How to start a bowling business
There is no prerequisite for the assembly of a bowling alley. In theory any investor can invest in this field. It is important to have experience in the entertainment business, knowledge of bowling leagues and dealing with promotions and knowing how to manage people and money.
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The starting point for building a bowling alley is to make a good business plan, and first decide which market segment you want to follow, young people, upper-middle class, poor, etc.
Ideal location and structure for a bowling alley
To establish a good location for bowling, you must know what the entertainment looks like in the desired location.
It is also necessary that the site has a space for other entertainment such as games, Internet cafe, restaurant, parking; which may have a rental price that fits in the pocket of the entrepreneur. Another point to consider is visibility, the site must be visible.
The comfort of the clients is the first thing, then you need to think about the space, the temperature, the lighting and the decoration. The lights should be in a way that does not cause discomfort. The decoration must be adequate to the business proposal, which is the entertainment. The temperature must have the air conditioning, since the clients will be there for a minimum time of one hour.
The Initial Investment In A Bowling Alley
The initial capital investment will depend on the size of the bowling alley. In the case of small spaces, the value is about $ 50,000
Employees of a bowling alley
A qualified team to serve customers is the basic recipe for success in bowling. The number of employees will depend on the number of lanes of other services. But to get an idea, having such a company needs eight lanes per shift, an operator for the team, who must have a secondary education and training in bowling management systems, a technician to the lanes, two employees for cleaning, one for service and supply of shoes and one person to answer questions during the games.
Audience of a bowling business
Its target audience is children and adults, men and women of all ages. Young people are good fans of bowling as a fun activity and if you have tables for parties, they can be a good option as a communication point.
It is good to define the target audience, as it is the one that will indicate what to offer on the property. One analysis is to visit other bowling alleys and talk to the employees and owners. If you have not yet clearly defined the audience you can do an informal survey.
Suggestion: visit some bowling alleys on different days and times and use a small pencil and paper to classify the attendees, so you know for sure the user profile of this type of entertainment service. As an additional benefit, the entrepreneur will still have to make an observation and analysis of the competitors’ bowling alleys.
Requirements to start a bowling alley
One of the requirements of this business is to acquire the proper permits and the trade register for the business.
In addition, a business name should be created for the premises that is attractive and commercial, so that customers can easily mention the business and remember it. Also, for the business registration procedures, a specialist lawyer can be hired to help establish the business correctly.
You must build or acquire a large physical space with its own characteristics so you must have adequate capital to establish the business, in addition to having the tools that make up the bowling alley, such as balls with different weights, special shoes for the care of the wood of the tracks and other elements that set this particular business.
Advantages of having a bowling alley
Once the business is established, you can earn money without doing anything else than renting the space and borrowing the special shoes, so it’s a way to get tickets easily, every hour you rent the game space you will be earning money.
The space can be borrowed to sell consumable items, which represents an extra profit, such as the sale of beer and other alcoholic beverages, soft drinks or even prepared food. There are also bowling alleys that introduce other games, such as slot machines, pinball machines, among others, which help to perceive even more profits.
Tips to start with a bowling
Publicize the business, hiring radio spots, advertising strategies to attract customers, using social networks and other forms that help fill the business with interested users. You can also create a bowling league and offer prizes to the winner, to stimulate competition and excitement among users, in
encouraging customers to always come back.
To use all the physical space, offering areas of drinks of all kinds, table games and machines, so that they can obtain profits from every centimeter of the space, being able equally, to establish vending machines, or dispensers of prizes for children, because every entrance counts.
Problems that can arise
Establishing this business model can be a challenge, because you must have enough capital to complete the construction and organization of it, otherwise you can have many problems in paying for services and other expenses that if you do not have the right budget and organization can lead to losses and the closure of the business.
In the beginning, like any business, you can have many problems getting enough clients, so you must be patient and persistent the first year, and if the place is not kept active with advertising strategies, it can easily lose customers or attract so little that is not sustainable over time.
Success stories
In Bowling Sur, which is a successful company in this sector, you can enjoy billiard rooms, electronic games and bowling in one of the best bowling alleys in Madrid.
It was opened in 1989, and its success is such that, it feels like coming for a weekend, because it is usually full of people, due to the fact that it is considered one of the best. Besides, the good thing is that if you arrive by car you can park quietly, because it has a large parking lot.