private members' club for families

[pippiLS]

So do you think £10 per week for access to a stylish child-friendly club (with tasteful soft play areas etc) is a big ask?

DH thinks it's too much and no none would pay it whereas I think £520 for annual membership of a place where people with babies/toddlers go and meet other mums/dads/nannies, have a decent coffee (maybe even a tasty, healthy lunch), relax in comfort and attend classes with their little ones is an OK price to pay.

Am I being unreasonable to be considering opening such a place as a business venture?

I think you should listen to your DH, and most posters on this thread, who probably think it's a nice idea, but not a realistic one.

In true Dragon's Den style - I'm out.

PolkaSpottyDotty, here is my local sure start centre. It's recently been refurbished and looks good but it's not homely at all, it's still got that municipal feel that I just don't like and I don't think I'm the only one who doesn't.

Yes, you can make a 60% plus gross profit margin on food, but that's BEFORE labour costs.

In response to your OP, YABU. Your DH is correct, and you appear to be a snob with your comments about Sure Start Centres (which you admit you've never been in). How you can judge it's "feel" or how homely it is without actually utilising it is beyond me. How you can even contemplate any kind of business when you clearly have done no adequate research, don't know your product/service, and are clueless to the wants of your target market? Again, beyond me.

I'm out as well.

I'm not knocking the work of sure start centres here, I'm sure they provide a great service for those people that use them. But they are not what I am trying to emulate, I want to offer something different, something fresh and original that has been lovingly crafted to make everyone who goes there feel comfortable in the way that you do when you go on holiday to a beautiful French Villa. I want the place itself to be inspiring.

Right, firstly Im cross about the surestart thing, wow, I wasn't aware my DD was bothered by the look of it, frankly she loves the staff her friends and the heaps of plastic tat I dont have to have in my living room

ok now the actual bit, not the bit I was cross about. If I was going to be a member of your club, and I am your target audience (altho im not snobby about wooden toys-DD favourite is an old bottle with some buttons in at the moment) wouldnt expect to pay for classes really, and if I did certainly not at £10 a shot.
The problem you have is that it isnt cheap to run childrens things, on top of your normal day to day running, you must have liability insurance for your guests, health and safety assessments and you must have properly trained staff in first aid and in food preparation. Dont forget the DBS for all staff and class takers (you said there could be parents running them) coming into contact with children too.
As a mum, I think I would be afraid that I would be looked down on, judged, made to feel unwelcome in your establishment over say a sure start centre. However I know mums that would use it, simply because riffraff like me (who occasionally uses a jar of food, and lets my daughter get messy, and doesnt buy organic fruit) wouldn't go there. Some peoplewould use it for status too

I wish you luck in any business venture, this one wouldnt attract me- just mho

Good luck pippi. I think you're going to need it if you pursue this idea.

There's a place like you suggest near me OP. They charge £19.50 pcm per family (inc grandparents etc) and discount rate for Saturday only. They charge extra for classes.

I am tempted to join. If I was still on mat leave I would have. I wouldn't pay what you're proposing to charge though.

Linky

So if 50 families do one class a week, how many classes is that? 10 classes each with a different teacher and 5 children in it?

How long is it going to take to build membership to 100 families?

25 people eating per day is one quarter of your members eating per day (assuming, simplistically, one parent and one baby jar eating child)

Indeed TheDoctrine so out of my meagre 44K I would have to pay a number of wages, it's not looking good, is it?

Holiday clubs and parties would be another way of bringing in revenue and I was also thinking of having a small shop brimming with beautiful things. I am currently trying to figure out a way of not having to staff said shop...

I've used my local Sure Start Centre lots of times. Ok so they may be a little "municipal" (as they are indeed municipal buildings!) but in my experience they provide excellent, inclusive services - we've been to singing groups, yoga classes, fun days, a 'mini Glastonbury' with live music and loads of other great stuff and all FREE!
I could afford to pay your £10 pw subscription. But why would I when I can get what you are offering for free elsewhere. All you seem to be offering that's different is "homeliness" - I'm not sure that alone is worth £10 pw!

I think you're too centered on how you want it to look rather than the nitty gritty to be honest, but good luck.

I have been to various local sure starts. Frankly they've been bloody brilliant and I'd've happily paid for them. All very different decors and feelings but the key was 2-3 members of staff at each so always someone to check how mum was doing whilst baby could be entertained for a minute or two.

What do baby yoga courses cost round your way? Baby massage? Tumble tots? Soft play itself?

something fresh and original that has been lovingly crafted to make everyone who goes there feel comfortable in the way that you do when you go on holiday to a beautiful French Villa. I want the place itself to be inspiring

No one is going to feel comfortable in the way you do when you go on holiday to a French villa. Because the place will be 'full' of kids - assuming your successful (which is unlikely). What about a ball pit and a cinema area is inspiring.

If I want nice decor I'll stay at home. If I want nice food I'll go to a restaurant (they allow children too you know - some even supply colouring books and crayons).

Right I am definitely out now. Listen to your DH.

Im not sure babies/children and french villa feel are workable concepts together. Even if the space is this way, you cant guarantee the adults will be this way, will be nice to each other, accomodating, welcoming, and children are noisy, messy, sticky. Rooms will probably have to be sound proofed too.
if I was looking for a place like this, I think I would want somewhere homely and happy, where everyone was pleased to see me, knew me and my dd and genuinely seemed happy to be there. Which actually just describes my sure start to a t

OP most people won't pay upwards for £80 per month for naive food and venue.

Quite frankly I have that at home so why would I?

^ *naice food not naive food!

Pippi, I run a museum, with a shop. It has to be staffed, however if you combine it with your cafe, rather like an upmarket starbucks, then you have one set of staff, two areas to deal with. Its tough and at busy times a blasted nightmare but it is doable. I run a very small place with a very small staff, but we make it work.

You may not like it, but it is practical, welcoming and free.

All of what you've said so far is based on your personal preference. Have you done any market research? Do you actually know if your assumed client base exists and wants what you think they want?

Ah yes. The ambience of a beautiful French villa. With the sweet sounds of Cbeebies blasting out of the cinema room. The delicate echo of toddler tantrums. That delightful underfoot crunch of a stray breadstick.
The two concepts you are trying to force together here - a beautiful French villa and a soft play/kids club - do not work. It's the proverbial chalk and cheese!

"Comfortable" and "beautiful French Villa" are not compatible concepts IME. Especially when you add toddlers to the mix.

I may be wrong but I'm sensing a slightly floaty attitude to this proposed business OP, if it works it won't be inspiring and a haven for you It will be long, long hours with unrelenting stress at least to start with.

A villa In the South of France it will not be however nice the wipe clean soft furnishings are. You'll be serving coffee to arsey patrons, unblocking loos, clearing up baby sick and stressing over paperwork and staffing.

OP I think one of the major things you're missing is that for most parents, when they take their child somewhere (be it soft play, cinema etc) the primary focus is what their child will get out of it, not how nice it looks. Children by their very nature quite like colourful, gawdy things dripping in lights and different textures.

Rule of thumb for catering is 30% staffing costs, 30% food costs / overheads. But that would be for someone experienced in writing and managing budgets, and in managing a food outlet.

Pippi, is a French villa feel what people want for a place to do baby/ toddler activities? One of the things I liked about my SureStart Centre was that it looked like a place specially designed for children; bright colours, posters of book characters, number and alphabet charts. Everything was wipe-clean, so I didn't worry about my children making a mess, if they did I could just get a cloth from the sink in the corner and wipe it up.

I don't know if I would feel comfortable with young children in a place that was all lovely and pretty.

How much are you thinking about a child-friendly design rather than a design you find aesthetically pleasing?

TheDoctrine

soft play = £6.50 for big kids and £5.25 for preschoolers, £1 for adults and dire overpriced food.

yoga = £10 p.h.