The little ones could play while parents could enjoy a good cup of coffee and chat with other parents. Any suggestions? I don't have much business experience, but I'd love to take a plunge...I'm looking for encouragement as well as some constructive criticism.
Thanks
2006-09-20 19:50:02 · 20 answers · asked by ceci 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Small Business
Critcism: Coffee and kids dont mix. I see lawsuits in your future.
2006-09-20 19:56:10 · answer #1 · answered by amofber 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it is a super idea. I picture several things: a place where mommies can take the little ones after dropping the older kids at school, have a cup of joe and wake up, and maybe meet other mommies with kids of similar age for playgroups; a place where daddies can take kids on Saturday or Sunday morning, read the paper, let the kids play, and let Mom sleep in; or best of all, a place where single parents can meet other single parents, both for dating and just general networking (I have heard from single parents that it is really hard to meet other single parents, and often their toddlers don't have many friends). I think you could do really well if you offered some pastries or goodies for grownups, as well, and then also offered things for little folks, like juices and healthy snacks, because playing makes you thirsty!
The only negative I can see is your insurance. Let me explain. There are a ton of McDonald's franchises where I live, and most of them are owned by the same small group of people. One guy owns like ten of them, and another guy and his partner own six, I think. The problem is the playgrounds. I know the woman who used to do the books for the guy who owns the most franchises in our area, and she told me that when he first started out, and was buying already existing buildings from the McDonald's people, he had to take out the playgrounds, because there was no way he could pay the liability insurance premiums. While it is clearly marked that parents are responsible for their kids when they enter the playground, the fact is that if a child gets hurt on your play equipment, you can be sued, so you have to carry insurance for that. Since toddlers in indoor play grounds are wild cards, and since you never know when someone will look away and their child will fall and break their neck, I think it might be risky. Not everyone is sue happy, but enough people are these days that it will just take one bad lawsuit for you to lose everything. That's why the guy with all the McDonald's franchises cannot afford to have play areas. He's a multimillionaire, but he still cannot afford the insurance premiums. I asked the woman I know if it's a matter of him being cheap, or a matter of premiums being ridiculous, and she said he is not cheap at all. He would love to add the playgrounds, especially at a couple of his locations where there is other competition nearby, but he just cannot afford to do it and still make money. Consequently, the only McDonald's in our area with playgrounds are the ones owned by the corporation, which can afford the insurance.
That's the only negative I can think of, but it's kind of a big one. You might want to do a lot of research about that issue specifically before you proceed. If that all checks out, and the insurance is not too bad, and you won't lose everything if you get sued, then you should go for it. It's a super great idea!
Good luck to you :)
2006-09-20 20:15:29 · answer #2 · answered by Bronwen 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that's an awesome idea! I have a 3-year old and live in Toronto, so going to the park in winter is not much of an option. It's a great idea, especially considering many new moms don't have much of a social life. It'll give them a chance to get out and meet new people without the stress of worrying that their kids will "behave".
I actually read about this in the paper a couple of years ago. I woman entrepreneur started a business like this somewhere in Canada (can't remember where exactly). It's been done before, and gained popularity. We just need more of it!
You can call it the Play Cafe!
2006-09-20 19:53:36 · answer #3 · answered by catwomanmeeeeow 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would love this. So instead of a Starbucks with people talking quietly and busy on laptops this would be a noisy cafe where the kids could play, right? I would go there everyday. I would recommend providing a wide variety of drinks from coffee to blended mochas to fruit smoothies to all kinds of juices so the kids can have a drink too. Make it not too expensive because most parents are on a budget.
2006-09-20 19:56:10 · answer #4 · answered by Precious 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When I lived in Germany, these types of places where EVERYWHERE. My favorite was called "Funny Land". It was in a dome. There was a cafe deck area that over looked the 'play area' and they had waitresses to serve food & good coffee. It was great, espcically on the rainy days that the kids could just play and play, and the parents could just sit and relax. it's like an indoor park. it cost $5.00 to get in.
This is the place (it's in German, look at the pictures) http://www.funnyland-sinsheim.de/html/bilder.html
I would love to do this. Best of luck!
-Angela
2006-09-22 07:45:35 · answer #5 · answered by Biancoa 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At the Paradise Valley Mall in Phoenix, there is a free play area like you described for little kids. They have different things geared for small children. They can climb, slide, run and in general, have a great time. The parents have to sit on the sideline and are able to enjoy a beverage while they wait. There are many vendors selling all sorts of drinks in the mall. It seems to work well.
2006-09-20 19:53:14 · answer #6 · answered by phoenixheat 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Parents love it! There used to be one in Sioux Falls, SD. We always thought it was awesome. They had an unused smaller-sized industrial warehouse. They converted half of it into a 3 or 4 story play house with tunnels and slides and balls and stuff. A quarter of the place was a fast-food joint (pizza and hot dogs, mainly). The other quarter was used for daycare. Unfortunately it was not self-sustainable. I don't know the financial details. All I know is I would've paid almost twice as much as they asked for admission if it would've kept it around.
Best of luck to you.
2006-09-20 20:00:18 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
While I don't drink coffee, I think that's an awesome idea. I can definitely use somewhere where I can make new friends, while my 2-year old makes some new friends of her own as well. :) Maybe if it served more than just coffee (kinda like the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf; even Starbuck's has more than just coffee), then it'd be perfect.
2006-09-20 20:02:37 · answer #8 · answered by caysdaddy04 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that is a great idea, but I think that places like GO Bananas has already done that. It would be nice if it was a small place where the people still kept an eye on their kids and didn't just let them run wild. It would be nice especially for single parents who don't often get achance to meet other single parents. Best of luck with your idea. Are you local in British Columbia becasue I am contemplating doing something like that myself so that I can be with my two small babies. email me if you would like to exchange ideas, who knows we could be onto something big.
2006-09-20 19:56:23 · answer #9 · answered by suzy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As you can tell from these answers, people seem to love this idea, but the insurance would be skyhigh, I think anything involving kids usually is. Get insurance, and post lots of signs saying parents still have to keep an eye on their children as you are not responsible for damages or accidents.
2006-09-22 06:04:43 · answer #10 · answered by ANGELa 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sounds grat, but I would worry about a toddler or child getting burned by coffee. You'd have to make sure the children's play area was not near the drinking adults.
Because it would be a "playground" and have "coffee", you could call it ....
Coffee Grounds
What do you think?
I think it's awesome!
2006-09-20 19:53:49 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋