If you’ve got the capital, an entertainment franchise can be a rewarding way to earn a crust. But it’s hard to know what to go for: bowling is boring and laser tag is lame. Fortunately there’s a new international franchise coming to our fair shores that has got kids and adults alike jumping for joy. Its name is Sky Zone.
A lot of great start-ups feature a pivot at some point in their journey but it’s fair to say that Sky Zone took a larger leap than most. “We were going to start a competitive sport that was played on trampolines,” says Jeff Platt, CEO of Sky Zone. However, trying to get a sport off the ground was far more costly than they anticipated and before long the future Sky Zone founders were forced to monetise the only asset at their disposal: an R&D centre filled with trampolines. “We decided to charge people to come in and jump around to see if they would pay for jumping,” he continues.
Fortunately, the Sky Zone team’s gamble paid off: not only did they manage to pack the centre full that day but the customers kept coming back. They realised they’d hit on something that had enormous potential. “We completely shifted the focus from trying to start this sport to having an indoor trampoline park,” Platt says. And thus, in 2004, Sky Zone was born.
But this is not to say that it was all clear skies ahead for the company. As with any venture that’s blazing a trail, there wasn’t a handy roadmap to help it find its way. “There was no expert to call,” Platt says. “We had to figure out everything on our own and truly build it organically.” What followed was a lot of painstaking work hammering out its model, developing its operations and establishing connections with the right vendors, during which time Sky Zone only opened three locations. “It took a lot of time,” Platt explains. “It wasn’t until about 2010 or 2011 that we really started to grow quickly.”
Part of the reason Sky Zone’s expansion began to gather momentum was it recognised that, for such a capital-intensive business, company-owned sites weren’t the best way to expand. “We started franchising and that’s when it really took off,” says Platt. And this is where all the groundwork it had put in really paid off; with help from some outside consultants, it started adapting its model into a comprehensive package, a step Platt feels all too many franchises rush. “Most try to grow as fast as they can without stopping and putting the proper procedures in place,” he says. “And that can be very challenging once they grow.”
Josh Russell
When he isn't tooling around on trains in a tux like the Daniel Craig of the Greater Anglia transport system, Russell spends his time living the glamourous life of an enterprise journalist, judging Digital Business of the Year at the National Business Awards and attending conferences like NixonMcInnes' Meaning 2013. However, like all good secret agents, Russell lives a double life - in his case, as a closet revolutionary. Social enterprise, sustainable business and collaborative practices are his true passions, something that he has had plenty of opportunity to air in his features here at Elite Franchise.
Josh Russell
When he isn't tooling around on trains in a tux like the Daniel Craig of the Greater Anglia transport system, Russell spends his time living the glamourous life of an enterprise journalist, judging Digital Business of the Year at the National Business Awards and attending conferences like NixonMcInnes' Meaning 2013. However, like all good secret agents, Russell lives a double life - in his case, as a closet revolutionary. Social enterprise, sustainable business and collaborative practices are his true passions, something that he has had plenty of opportunity to air in his features here at Elite Franchise.
