid for? The headteacher saw you coming! Are they charging you rent too?

I've just been to one of the inflatable theme parks with DS and friend. We got 2 hours and it was £10 for them, £3 for parents to accompany. Lots of choice but huge queues.
I would say charge more for bouncing children.
People will book, there's so little to do at the moment!

Oh and all the people saying "I'd expect all day". You won't get that anywhere at the moment.

I wouldn't pay that amount for an hours bounce. Very generous of you to do up the school hall though. Hopefully they have a playing field and will hire you for their summer fete.

There is loads to do at the moment! Theme parks are open, swimming pools are open. You won’t get a full day? Last weekend we had Saturday with DC at clubs in the morning and the afternoon and the park with outdoor splash area, Sunday at the seaside and Monday at flamingo land.

Sorry op but I don’t think this is a viable business. We’ve been to lots of bouncy castles in school halls. Always for a child’s birthday party. No way would I pay the suggested prices for it.
My DC are 7, 3 & 1. My 3yo is disabled. How would I be able to get all my DC to enjoy this for an hour? I’m assuming the parent - child ratio is 1-1 for under 4s, so that means 2 adults would need to attend for families with 2 toddlers?

Good luck OP. Follow your original price plan and establish a loyal regular customer base who will spend money on drinks end snacks. Don’t whack it up over COVID, it’s only for a few weeks as someone else has pointed out. Perhaps do parties 10-12 or 4-6, so quieter times? It sounds good and accessible for locals. Like others I maybe wouldn’t encourage adult bouncing but rather they’re allowed on to help their kids etc.

Oh, and I’d pay your original price if it included squash perhaps for the kids?

Do you have to hire,or pay an adult person, with some medical knowledge, to be on hand for any accidents that may occur, as these things happen on these bouncy things quite a lot.

Your fees sound ok, but I wouldn't take my children to anything like this. I would take them to the great outdoors with a picnic, with no fees at all., and avoid any other people at all costs.

So you mean a former school hall then, right? You are making it sound like you are renting the place at the weekend and putting it up temporarily.

If you’ve actually prepared a permanent venue I think your prices are pretty fair. Covid or not I would always be happy to pay more for a less crowded atmosphere.

Not convinced with the concept on the whole. We wouldn’t pay those prices for anything in a school hall. It may be something that we’d do once to check it out but not again iyswim. Pricing is far too expensive, perhaps £10 per child bouncing.

You’ve also invested a huge amount on a hall that is only available during the weekends. Thus limiting your trading hours which isn’t a good start. I hope you managed to negotiate a long rent free period, in exchange for that 10k spend otherwise you’ve been seriously had!

@titchy do you think every store or restaurant owns its premises? It’s not at all unusual for a business owner to pay for improvements to a rented property. What an odd thing to say!

Have you experience isn such ventures OP?
Sounds like quite a cash outlay.business?
I would be interested in your business model- what research have you done- how much revenue do you need to break even and make the venture profitable?
Who are your customers? Advertising? Your own web site?
Are you hoping for lots of repeat business?

[quote Ohdoleavemealone]@PatriciaHolm Thank you. This is what we are aiming for. Our original price was set at £7.50 an hour, spectators free. Unfortunatley due to SD rules having to half our numbers, we need to review it which is why I was looking for opinions on what people would pay.[/quote]
I really don't think you can charge for spectators to sit at a table. Whatever you charge it needs to be per person who is bouncing.

I agree with PPs who say not to charge for spectators. We had a soft play/barn / petting farm near us that charged (the same amount!!!) for every person. So if I wanted to take my two small children and their GPs wished to come along it came to £100.00.

They went bust within 2 years.

It must be so exciting to be starting a business, but nerve-wracking! It's a difficult time to launch.

Since your capacity on the inflatables is much higher than your seating capacity, have you considered charging a flat price per table (max 6 people/ two households) and so encouraging people to maximise the value for themselves (e.g. by coming in a 2 household group)?

If you could charge 25 for a table that would allow those who need a lower price point to get that by agreeing to go with another family/take other kids with theirs, while those who are okay with a higher price point could get a table for themselves.