{"id":2335,"date":"2020-07-01T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T09:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/?p=2335"},"modified":"2020-07-16T19:26:19","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T19:26:19","slug":"writing-an-escape-room-business-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/blog\/writing-an-escape-room-business-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing an Escape Room Business Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t<blockquote><p>Setting out your business plan in an organized fashion will both help and inspire you to keep improving your escape room business proposition.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\t<p>In this blog, we are going to look at the different sections of an escape room business plan, and take a look at how you can create one for your own escape room business proposal.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\tBlog overview\n\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>First, we will go over the <a href=\"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/blog\/writing-an-escape-room-business-plan\/#___Escape_room_business_plan__traditional_format__\">traditional escape room business plan format<\/a>. This is the format that\u2019s used the most, and it details every single business detail relevant to your escape room business.<\/p>\n<p>Next, we\u2019ll take a look at <a href=\"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/blog\/writing-an-escape-room-business-plan\/#___5_features_of_an_escape_room_business_plan__\">5 features of an escape room business plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, you may want to create a \u2018leaner\u2019 business plan, as a first draft, or because you\u2019re pitching to non-seasoned investors who\u2019ll get lost in a detailed business plan.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a leaner <a href=\"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/blog\/writing-an-escape-room-business-plan\/#___1_page_startup_business_plan_for_escape_rooms__\">1-page business plan format<\/a> that\u2019s just right for these situations, and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll look at next.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, we\u2019ll round off the blog with some <a href=\"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/blog\/writing-an-escape-room-business-plan\/#___Escape_room_business_plan_resources__\">resources<\/a> you can use to create your escape room business plan.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\tEscape room business plan &#8211; traditional format\n\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>A traditional escape room business plan has the following sections:<\/p>\n<h3>\n\t\tTitle page\n\t<\/h3>\n\t<p>Having a separate title page makes the business plan presentable.<\/p>\n<p>The page should have <strong>only<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>title<\/strong> &#8211; Funhouse escape room (just as an example).<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>subtitle<\/strong> &#8211; A plan to build an escape room in Anaheim, California. (again, just an example).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>\n\t\tTable of contents\n\t<\/h3>\n\t<p>This is self-explanatory but remember to include this in your business plan!<\/p>\n<p>There are so many questions to consider, sometimes people forget these basic things.<\/p>\n<h3>\n\t\tExecutive summary\n\t<\/h3>\n\t<p>This section should summarize the entire business plan within a page or two.<\/p>\n<p>The best way of going about it is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Start with a one to two line introduction, explaining\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Your business<\/strong> &#8211; an escape room (entertainment center) with so many rooms, each with a maximum capacity of so many players.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Your target customer mix<\/strong> &#8211; you\u2019re setting up the escape room in Anaheim to leverage the rush of people visiting Disneyland.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Follow that up with <strong>summaries<\/strong> of all subsequent sections of the business plan, each of 1-2 lines.<\/li>\n<li>You <i>may<\/i> include one line explaining what an escape room is.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>\n\t\tIndustry overview\n\t<\/h3>\n\tThis section discusses why the escape room industry is worth entering.\nTypical points would include:\n<ul data-ce-key=\"43452\">\n<li data-ce-key=\"43453\">Growth trends of the industry till date.<\/li>\n<li data-ce-key=\"43455\">Estimated future growth trends.<\/li>\n<li data-ce-key=\"43457\">How the particular region (state, and county of city) where you propose to set up your escape room is doing. Typical points would include:\n<ul data-ce-key=\"43459\">\n<li data-ce-key=\"43460\">How the general economy is doing (a strong economy means people are financially secure and would want to spend money on entertainment centers like escape rooms)<\/li>\n<li data-ce-key=\"43462\">Whether the area is a tourist hotspot.<\/li>\n<li data-ce-key=\"43464\">Whether entities that are likely to opt for \u2018special event\u2019 or \u2018large group\u2019 bookings &#8211; like other companies, schools, etc, are available.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe local chamber of commerce, and the good old internet search can help you gather the data.\n<h3>\n\t\tYour target market\n\t<\/h3>\n\t<p>Typical demographics who book escape rooms are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>People looking to have a good time.<\/li>\n<li>People looking to organize family events and celebrate special occasions.<\/li>\n<li>Companies looking to hold team building and corporate events.<\/li>\n<li>Other suitable entities* with subscription or enrollment-based business models.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Which of them are present at your proposed location, and who are you proposing to target for large group\/special events bookings?<\/p>\n<p>* These refer to entities like a school, a club, a library, which may want to organize events for their members.<\/p>\n<h3>\n\t\tYour business idea\n\t<\/h3>\n\t<p>At this stage, the reader knows what an escape room is, what growth prospects the industry has, and what customers you are targeting.<\/p>\n<p>Now it\u2019s time to tell them about your business. Things like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Will you be buying a franchise, or building an independent brand?<\/li>\n<li>How many rooms and games will you have?<\/li>\n<li>Will you have portable games?<\/li>\n<li>How will you source the escape games?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>\n\t\tCompany structure and team building\n\t<\/h3>\n\t<p>In this section comes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Which functions will you be handling in-house, and which will you outsource?<\/li>\n<li>Given the in-house functions, what will your company structure be like?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>\n\t\tAn overview of your competitors\n\t<\/h3>\n\t<p>Give the reader an idea of what kind of competition you\u2019ll be facing.<\/p>\n<p>Your main competition will be other escape rooms, but there could be others, like haunted house attractions.<\/p>\n<h3>\n\t\tCompetitive advantage (if any)\n\t<\/h3>\n\t<p>How will you provide value for your players that the competition can\u2019t?<\/p>\n<p>For example, if you can create online escape game content, you can start a membership-based service for people who want to experience your online content.<\/p>\n<h3>\n\t\tFinancial projections\n\t<\/h3>\n\t<p>Ideally, 4 things should be discussed under financial projections:<\/p>\n<h4>\n\t\tMain revenue streams\n\t<\/h4>\n\t<p>For an escape room, key revenue streams would be:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Booking of rooms.<\/li>\n<li>Certain special requests by large groups (like food and beverage packages).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Other revenue streams can be:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sale of merchandise.<\/li>\n<li>Sale of online content.<\/li>\n<li>Advertisement of local businesses on your premises.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>\n\t\tMain spending heads\n\t<\/h4>\n\t<p>Typical spending heads for an escape room would be:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Payroll.<\/li>\n<li>Utilities.<\/li>\n<li>Rent.<\/li>\n<li>Insurance premium.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some other kinds of spending you may have to undertake are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Professional fees (like accountant\u2019s fees, lawyer\u2019s fees, etc) as applicable.<\/li>\n<li>Franchise fees, if you buy a franchise.<\/li>\n<li>Subscription fees (booking system, payments processor, etc)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>\n\t\tA specimen budget\n\t<\/h4>\n\t<p>Try to estimate what a typical budget will be like.<\/p>\n<h4>\n\t\tAn estimate of returns on investment (if possible)\n\t<\/h4>\n\t<p>If you can, include an assessment on what returns are possible for investors in your business, and a timeline of when they can start seeing those returns.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t5 features of an escape room business plan\n\t<\/h2>\n\t<ul>\n<li>Your escape room business plan must be a <strong>living document<\/strong>. In other words, you should keep changing it according to your actual experience of opening your escape room. We shall revisit this issue in a bit.<\/li>\n<li>It must have <strong>realistic financial projections<\/strong>. If you present unrealistic projections to a bank or a seasoned investor, your funding request will be turned down.<\/li>\n<li>Create <strong>multiple versions<\/strong> of the plan, each suitable for a different kind of audience. We will also revisit this issue in a bit.<\/li>\n<li>You must <strong>cite your sources<\/strong>. The reader must be able to quickly verify your claims (especially financial claims) for themselves.<\/li>\n<li>It must be <strong>presentable<\/strong>. A badly presented business plan will be difficult to read and understand, and will be immediately rejected.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\n\t\t1 page \u2018startup business plan\u2019 for escape rooms\n\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>The traditional business plan format (the one we have discussed) gives readers an <i>extensive<\/i> idea about your business proposal.<\/p>\n<p>However, there is a <strong>startup business plan<\/strong> format that focuses on only a few key business elements to give readers a bird\u2019s eye view of your proposed escape room business.<\/p>\n<p>These plans tend to be no more than <strong>1 page long<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p>DID YOU KNOW?<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>The idea for the leaner business plan came from the Business Model Canvas developed by Swiss entrepreneur Alexander Osterwalder.<\/p>\t\t\n<h3>\n\t\tWhen does the smaller startup business plan format prove useful?\n\t<\/h3>\n\t<ul>\n<li>When you\u2019re explaining or pitching your business to people who\u2019re not seasoned investors &#8211; for example, your <a href=\"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/blog\/how-to-start-escape-room-business\/#___Informal_financing__\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">friends and family<\/a>. You can keep a long form business for more seasoned investors, and a 1-page version for friends and family.<\/li>\n<li>If you know the business plan will change frequently, based on your research and assessments of the industry, that is, this is an easier way of creating a <strong>living document<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>If you feel that your escape room business is a relatively simple business proposition, and doesn\u2019t require a detailed plan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>\n\t\tThe various parts of a 1 page business plan for your escape room\n\t<\/h3>\n\t<p>Describe each of the following elements of your escape room, as briefly as possible:<\/p>\n<h4>\n\t\tValue proposition\n\t<\/h4>\n\t<p>Why will people book with you, and not with<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Another entertainment center nearby, say, a movie theater?<\/li>\n<li>Another nearby escape room?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In other words, what <strong>value<\/strong> do you provide that <strong>isn\u2019t available with a competitor<\/strong>?<\/p>\n<p>While you\u2019re writing the value proposition, remember that you\u2019re explaining what you offer to the consumer, not what you\u2019re offering to investors.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We aim to become California\u2019s largest escape room\u2019 is not a value proposition.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We will provide office workers with short escape games that will be a welcome change from spending lunch break at the bar\u2019 is a value proposition.<\/p>\n<h4>\n\t\tCustomer segments\/demographics\n\t<\/h4>\n\t<p>Who are your <a href=\"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/blog\/how-to-start-escape-room-business\/#___Your_target_market__\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">target customers<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>For escape rooms, companies looking to organize team building activities are a key customer segment.<\/p>\n<p>Other target segments could be:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>School and college groups<\/li>\n<li>Tourists<\/li>\n<li>People looking to organize private events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And so on.<\/p>\n<h4>\n\t\tKey activities\n\t<\/h4>\n\t<p>You <i>may<\/i> include a line explaining what an escape room is, if you think the reader won\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p>But the main thing to explain in <strong><i>key activities<\/i><\/strong> is what steps you\u2019ll take to fulfil your <strong>value proposition(s)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>For example, \u2018We will use portable games to cater to office parties who want to experience our games on their premises\u2019.<\/p>\n<h4>\n\t\tKey resources\n\t<\/h4>\n\t<p>Anything &#8211; tangible or intangible &#8211; that you can leverage to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Add <strong>value<\/strong> to your players, or<\/li>\n<li>Gain an <strong>advantage<\/strong> over your competitors<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Is a resource.<\/p>\n<p>For example, having more than one portable game is an asset, since you can cater simultaneously to more than one party that wants the escape game brought to their door.<\/p>\n<h4>\n\t\tKey partnerships\n\t<\/h4>\n\t<p>What businesses will you be working with to run your escape room?<\/p>\n<p>For example,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You can partner with nearby restaurants to offer food and beverage packages to large and corporate groups.<\/li>\n<li>If you decide to build an independent escape room brand, you\u2019ll need to network with suppliers and contractors.<\/li>\n<li>You may even partner with nearby escape rooms to send clients to each other.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>\n\t\tMarketing channels\n\t<\/h4>\n\t<p>Most escape rooms prioritize online marketing over offline.<\/p>\n<p>In online marketing, SEO, social media marketing, and paid ads are the most important channels of communication with potential players.<\/p>\n<p>You can also try to get featured in offline media, like newspapers and TV.<\/p>\n<p>Think about having a medium to long term action plan for optimizing outreach via marketing channels.<\/p>\n<h4>\n\t\tCosts summary\n\t<\/h4>\n\t<p>List out your main costs.<\/p>\n<p>Summarize a long-term plan, if any, to either gradually reduce costs, or make specific investments aimed at attracting more players.<\/p>\n<h4>\n\t\tRevenues summary\n\t<\/h4>\n\t<p>The biggest source of revenue for an escape room is, of course, bookings.<\/p>\n<p>Other potential sources of revenue are merchandise sales, online content sales, and advertising other (chiefly local) companies on your premises.<\/p>\n\t<p>Present your 1-page escape room business plan as a table spread out over a single page.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\tEscape room business plan resources\n\t<\/h2>\n\t<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.slideshare.net\/loricasale\/the-asylum-escape-business-plan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Here\u2019s<\/a> an example of an escape room business plan (traditional format).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sba.gov\/business-guide\/plan-your-business\/write-your-business-plan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Here\u2019s<\/a> an example of a 1 page business plan (not of an escape room). On the webpage, scroll down to the \u2018Lean startup format\u2019 section.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, <a href=\"https:\/\/blackboxbusinessplans.com\/?s=escape+room+business+plan&amp;download_category=&amp;submit=Search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this website<\/a> has some templates you can take a look at.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>All the best with preparing your escape room business plan!<\/p>\n<p>You can also think about opening a <a href=\"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/vr-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">virtual reality escape room<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Please leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below as we are constantly looking for ways to improve this article. Have a great day!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Setting out your business plan in an organized fashion will both help and inspire you to keep improving your escape room business proposition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[216],"tags":[217,221,338,218],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":216,"label":"Escape Room"}],"post_tag":[{"value":217,"label":"escape room"},{"value":221,"label":"escape room business"},{"value":338,"label":"escape room business plan"},{"value":218,"label":"escape room franchise"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/escape-room-business-plan-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Christal Ho","author_link":"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/author\/christal\/"},"comment_info":39,"category_info":[{"term_id":216,"name":"Escape Room","slug":"escape-room","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":216,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":216,"category_count":2,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Escape Room","category_nicename":"escape-room","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":217,"name":"escape room","slug":"escape-room","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":217,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":3,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":221,"name":"escape room business","slug":"escape-room-business","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":221,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":338,"name":"escape room business plan","slug":"escape-room-business-plan","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":338,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":218,"name":"escape room franchise","slug":"escape-room-franchise","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":218,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterthemission.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}