I'm thinking of going into the soft play business...

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

and would love to hear some advice- good and bad from people who have done it before. I would also appreciate some advice on people who use soft play and what they like and don't like to see and what ideas they might have that would appeal to them. Thank you.

Just replying quickly as got to pop off but here are my likes and dislikes -

Like
Bright and spacious (this absolutely sways me on where we go)
Good food options as in healthy and not a load of nuggets and chips stuff
A "pit" without balls but lots of toys where small children can play safely and you can have a drink without fear of them getting into any harm.

Dislike
Crappy area for younger dc (1-2) whilst older dc off having fab time
Dingy, dark warehousey type places full of ugly lights
Grubbyy seating ( the one we use has tables and chairs but also comfy leather sofas and low coffee tables)

HTH

Good coffee is essential!
Agree with a lot of the above, I also prefer ones where you are able to go on the frame and retrieve your child if necessary! I also really begrudge having to pay admission for myself as well as the child. I avoid ones which do this!

Somebody I know tried to start one around here but it fell down at planning as it was in a residential area, such a shame.

Try the www.playproviders.org.uk/aboutus

Somebody who runs a playcentre out your area might be up for talking to you - which is what I think you are trying to do on here etc.

Enough seating and parking is key for me. I am guessing the cafe is where you make the money. Oh and somewhere my ds will like!!

Good luck

Good food is a must, I know that there are some who will just want burgers and chips but I'd like to include healthier options too such as pasta salads and soups.

In the play centres that I have attended I have always found the baby area to be poorly lacking in decent equipment and toddlers up to the age of 3 are grouped with the babbies which in my opinion are too rough and boisterous to be playing in the baby area so I would like to have 3 seperate areas. One for the under 1's, another for the 1-3yr olds and the over 3's. In the under 1's I would have a sensory area. Would this appeal to you?

Another vote for great food and coffee at sensible prices. It must be closed one day a week and cleaned very very thoroughly. If it smells dirty it is dirty.

Yes I agree, So is anyone here actually mad enough to have opened their own soft play?

Around here, the bigger the better seems to be the order of the day. I don't necessarily agree, but a couple of mega-big soft play places have opened near us in the last year or so, and a couple of the smaller places have closed down as a result. the big ones include things like huge cafe, separate areas for different age groups, coin-operated bumper car type cars (though these days you don't seem to be allowed to do bumping in them), really big slides, zip wires, climbing walls, push-along cars, wee football areas. They are also way more expensive than the smaller places, but seem to do quite good deals during the week outside the school holidays.

If you have never done it before you may be better starting with an existing franchise business like these people. Click the franchise button on the bottom right of the front page.

The implications of health and safety would worry me to death without really sound advice from someone who had done it.

one of the mums at dd's school opened hers a couple of years ago - it's a teeny one in a shop premises in the middle of town with only about £15000 worth of equipment but it's going very well and she's looking for premises for a second, larger branch.
I think because soft plays are so common there's a fairly standard set of things they have to do for H&S like having the equipment checked and serviced regularly, so it's not like you're inventing something new and having to work out for yourself what's reasonable. I bet there is published advice out there sometimes. Probably the people who make the equipment could help.
I think the success comes down above all to it being somewhere where there is no competition since there aren't any other soft plays or child-friendly cafes in the area. Hers is very nice, but there are horrible ones that seem to make money too.

typo, somewhere not sometimes