Childcare Franchise v. Kids’ Entertainment Franchise

You love working with kids. You love their energy and their imaginations. Perhaps you have kids of your own — or you claim the title of favorite aunt or uncle.

You are aware of the monthly costs of daycare that parents spend to invest in their children and have pondered the idea of owning your own childcare or daycare franchise.

Would that be a profitable business venture compared to a kids’ entertainment franchise? Let’s take a look.

The childcare industry at a glance

There are approximately 856,000 daycare operators in the U.S. alone, according to Statista — making up the $53 billion childcare industry, which includes daycare franchises, at-home daycare centers and independent out-of-home daycare centers.

As more families rely on dual incomes from both parents, the need for daycare centers has steadily increased over the years as an essential service to communities across the country.

To begin a daycare franchise, the costs can run from $90,000 to $4 million. On average, daycare centers report a profit margin of approximately 6.5%.

The perks and benefits of owning a childcare franchise

By opening a childcare franchise, you can benefit from the national reputation and brand recognition of a school as a whole, which will, in turn, instill a higher level of trust from prospective families (especially those who may be new to the area and unfamiliar with the local daycare scene).

The support and business operations teams from a daycare franchise can pave the way for receiving accreditations from nationally recognized organizations, such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC).

In addition, a daycare franchise can also benefit from its corporate marketing and training teams, which can save new franchise owners time and headaches when it comes to attracting customers and hiring qualified staff who are taught to follow a certain set of standards and protocols.

An alternative: A kids’ entertainment franchise

Kids’ entertainment franchises represent another way to feed off the energy and excitement that come with providing a service to children and their families. They can range anywhere from a miniature golf course to a go-kart track to a multi-faceted family entertainment center/trampoline park, such as Launch Entertainment.

Like childcare centers, most entertainment franchises cater to families with young children. One of the big differences of a Launch franchise, for instance, is that whereas a majority of childcare centers provide service primarily for younger children from newborns through pre-kindergarten (ages 4-5), kids’ entertainment franchises focus on a larger demographic span of children.

According to the industry publication Blooloop.com, the average age of a jumper at a trampoline park is 9 years old. The largest age range of jumpers is between 6-10 (35% of all jumpers), followed by 11-15 (26%).

Given their large size — trampoline parks in the U.S. range from 25,000 to 35,000 square feet, according to the International Association of Trampoline Parks — these facilities can hold an expansive number of people at one time, creating a much larger customer footprint than a childcare center can.

Given the larger scope of a kids’ entertainment franchise, it may not come as a surprise that trampoline park owners alone can enjoy a profit margin of up to 40%. Furthermore, the overall startup costs for a trampoline park and an upper-end childcare franchise are comparable.

In addition, as an owner of a kids’ entertainment franchise you and your staff can focus on the fun parts of providing a service for kids — and not the ones that are less fun, like disciplining unruly children or changing dirty diapers.

Take the next step with Launch

Becoming a franchise owner of a nationally recognized brand such as Launch Entertainment allows you to enjoy instant name recognition and comprehensive support and training through the entire process of building a family entertainment center in your own city or town. Our best-in-class franchise team assists with site selection and the build-out process. Launch has also developed a series of marketing programs to attract customers and controls for managing labor to help franchisees optimize their business’s potential. Franchisees enjoy ongoing support after their doors open to the public, with experts on our team who are available to assist owners at every step.

In addition to being provided with a series of marketing programs designed to drive revenue, you will be given all of the resources needed to take part in our national STERILE cleanliness certification program, which ensures the industry’s highest sanitations are met.

Can you start Dave & Busters Franchise?

A family entertainment center is a fun community destination with loyal customers of all ages who return time and again to enjoy a day or an evening with family and friends. With ample opportunity for recurring business and a variety of high-profit revenue streams, it’s no wonder entrepreneurs are interested in joining the growing family entertainment industry.

Thorough research will reveal that franchising helps optimize business potential in the family entertainment space. The next task is to find the best brand partner.

Dave and Buster’s is one of the more widely known brands in family entertainment, and you may be curious about a Dave and Buster’s franchise cost and whether you can start one in your community. The answer is simple: You can’t. There is no such thing as a Dave and Buster’s franchise in the U.S.

Franchising is Your Best Bet, but Dave and Buster’s Won’t Bet on You

Family entertainment centers are massive, and the list of games, activities, and attractions a business owner can include is endless. What attractions will keep families coming back week after week? What games are kids playing these days? What food and beverage services will please adults and kids alike? A successful franchise with a proven business model will provide the playbook, eliminating any guesswork and allowing a new business to hit the ground running from the moment the ribbon is cut at the grand opening.

For prospective business owners in the United States, Dave and Buster’s is not an option. While 72% of Dave and Buster’s business structure comprises franchises, the Dallas-based company only franchises locations internationally. According to Franchise.com, the company owns and operates its locations in the U.S.

There’s a Better Choice in Family Entertainment

While the news about Dave and Buster’s may be surprising to some, it’s not a reason to give up on the goal of bringing family entertainment to your community. Launch Entertainment is a bigger and better option that offers an innovative approach to family entertainment that is unrivaled, and we are looking for partners to help us expand our nationwide footprint.

Launch Entertainment is a bigger and better option that offers an innovative approach to family entertainment that is unrivaled, and we are looking for partners to help us expand our nationwide footprint.

What Makes Launch the Best Family Entertainment Franchise?

Unlike Dave and Buster’s, which is advertised as a sports bar, restaurant, and arcade, Launch offers far more than beer, televised sports, and arcade games.Launchis an innovative leader in the growing family entertainment industry that is focused on getting the whole family on their feet for a great time. With new and exciting attractions introduced regularly, Launch is focused on providing a one-of-a-kind space for families and friends to make awesome lasting memories.

Launch is the Bigger and Better Alternative

Launch Entertainment Centers are up to 40,000squarefeet in size and offer a differentiated family entertainment center experience. Ourwide variety of attractions and amenities include XP Arena, ninja courses, laser tag, bowling, trampolines, premium food and beverage service, and more.

Launch is for All Ages, Not Just Kids

Entrepreneurs recognize that family entertainment centers that only cater to kids are limiting their customer base. Broad appeal is important for the bottom line. Build something designed with only kids in mind, and parents will be bored and anxious to leave after an hour.

Build something that’s as fun for adults as it is for kids, the whole family will stay for hours and continue coming back for more.

Dave and Buster’s has enjoyed widespread success thanks to its focus on attracting people of all ages, and Launch recognizes that same need to offer diverse activities and services. Launch is as fun for a family night out, children’s birthday parties, and youth groups as it is for adult date nights and thrilling work retreats.

Launch Offers Premium Food and Beverage Service

A business that wants to enjoy the broad appeal and keep customers inside for hours will need to offer great food and beverages that keep the party going. First-generation family entertainment centers typically offered limited food and beverage service. A customer might be able to get bottled water or soda and a bag of chips or a candy bar at a small concession stand.

People come together around food and drink. Launch’s founders recognized early on that customers want quality meals to enjoy in between activities, and they created a restaurant concept within the entertainment centers called Krave& Bar Hops to fulfill the demand.

Launch Isn’t Afraid to Evolve

Launch got its start as a trampoline park in 2012, after a rainy day on a family vacation to Disney World. Rather than running around in ponchos at the theme park, Launch founders Rob and Erin Arnold decided to find indoor fun for their kids. Their Google search ultimately led them to visit a trampoline park in Orlando.

While the family had a good time jumping around, Rob and Erin felt they could improve upon the business model of the first-generation trampoline parks of the early 2000s, and so they created Launch. What started as a simple but differentiated trampoline park has evolved into a massive indoor family entertainment center experience for all ages.

Rob, Erin, and the rest of the team at Launch embrace new technology and changing consumer preferences. Launch Entertainment continues to evolve to keep up with changing trends and keep customers coming back to discover new activities.

Launch Owners Enjoy Best-in-Class Franchise Support & Training

Businessmen and women who become Launch owners are partnering with a family entertainment franchise that maintains a positive, forward-thinking culture and embraces the unique abilities and experiences of every member of its franchise family.

Our best-in-class franchise team assists with site selection and the build-out process. Launch has also developed a series of marketing programs to attract customers and controls for managing labor to help franchisees optimize their business’s potential. Franchisees enjoy ongoing support after their doors open to the public, with experts on our team who are available to assist owners at every step.

Join the LeadingFranchise in the Growing Family Entertainment Industry

Family entertainment is a profitable industry with a promising outlook as it continues to expand globally. A recent analysis of the family entertainment centers market found the industry is expected to grow to $40 billion by 2025 at a compound annual growth rate of more than 10%. It’s no wonder investors are eager to add indoor family entertainment to their portfolios.

Some companies like Dave and Buster’s believe they need to own and operate their locations to maintain brand consistency and standards, and therefore there’s no Dave and Buster’s franchise opportunity in the United States. On the other hand, we’re confident that Launch’sproven business model and well-developed systems can lead to mutual success. We welcome qualified entrepreneurs into our franchise family.

Launch Entertainment, which has been ranked every year since 2018 on Entrepreneur’s prestigious Franchise500list of top franchise opportunities, has dozens of locations across multiple states and is poised to expand quickly nationwide.

Contact Launch today to find out why our family entertainment center is exactly what your community and your business portfolio need.