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Quest rooms are a rapidly developing entertainment industry. People of any return want to "tickle" their nerves, get new impressions and just have fun in the company. And for a business idea, creating a quest room is a good source of income. After all, the demand is high and at the same time the initial investments for the purchase of inventory and promotion are minimal.
The article gradually builds a detailed business plan for a quest room with calculations.
Important: this business plan - similar to other projects from the Business Plans catalog - was developed on the basis of average costs and income from open sources. Numbers may vary for your project! Make individual calculations based on the current exchange rate and the situation on the industry market in your city.
Project Summary
A business plan has been drawn up for a company that organizes quests in reality - intellectual role-playing games in special rooms. For each room, a game scenario and thematic equipment is developed, which includes various secrets, tasks, tips and special effects.
The task of the players (clients) is to get out of the room in a limited time. Along the way, players collaborate to solve puzzles, find hidden clues, use items, and technical devices rooms. In some games, according to the scenario, the players play a fictional role.
Objective of the project– creation of a small business for 4 quest rooms. The main income of the enterprise is payment for the passage of rooms. Number of participants - 2-6 people. Entrance price - 2,000 rubles for a company of 2-6 people. The average time to pass the room is 75 minutes.
Schedule dictated by the entertainment nature of the services, peak loads - from 18:00 until closing. Usually by this time all locations are booked.
Approximate schedule for registration for quests:
Monday 11:00 - 21:00 → 10 h
Tuesday 11:00 - 21:00 → 10 h
Wednesday 11:00 - 21:00 → 10 h
Thursday 11:00 - 21:00 → 10 h
Friday 11:00 - 22:00 → 11 h
Saturday 10:00 - 23:00 → 13h
Sunday 10:00 - 23:00 → 13:00
Number of working hours per week: 77, per month: 308. Time for lunch break is “floating”, when the load on quests is minimal.
The entertainment industry involves work in the "7 days a week" mode, that is, 7 days a week and even on holidays. Friday to Sunday are the busiest days. For weekdays, it is reasonable to set discounts for visiting the quest during hours when clients usually do not come.
Main Audience- young people from 18 to 40 years old.
Any significant date can be a reason to visit: national holidays, birthdays, graduations, family walks, romantic dates, just looking for entertainment for the weekend.
It is worth considering an audience with an income above the average, because, if we compare the average checks in the entertainment services market, entertainment is not cheap (from 1,500 rubles).
A separate type of customers - corporate customers. These are the people who come to relax with work colleagues. Corporate parties in 9 out of 10 cases, they include visiting escape rooms for the sake of a collective game (both HR officers and business leaders insist on this). People come in offices, departments, just friendly companies - for any reason and without it. This is a very appreciative audience that provides a significant share of income with little to no promotion costs. A far-sighted step at the start is to announce yourself and offer a discount to everyone possible companies in the town.
Market analysis
Modern quest rooms are extremely popular both in Russia and in other countries of the world. According to Wikipedia, the first quests appeared in 2007 in parallel in Europe and Asia. Abroad they are called "escape rooms" (eng. Real-life room escape). The first such quests in Russia appeared in 2018 in Yekaterinburg, today similar projects are presented in all major cities of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
According to LiveQuests (an independent escape room aggregator), at the beginning of 2018, over 1,000 escape rooms were open in Russia. According to the section Quests in Moscow, 116 rooms are registered in the capital. In St. Petersburg - 67. Check the website for information on your city.
In large cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg, such a business is ubiquitous, which means the organizer of a new business will face fierce competition and significant start-up costs. However, there is also an established demand, which will simplify the task of attracting customers and a speedy payback.
It is optimal to open a project in a city with a population of 300,000 or more. The larger the city, the more solvent the population, the higher the demand for entertainment services. Business activity, the number of "young companies" in the city play a role, because quest rooms are favorite places for holding corporate parties.
The first step in creating your business plan is to study your competitors. The search for quest rooms in the city can be done through Yandex, all companies (and their rooms) are represented on the Internet, because. it is the main sales channel.
Competitors are divided into 2 types:
- Network franchise companies famous brand . An example is "Claustrophobia". Such companies have a number of advantages, such as brand awareness, a proven sales model, in-house technical developments, franchisee training, well-established sales channels, tools for attracting and retaining customers. However, this does not guarantee that the local franchise owner will properly use all this wealth. Competition is possible - a small company is mobile in terms of strategy, can focus on nuances and make decisions faster than a large, centralized network.
- Local organizations that independently opened a project in the city. Their resources, investments, knowledge and experience are inferior to network companies. The number of rooms does not exceed 2-4. Competing with local companies will not cause difficulties, because. their offerings, budget, and sales channels are severely limited.
We recommend that you personally get to know each local competitor organization, exchange contacts, offer mutual advertising or other way of cooperation. The demand for quest rooms significantly exceeds the supply, so it is beneficial for both parties to cooperate.
Example: the client has completed all the quests in one company, he is ready to pay for new rooms, but there are none. Then the administrator can recommend a competitor. Depending on the agreements, the competitor pays a fee for each recommendation or similarly recommends you.
In Russia, there is still an increase in demand for escape rooms, over the 6 years of the existence of the event business, given the years of crisis, the trend has not lost its relevance, as evidenced by the data of new escape rooms from open sources by franchisees.
Premises for rent
When looking for a location, it is important to be guided by the high traffic of potential customers who may be interested in quests.
When choosing a room, it is reasonable to focus on local shopping centers, which are located even outside the city, main criterion- the number of potential customers who come for shopping and in search of entertainment.
A creative space in the city, where various exhibitions and youth events are held, can become a rental room for quests. Quite often, quests organically fit into the atmosphere of the unique offers of such spaces.
The best option is a local shopping center in a residential area of the city with high traffic, where the rental price will not be excessively high. It is a dubious idea to place quests in large chain shopping centers (MEGA, etc.), high rent will most likely make the project unprofitable.
After you have decided on the room where the quests will take place, we solve the issue with locations. The best option is 2-4 rooms for a new project in a resource-poor environment. Footage - from 100 m2, excluding a bathroom and a room where guests will be met and briefed.
In this business plan, we take as an example the placement of quest rooms in a local shopping center of a millionaire city (with a population of over a million people) with an area of 120 m2. The rental fee for the premises is 80,000 rubles.
Staff
The project will require 1 person, who is also an administrator, instructor and operator of game rooms. For the first few months, this role is best left to the founder of the company, which will give an understanding of the “inner kitchen”.
It is important to properly schedule the passage of quests:
Short briefing - 5-10 min.
The time of the game itself is 60 minutes.
Preparing the room for new players - 5-10 min.
Session duration - up to 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Purchase of equipment
The main production work is the development of scenarios and the preparation of play areas. In such projects, the theme and interestingness of the plot play an important role. A common mistake new entrepreneurs make is independent creation games without regard to competitors and the involvement of a screenwriter. In 80% of cases, with this approach, the game has low demand.
Be sure to analyze the games of major online brands, involve screenwriters and writers to create a story. As for the latter, we recommend looking for science fiction writers who have at least a few published paper books in the EKSMO publishing house (the largest publishing house in Russia).
| Name | Price | ||
| game rooms | |||
| Game items (interior) | 20 000 | ||
| Furniture | 40 000 | ||
| CCTV | 20 000 | ||
| Voice communication with the operator | 15 000 | ||
| Location control system for the operator | 20 000 | ||
| special effects | 25 000 | ||
| Customer Service Area | |||
| Wardrobe | 7 000 | ||
| Sofa | 17 000 | ||
| Telephone | 12 000 | ||
| A computer | 25 000 | ||
| Table | 13 000 | ||
| Chairs | 8 000 | ||
| Expenses 222,000 | |||
To finish the locations, you need to assemble a team that will include an electrical engineer, a specialist in sound, video surveillance, an inventory purchaser, a fit-out and redevelopment master. It can be only 2-3 people who will work under the guidance of a screenwriter for a month.
Legal registration, taxes, accounting
For work, legal registration of the activity is required. The choice is to register a company (LLC - a limited liability company) or an individual entrepreneur (IP) represented by the founder of the project. The IP option is cheaper, faster and easier to design, however, IP is individual, and physical persons are liable with their property.
When registering an individual entrepreneur, you will need to indicate OKVED (all-Russian classifier of types economic activity) - numerical code of the enterprise activity. Such codes are created for each activity. Suitable OKVEDs for quests:
- “Creative activities, activities in the field of art and organization of entertainment”
- "Activities of multi-purpose centers and similar institutions with a predominance of cultural services"
- "Activities in the field of sports, recreation and entertainment"
- "Activities in the field of recreation and entertainment"
Also, when registering, you must choose a taxation system. For individual entrepreneurs with entertainment services, the so-called simplified taxation system - USN is suitable. There are 2 formats to choose from: “Income minus expenses” (more for industries, catering, goods) and simply “Income” - a fixed 6% tax on all income. The latest format for business with minimal costs is the best choice.
After registering a company, it is important to open an account for legal entity in one of the city's banks. For example, in Sberbank. There is a fee to open and maintain an account. The account is required when concluding a lease agreement for premises, accepting payment from cards, as well as any settlements with other companies. If officially: all funds must pass through a bank account.
To accept cash Money a cash register (KKM) is required. We recommend that you immediately connect the possibility of cashless payments through credit and debit cards to your bank account.
Take care of connecting payment systems on the site in advance. To do this, you will need to conclude an agreement with one of the service companies (for example, Robokassa, Payanyway, Assist) and implement them technical solutions to receive payments. For its services, the service will take a small percentage of the commission from each transaction, the rest of the funds will be credited to your bank account.
When renting premises for gaming locations, a contract will also be required. In 99% of cases, payment by bank transfer, i.e. through the transfer of funds from the current account. Payment for electricity, heating and other fees - separately.
This business format does not require a license. Game scenarios, genre and theme of games do not need to be approved. The only thing is that the activities of the organization should not violate the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Marketing Plan
The main work of any entertainment enterprises is based on finding the best sales channels. For different niches- there are different channels. For a quest project, advertising on the Internet works perfectly. These include (in order of importance):
Creation and promotion of the site. It should be a separate site with which customers can find you on the Internet.
Creation and development of the Vkontakte community. In the community, it is necessary to publish photos of locations and guests of quests, inform about news and promotions, organize contests, answer questions, make reservations through personal messages. The VK group is a live communication of the company with customers and immense opportunities for attracting a new audience.
Creation and development of an account on Instagram. Similar to Vkontakte, this social network is now the second most effective in terms of advertising opportunities.
Coupon and discount services. This is the most effective sales and brand awareness channel. However, the conditions of the services are such that you will have to work with a very small margin - on the verge of profitability. For new projects, it makes sense to increase awareness and launch word of mouth. More: Free advertising on the Internet on coupon and discount sites.
Adding to known quest catalogs. Large directories invest significant funds and knowledge in attracting customers, so the opportunity to be present on their site is a good idea. You will have to pay for adding to directories, but the costs pay off.
"Traditional Advertising". City media, radio, street banners, flyers, participation in events - all this can give a result. However, it is necessary to test each advertising channel, to identify profitable promotion tools. Still, as practice shows, most customers are on the Internet.
Calculation of projected income
- The duration of the quest is 1 hour 15 minutes.
- Number of quests 4 pcs.
- Working hours per month 308 h.
- The cost of the quest is 4,000 rubles.
- Average occupancy 40%
308 working hours per month = 18,480 min. Time of one session - 75 min.
Game sessions per month: 18 480/75 = 246.
Calculation of the number of sessions per 4 locations per month: 246 × 4 = 984 sessions at full load.
The average cost of a game session is 2,000 rubles.
Revenue per month with a full load of 4 locations will be: 984 × 2,000 = 1,968,000 rubles - The average load of locations is 30%. 1,968,000 × 0.30 = 590,400 rubles - monthly revenue with an average load of 4 locations.
Monthly income will be ≈ 590,400 rubles.
Start-up costs and payback
The amount of initial investment is:
- Registration persons (IP) - 800 rub.
- Opening a bank account - 2 000 rub.
- Location repair — 300 000 rub.
- Location development — RUB 222,000
- Scenario - 100 000 rub.
- Premises rent — 80 000 rub.
- Website development - 100 000 rub.
- Advertising for the launch of the project - 50 000 rub.
Initial investment 854,800 rubles.
When planning expenses, it is important to take into account the periodic updating of scenarios and locations. This is project specific. Over time, the demand for any quest decreases, so it is necessary to update the assortment every 6-12 months. Take into account the costs of re-equipment of locations - monthly allocate 100,000 rubles from the proceeds. for content updates in the future.
Consider the monthly expenses when opening a quest room:
- Room rent + utility bills 90 000 rub.;
- Staff salaries - 70 000 rub.;
- Tax and social contributions — 21 000 rub.;
- Location updates and scenario - 20 000 rub.;
- Advertising and promotion - 20 000 rub.;
Total: 221,000 rubles.
Profit before taxes: 590,400 - 221,000 = 369,400 rubles.
Calculation of taxes under the simplified taxation system (STS) 6%: 369,400 × 0.06 = 22,164 rubles.
Net profit after taxes: 369,400 - 22,164 \u003d 347,236 rubles.
Project profitability: 347,236/590,400 = 0.59%
Return on initial investment: 854,800/347,236 = 2.4 months with stable average demand.
SWOT analysis
The paramount task of an entrepreneur who creates new business based on the services of quest rooms, is a SWOT analysis that determines the external internal factors of the enterprise. The founder of the company cannot influence external factors, but their analysis will help to draw up a competent strategy: somewhere to minimize risks, and somewhere even to turn it into a benefit. To external factors relate:
Potential Features:
Low startup costs, low entry threshold (≈ 900,000 rubles).
High profitability, quick payback of business - 3-4 months.
Insignificant competition in cities with a population of up to 1 million people.
Low competition due to the limited number of offers.
Unsatisfied demand, a limited number of offers in the industry market. Clients visit the rooms once, then turn to other companies.
Wide space for creative work screenwriters and designers great opportunities for experiments in the entertainment industry
Opportunity for exponential growth in demand through the introduction of innovative ideas (example: playing in the absence of light).
Risks and threats:
Falling demand for specific rooms. This happens when most of the clients have already completed the game. Once in half a year or a year, it is necessary to re-equip the "used" premises: develop a new scenario, organize redevelopment, change the surroundings and launch new advertising campaigns.
Difficulty in predicting the demand for the theme of games in the absence of experience. To minimize risks at the start, we recommend borrowing successful ideas from major market players in Moscow and St. Petersburg, after making sure that there are no analogues in your city.
The dependence of demand on many factors. They must be taken into account: seasonality, weather, public holidays, weekends and weekdays, start and end of training sessions, etc.
Reducing the solvency (purchasing power) of the population due to the crisis situation in the country - rising prices, the value of the ruble. A clear impact on demand in any entertainment and leisure industry. The exception is large cities with a population of more than 1 million people.
Safety during the passage of quests. The organizer is obliged to take care of the elimination of risks to the health and life of customers when participating in the game ( Fire safety, protection against damage electric shock, hazardous areas, etc.). All responsibility, including financial and criminal, lies with the organizer.
Periodic repair of premises due to wear and tear. Games involve the interaction of players with the room and its objects, there are frequent cases when the client breaks any finishing elements, game equipment. It is prudent to include periodic repairs in the costs.
Internal factors directly depend on the business qualities of the founder and well-organized processes within the organization. These are the advantages of your particular offer against competitors in the city. Internal factors include:
Strengths:
A unique offer on the market, no analogues in the city.
Using the most popular sales channels on the Internet: organic promotion in search engines, contextual and targeted advertising, announcements on social networks, use of discount services, etc.
Competent brand positioning, which includes a well-thought-out policy of interaction with customers, brand design, pricing.
High level of services, expert assessment game scenarios and locations, mandatory split testing.
The exclusivity of the offer, for example, in pricing policy and / or special conditions for companies from 4 people.
Potential weaknesses:
Lack of practical experience in the creation and development of similar projects.
Difficulties in finishing the first premises, purchasing game equipment, developing scenarios, training staff, etc.
Lack of knowledge about their own audience, difficulties in identifying cost-effective sales channels.
Lack of knowledge about the "pitfalls", ignorance of the nuances of doing business in this niche. Risks and threats, as you know, lie in the details.
SWOT-analysis will help to determine the main tasks and methods for translating them into reality. The main tasks of the project:
- Search for a convenient location for a premise that meets 3 criteria: to be located within the city, to have high public traffic and low cost of rent. Perfect option- a shopping center or an independent object, located within walking distance from the main streets.
- Search optimal premises for gaming locations. Minimum requirements: footage from 100 m2 (excluding reception) and the possibility of redevelopment.
- Development of scenarios (for 2-4 locations), based on the possibilities of the rented premises. It is reasonable to involve the screenwriter on a paid basis.
- Holding finishing works, electrical and location design tasks.
- Search and purchase of game props, according to the requirements of the scenario.
- Split testing games on different groups audience, further development.
It is important to be especially scrupulous in solving problems, because the level of demand will directly depend on the original plots of the quest, the convenience of the location, unique features locations and the rest of the list.
Risks
The main risks in entertainment projects are a decrease or lack of demand. Main risks:
- No demand for a specific quest. A case where the game developer misinterprets the interests of the audience. As a result, the room is left without attention from the audience, customers do not book games. The reasons can be very different: a problem with the script, genre, poor technical performance, lack of original ideas for a quest room, special effects, a weak team component, etc. To avoid risk, always analyze competitors and their offers, and in work - this is important - connect real screenwriters and writers..
- Poor quality of the room. Today, customers are spoiled for quality locations of large network companies who invest heavily in development. Therefore, new companies are obliged to do at least not worse. Customers will definitely compare and talk about new game acquaintances - it depends on the quality of the location whether it will be a recommendation or bad reviews. The quality and "coolness" of games is what attracts customers.
- Negative reviews. Word of mouth is extremely relevant for this type of activity, reviews of games - almost always I am a reason to visit. This also applies to online reviews. However, the opposite is also true - negative customer experiences immediately affect the level of demand.
Quest rooms - promising direction entertainment in large cities, which is characterized by a quick payback. Unlike other areas of business, competition plays into your hands in this area - visiting one quest room in the city, customers will look for new sources of thrill.
What is a quest room
Quest rooms as a direction of indoor entertainment came to us from abroad. In the 2000s, beloved by many computer games, quests, in which you need to complete certain tasks, went offline and quickly conquered the entertainment market. In Russia, the first quest rooms appeared in 2012, and since then their number has grown to almost a thousand. Approximately one third of them are in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Quest rooms are in most major cities countries. There is even an entire Guild of Quests.
Jailbreak is one of the popular plots of quest rooms.
The quest is usually designed for one hour, during which its participants will solve riddles, look for objects, move around the rooms using logic, erudition and intuition. Remember Fort Boyard - the principle of operation is the same, but, of course, the possibilities are limited indoors, and it is unlikely that you have a chance to get hold of a couple of tigers.
Quests come in a variety of subjects. Thrillers, horror (horror) and detective stories are popular among adults, while quests in the format of riddles and rebuses are suitable for children. Players are transported to an alternate reality for an hour, so it's important to create the right atmosphere.
Video: interview with the owners of Keyhole quest room
The target audience
The main consumers of the service are men and women aged 20 to 35 with an average and above average income who prefer active recreation. Students usually go to the cheapest quests, while the rest are willing to pay more, for them the main thing is intrigue. The average price is 1-2 thousand rubles per person for one session. According to experts, up to 60% of the population of a million-plus city are potential visitors to escape rooms.
Getting out of the room is the best idea for youth quests
Quests may also be of interest to corporate clients who use this pastime for team building. Having gained a certain reputation, you can conduct away quests - for example, for weddings, birthdays, corporate parties.
Children's quest rooms
Interesting quests can be held for children (from 6 years old) with their parents. Of course, they do not need a horror or a thriller, but riddles and puzzles will go with a bang. For example, you can think of interesting story about Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, the Addams family, Gravity Falls characters or characters folk tales. Promoted escape rooms have stories for teenagers aged 10-14. Usually these are slightly simplified adult scenarios.
Choose popular characters for the children's quest
How to open a quest room
Opening your own quest room is the same as opening other types of business. Register, choose a taxation system, get the necessary approvals.
Business registration
You can open a business in any form - it is enough to become individual entrepreneur, if you organize a quest room alone, or create an LLC when you start a business with friends or partners. Open a bank account and open a cash register.
There is no separate economic classification code for quest rooms, so use the OKVED code "Other activities for the organization of recreation and entertainment, not included in other groups."
Tax scheme
A simplified taxation system (STS) or a patent is suitable. The patent is convenient because you pay a fixed amount once a year, which does not depend on your income and profit. However, this system is not available in all regions of Russia. With the simplified tax system, you can pay either 6% of profits or 15% of income. It is recommended to choose the second option, since the quest room is considered a highly profitable business.
Before choosing a taxation system, it is useful to study the Tax Code of the Russian Federation once again in order to understand what the planned value of the tax burden is
Business plan for opening a quest room
You will need a business plan to understand what income and expenses are coming. It is necessary if you expect to receive a loan from a bank or a subsidy from the state.
Permissions
Opening a quest room does not require licensing. It is enough to get approval from firefighters and Rospotrebnadzor for the compliance of the room with general fire and sanitary standards.
Interestingly, in Germany, the opening of a quest room requires coordination with the local community.
A contract is usually concluded with each client of the quest room. There are also safety briefings. If there is no contract, relations with the client are regulated by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which states that the contractor is responsible for the safety of clients when special equipment and tools are used.
Room selection
It is promising to open a quest room in a large city with a population of 500,000 or more. There you will have enough potential customers to ensure constant demand.
The room for the quest should be located in good transport accessibility - in the city center or in a residential area with high traffic. It is advisable to stay away from other entertainment venues. A good option- rent in a shopping center. Consider the possibility of scaling the business: if it is successful, you will certainly want to open new rooms, so there should be a prospect of expanding. But in general, the room can even be located in the basement.
Basement room for a quest room (the theme is a mental hospital)
The minimum room area for the quest is 20 square meters, but on average about 100 "squares" are required. Large quest centers occupy 250 square meters or more.
Room equipment
It should be borne in mind that the repair of the premises and its equipment is the main expense item of this business. It may take up to one year to refurbish, during which you will also have to pay rent if you do not have your own premises. Repairs and equipment start from 100 thousand rubles. and reach up to 2 million rubles.
In addition, even a successful quest room becomes obsolete over time. According to experts, one quest "lives" 3-4 months. Therefore, from time to time you will have to update the design of the room, purchase new decorations, props.
Quest for the computer game Half Life
In addition to the props necessary for direct participation in quests, take care of good lighting and sound equipment. In addition, CCTV cameras must be installed in all rooms, and your employee must always be in front of the monitor. So you protect yourself from theft and can intervene in case of an unforeseen situation.
The props should be as safe as possible for the quest participants, as people are placed in stressful situation. And how a person will behave in such an environment is difficult to predict. It is clear that there should be no edged weapons and even potentially traumatic items.
Don't overdo it with shocking escape room props
Recruitment
At the initial stage, you will need the services of builders who will renovate the premises, decorators, technicians responsible for lighting and sound equipment.
The key component of each quest is the script. The success of your venture directly depends on how interesting and exciting it will be. You can order a one-time script writing (the price starts from 1 thousand rubles and can reach up to 20 thousand rubles) from freelancers. The script is usually based on some kind of mystery or riddle. The solution should be logical and non-banal. Before you run your own script, you need to carefully roll it back. To do this, you can use friends or a focus group recruited via the Internet. If you are going to work on a franchise, you will be provided with a script.
Art quest "Mysterion" created with impressive props
To inform the masses about the appearance of a quest room, you need a marketer who organizes competent promotion on the Internet and offline.
With the staff to maintain the quest room, everything is simple - just hire one person who will act as an administrator: meet visitors, accept payments, conduct briefings, monitor video cameras so that everything is in order. It is desirable that such a "Keeper of the Keys" had experience in the field of entertainment. However, this function can be performed independently.
Actors may be required depending on the quest. Since special skills are usually not required, students are also suitable. They can be paid by the hour.
To create the right atmosphere, the actors can look quite intimidating (quest "Whisper 2: Exile")
Marketing strategy
Given the characteristics of the target audience, the main emphasis should be placed on promotion on the Internet:
You can support promotion with offline methods: print business cards and flyers and distribute them in places with a large flow of people, place ads on a billboard or a city light near your room, and so on.
To popularize your quest room, come up with contests, sweepstakes, make certain days of the month free - there are a lot of options.
Word of mouth plays an important role in the promotion of quest rooms. If you really interesting quest, customers will surely share their impressions with their friends, colleagues and acquaintances, who may become interested and visit your quest room.
Build an adventure quest to make the client feel like Indiana Jones
Franchise or own script
There are over 60 quest room franchises on the Russian market (data for 2017). Many choose a franchise as more reliable option business start. Of course, this approach has its advantages: you can operate under a promoted brand, and most importantly, you get a ready-made script. The franchisor will help equip the premises, develop a plan for the room, train the actors, and provide general advertising promotion. Of the minuses - a rather large entry fee and the need to pay royalties (from 10% of the turnover), as well as the restrictions of the parent company.
The most famous quest rooms in Russia are Claustrophobia, Urban Legends, RabbitHole, RealQuest, Questime, Room, Exit the Room.
Quest room "Claustrophobia" - a popular Russian franchise
It should be borne in mind that popular franchises always enthusiastically paint the merits of such a business and promise a very quick payback - in the first 1-4 months. This should be taken with a pinch of salt, as the franchisor's goal is to sell the franchise and cash in on the entry fee. In practice, it often happens that quest rooms are closed without even recouping the initial costs. Therefore, if you are the first franchisee in your city, experts advise to achieve more favorable conditions by franchise.
2-8 people can participate in the quest
Market analysis
Quest rooms are most profitable to open in large cities where they already exist, and the population is aware of what it is and why it is needed. At the same time, the presence of competitors may even be to your advantage: quest participants, having visited existing rooms, will want new experiences and will look for similar vacation spots.
Video: quest room "Freddy Krueger"
Risks
The main risks in this area include:
- high competition in large cities;
- dependence on the creative scenario (irrelevance or lack of interest in the quest will destroy the idea in the bud);
- poor-quality design of the room;
- deterioration of reputation and loss of customers;
- high franchise price.
Another risk of this business is seasonality. The peak of quest room attendance is in January. Demand is consistently high during the cold season, and in summer most city dwellers prefer to get out into nature, so we need to figure out how to attract customers in the summer.
Development strategy
You can start a business with one quest, for the promotion of which you can use marketing mechanisms. If successful, you can open new quest rooms or change the format of existing ones. You may be able to become a franchisor yourself and sell franchises to other cities.
The quest "I am a legend" will make you sweat over the solution
Financial plan
Before opening a room, be sure to draw up a business plan and calculate income, expenses, profits.
Calculation example:
- Quest duration - 1 hour;
- number of launched quests - 4;
- working hours per month - 312 hours;
- the cost of recording for 1 game - 1500 rubles;
- occupancy rate - 45%;
- monthly income - 1 * 4 * 312 * 1,500 * 0.45 \u003d 842.4 thousand rubles.
Thus, the game will generate monthly revenue in the amount of 842.4 thousand rubles.
Sample organizational plan:
- IP registration - 800 rubles;
- re-equipment of rooms (repair, decorations) - 500 thousand rubles;
- furniture, appliances - 50 thousand rubles;
- video surveillance system - 60 thousand rubles;
- the cost of writing scenarios - 80 thousand rubles;
- website development - 35 thousand rubles;
- initial costs - 795.8 thousand rubles.
Fixed costs:
- monthly rental rate - 90 thousand rubles;
- fund wages- 120 thousand rubles;
- advertising budget - 70 thousand rubles;
- funds for the development of new scenarios and re-equipment of the premises - 120 thousand rubles.
Total fixed costs- 400 thousand rubles.
- Tax-free profit: 842.4 thousand rubles. - 400 thousand rubles. = 442.4 thousand rubles.
- Profit after payment of tax on the "simplified" (6% of income): 842400 * 0.06 \u003d 50.544 thousand rubles.
- Net profit: 442400–50544 = 391.856 thousand rubles.
- Profitability: 391865/842400 = 46.52%.
- Payback period: 795800/391856 = 2.04.
That is, the minimum payback period is 3 months.
Video: quest room - a profitable business
The quest room is a promising type of business, but it requires high initial costs. Key moment- come up with original script. If not, you can become a franchisee of successful quest rooms.
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Pokemon Go proved that the mechanics of video games take root perfectly in reality. Even earlier, the creators of quests (from the English quest - search) were convinced of this. Initially, this was the name of a genre of console games in which you had to get out of a virtual room by solving puzzles.
The Japanese Takao Kato guessed to transfer this simple plot to the tangible world. In 2007, he came up with the Real Escape Game, the participants of which had to look for clues and use their brains in every possible way in order to have time to get out of a locked room in 60 minutes (not everyone succeeded). Quests have become incredibly popular in Japan, China, Taiwan and Singapore. A few years later, Kato's buddy Kazuya Iwata launched the Real Escape Game franchise in the US.
In 2011, this new type of entertainment conquered Europe. The pioneer was the Hungarian company Parapark, followed by several more companies. Thanks to them, Budapest became the European capital of quests - many people came there specifically for the sake of these games.
The Claustrophobia company became the pioneer of the Russian quest market. Entrepreneurs Bogdan Kravtsov, Sergey Kuznetsov and Timur Kadyrov opened the first Moscow site in 2013. At first, they had two quests - "Soviet apartment" and "Psychiatric hospital". They were followed by a similar project "Laboratory 33", and then the niche shot and began to grow by leaps and bounds.
At first, the creators of quests limited themselves to obvious scenarios like escaping from prison and robbing a bank. Then the growing competition forced them to experiment and join the arms race for the technical equipment of the rooms (sensors, controllers and other attributes).
What are the quests
By format, quests are divided into several types:
- "Leave the room" - a classic quest in which a team of up to five people must get out of the room in an hour;
- Performance - quests with the participation of actors who are approaching a theatrical production;
- Action quests - sports games with an emphasis not on puzzles, but on dexterity and reaction speed;
- City quests - outdoor games - usually auto-, bike- or photo-quests;
- Role quests - games in which each participant receives the role and goals of his character (usually held in a cafe);
- Corporate quests - games for employees, often held at the customer's site.
When there were really a lot of quests on the Russian market, special aggregators appeared. These sites collect reviews and make ratings. They help users to choose a suitable quest, and game organizers - to attract an additional audience. Although not everyone agrees with this. For example, Artem Egorov, PR director of Vzaperti quests, believes that aggregators do not play a significant role in attracting customers - their attendance is relatively low.
There is a section with quests on the Yandex.Afisha website. In May, the Afisha company bought 50% of the quest aggregator All Escape Games and launched a marketplace with the ability to book tickets. Recently, cultural event aggregator KudaGo launched a similar platform in partnership with World of Quests.
How the quest market works in Russia
For two and a half years, the newborn quest market has grown many times and evolved, experienced a sharp boom and a sharp decline, the death of hundreds of weak players and numerous takeovers - in a word, it has matured. According to various estimates, now in this area there are from 500 to 950 companies of various sizes - from large franchises to owners of one quest room. Quests are now present in all Russian cities with a population of more than 300 thousand people, estimates the head of the company "Living Quests of Moscow" Ivan Tkachev.
The biggest players are Claustrophobia, Exit, Lost, Cityquest, Questroom, Trap, True exit, Leave the Room, Quest Quest, iLocked, Locked Up, Serious Games and others.
Even the onset of the crisis did not become a serious obstacle to the development of quests - as is always the case with entertainment, in difficult times people want to get a charge even more vivid emotions and take a break from the harsh reality. True, the market thinned out a lot - the strongest survived. “Quests open and close in Russia every day,” says Roman Kulikov, head of the Afisha-Quests department. - This can be judged by the number of ads for the sale of quests on Avito. We expect about 30% of companies to close this year.”
“The economic downturn has weeded out low-quality quests with an uninteresting storyline and left only high-quality ones on the market,” says Alena Sokova, head of the Promsvyazbank Venture Fund. “Moreover, new projects can successfully develop without franchises, because the novelty and fascination of the script turned out to be more important than brand popularity.”
Who goes on quests
The audience of quests is not limited to gamers. The bulk of the players are people with above-average incomes, aged 18 to 35. Now the number of those who have tried quests is growing thanks to children's quests and gift certificates, Artem Egorov, PR director of Vzaperti quests, notes.
“The audience is diverse,” says Igor Bobb, general director of World of Quests. - There are schoolchildren who persuade parents and teachers to accompany them to a horror story, and office workers who go to battle in shirts and suits. Grandmothers bring their grandchildren, young parents play with their children in slings.” According to him, even among millionaires only half of the target audience knows about this type of leisure, not to mention the provinces - the market still has room to grow.
Claustrophobia co-founder Bogdan Kravtsov believes that this moment Only a couple of million Russians have tried quests. In general, everyone who is able to walk to the cinema can play them.
How to build a business on quests
In two years, quests have become a popular type of franchise business. This development model was laid down by Claustrophobia, which is still the most famous escape room franchise network. Regional entrepreneurs fell in love with quests for the opportunity to quickly earn money without significant investments, but now the conditions have changed. At first, the main difficulty was that the townsfolk simply did not know about the quests. Then the low entry threshold led to oversaturation of the market, especially in millionaires.
Therefore, market participants have to dump and go out of their way to outperform competitors in terms of game quality and marketing effectiveness. This requires large budgets and a wide range of quests, says Bogdan Kravtsov, co-founder of Claustrophobia. And companies with one or two games will be able to work only in cities where there are no quests at all.
Experts from the Promsvyazbank Venture Fund (specializing in investments in the real sector) advise launching new quests in large regional centers where there are many potential customers (solvent young people and the business segment). Also promising are cities with a growing economy, where residents have satisfied basic needs and are interested in unusual entertainment. But such windows of opportunity tend to close quickly.
“When the competition and technological effectiveness of quests were low, it was possible to open several rooms within a million rubles,” recalls Artem Egorov, PR director of quests at Vzaperti. - And now, in order to properly warm up the audience, build and promote a good quest room, you need at least 2.5-3 million rubles. There is a way to significantly reduce costs - to buy a franchise from strong players. This will save on site development, scripting and marketing, and most importantly - not to step on a rake that has been stepped on many times before you.
In order not to slow down the pace of growth, major players are entering new markets - for example, Vykhod and Quest House open branches in Europe and the CIS. Many master new niches - children's and corporate quests, in which the competition is not yet so high. “Perspectives are especially good in not the most popular formats - autoquests, city quests and team building in offices,” advises Ivan Tkachev, head of the Live Quests of Moscow company. “The market for mobile quests related to geolocation is no less interesting.”
Megacities are oversaturated with quests, so the new franchisee is left to conquer the province. Now quest rooms are opening in small towns like Kovrov and Almetievsk (with a population of about 150 thousand people). Of course, in the outback there are difficulties. The audience there is more conservative - you will have to sweat with marketing in order to convey to inexperienced consumers all the charm of the new entertainment. And when the public tastes and wants more, a local player with two or three games will have nothing more to offer them and they will go to a larger city for impressions.
Therefore, adaptable and technically simple formats are suitable for entrepreneurs from the provinces - for example, away games for holidays. Other Rusbase interlocutors advise against opening quest rooms in cities with less than 300 thousand people and role-playing quests in cities with less than 500 thousand people. Experts agree on one thing: it is unreasonable to launch without a franchise now.
“There is no place for single projects on the market,” Roman Kulikov, head of the Afisha-Quests department, is convinced. “Existing quest organizers are teaming up to optimize administrative costs and advertising budget.”
This year, there are an order of magnitude fewer applications for franchises in large cities, Elena Ponomareva, a representative of the Biboss franchise portal, notes. According to her, low-cost quest room franchises with investments from 150,000 rubles are in demand today, which can be launched in the regions.
“Escape room franchises are promising in undeveloped regions, where the experience of major players will help to avoid mistakes and quickly recoup investments,” says Alena Sokova, head of the Promsvyazbank Venture Fund. - Competitors are on the alert, so it is important to bring quests to the market quickly (in about three months). A franchise makes this process easier, but the lack of a compelling script can undermine the effort."
In addition to investments, to start a business on quests, you will have to find worthy personnel. Sometimes this becomes a problem. To design and build escape rooms, you will need good engineers, decorators, electricians and programmers. After the launch, the success of the project depends on responsible quest operators, smart marketers and charismatic actors (for performances). As a rule, you have to grow them yourself.
Another market problem is the discrediting of the quest format by inexperienced players. “There are companies with a good marketing department, but with a bad product,” complains Artem Egorov, PR director of Vzaperti quests. “They attract a lot of clients who get frustrated with quests and lose the desire to return to this entertainment format.” “Often this creative people, who launch their first business on emotions, ”explains the weakness of the newcomers, the CEO of World of Quests, Igor Bobb.
However, quests can generate high income. This requires a quality product, competent marketing and a solvent audience. Therefore, it is better for beginners to rely on the experience of the franchisor. To choose a franchise, experts advise looking at:
- franchise cost,
- monthly deductions,
- quality of quests and their scenarios,
- presence in your city,
- support and technical support.
The largest franchises coincide with the top Russian players, but the economic weight of the franchisor does not guarantee the most favorable conditions.
The future of escape rooms in Russia
From the forecasts involved in this industry, three main conclusions can be drawn. First, key players will continue to grow and absorb smaller players who find it increasingly difficult to attract an audience and compete with other people's diversity.
Secondly, the offer of large networks will expand with new quest formats - labyrinths, tank battles, shooting quests, escape from zombies, etc. Different genres will fuel demand for each other, keeping addicted players and embracing new ones.
Thirdly, the quality of quests will increase - the audience is becoming more and more fastidious, and technological progress does not stand still. The organizers of the games will master the technology, build more and more large-scale scenery. In general, the most interesting is ahead.
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In the past few years, quests have become one of the most loved and visited entertainment for many people.
The first stage - finding a room
The room for the quest has some features.
No matter where
Since people purposefully go to the quest from advertising or from the site by appointment, it does not matter for the quest exactly where the entrance is located (like, say, to a store). If the entrance to it is from the yard or somewhere on the edge of the house (for example, in the basement / basement) - this is even good, as it allows you to choose the most profitable room for rent.
For two quests you will need about 100 sq. meters. For four 180-200 sq. meters, depending on the layout. It makes no sense to take one quest small room, since you will spend a lot of money, since in any case you need to make a waiting room and a leader's room, which can be used for several quests at once.
It is much more efficient to immediately invest in a room for several quests, even if you do one at first, thus you will have:
- Firstly, saving the rental rate (a square meter will be cheaper), square meters (the total area will “work” for several quests at once).
- Secondly, savings on personnel (fewer employees will be required than if the quests are in different places), savings on repairs (you won’t have to build the same thing twice).
Fit very well basements/ basement with a minimum rental rate. But keep in mind that a dead basement will require either large investments or a specific theme (horror movies). And children's / family quests (yes, and in general all quests) require a clean / good premises- players will be more pleasant to go to you.
Get better with rent
Rent is the only significant fixed expense, so it's important to keep it under control. Since opening the quest takes time, you can (and should) ask for a construction vacation. Also transfer part of the costs to the landlord (associated with pipes, toilets, ventilation, heating - that improves the premises, and will remain with the landlord forever)
It is more profitable to place several quests in one location, so you save on:
- rental rate per square meter;
- Arrangement of the area (repair);
- Square meters (one entrance group, toilet, host's room - all this for several quests);
- Salary: one person can simultaneously conduct several quests. During the day, one person is enough for several quests, the staff helps each other, while one collects, others meet customers and tell the legend.
- Other expenses: internet, registrar, cleaning - is divided into all quests.
Payback
At the moment, even if the area is large (for 3–5 quests), one unpromoted quest with an average profitability, with fierce competition, can pay for the current rental costs, so the second quest will pay back salaries, advertising and operating expenses, and subsequent will make a net profit. This is at the start of a business.
The area per quest is usually about 30-40 square meters. meters, and can be larger than 60-70 square meters. meters. The minimum quest is 25 sq. meters. If there is a terrible, but large room, you can implement a performance (quest with an actor from 150 sq. Meters), which can be quickly opened with small investment, but this is a horror movie with an actor, due to this, a wow effect is achieved.
A good option is a quest for two, it can be implemented on 10 sq. meters - this is a prison cell or an elevator, or "buried alive", or a laboratory (in the breaking bad style).
Of the new formats, it is now profitable to open Hide and Seek in the Dark. A minimum of financial investments is required, and the construction site can be laid in three to four weeks. The format is ideal for family visits, for children's birthdays, team building, large groups. Unlike a quest, it can be completed multiple times. Over the past few months, we have opened 9 hide-and-seek places and 9 more are under construction in Russia.
Some other features to look out for when looking for a space:
- Room layout. It is necessary to use the space as efficiently as possible. If the toilet is located at the other end of the room, then keep in mind that there should be free access to it, which can “eat” the squares that could go on quests.
- Ceiling height. low ceilings will put pressure, do not allow to build in additional engineering. High ceilings (3-4 sq. meters) require significant effort and funds to use.
- Humidity, traces of flooding, incidents (especially in the basement). Sewerage is a very common problem, there should be a check valve that prevents the "breakthroughs" of the toilet. If it is not available, it must be supplied by the landlord.
- Ability to work evenings, nights and weekends. If you have a basement, it is better that you have non-residential premises, otherwise games in the evening hours may be limited. With neighbors "upstairs", the games must be completed before 10-12 pm.
The second stage is the choice of scenario
Your city affects the strategy for opening quests.
Main factors:
- Population
- Competitors
Depending on the population, we distinguish two types: millionaires and small cities. A separate conversation - the capital (Moscow and St. Petersburg).
We classify all cities with a population of less than 500 thousand as small cities and recommend starting with opening quests according to adapted scenarios. These scenarios are optimized for opening with no experience in quests and even entrepreneurship, they open in as soon as possible and involve a minimum number of specialists (engineers / props), the cost of their implementation is from 350 thousand rubles. But in case of strong competition, you can immediately start with entourage and engineering quests.
The quest industry has been in the industry for three years now and the level of competition at the moment leaves almost no opportunity to open a quality escape room on your own. Previously, it was possible to make simple repairs, hide notes, keys and lock people up. Now everything has changed.
Creating a scenario and adapting it to reality takes time and significant investments. The value of the scenario tends to zero, since the main importance is the sets of items, engineering, the implementation of puzzles. It is on this component of the quest that most of time and money. It is here at the stage of opening the quest that the maximum value from the franchise. It will protect you from mistakes, help save time and money at every stage from the selection of premises to the opening of the quest.
The third stage - advertising and attracting customers
For many, at this stage, franchise assistance ends with the provision of a booking system on the site. We went further by creating a marketing agency for quests: the staff includes specialists in Yandex.Direct, Google Adwords, VKontakte targeting, a copywriter, an email specialist, and content specialists.
We understand that traffic is one of milestones, so the designer and programmer are working on site conversions, we have written our own analytics system.
Since the majority of customers call rather than sign up on the site (up to 90% in the regions), we are the only ones who have introduced a single call center for all our partners, which provides daily online from morning to night, without holidays and weekends.
To improve the quality of processing applications, we had to write a separate one for processing applications with hint elements, since it is very difficult to remember 150 quests in 40 cities, but with such a system, information for each reservation, for each client, for each quest is presented conveniently to increase the number of entries .
The introduction of the call center shows an increase in bookings by 30% due to the quality of processing applications, scripts and the system for processing applications.
Types of advertising
We divide advertising into two categories: online advertising and offline in the city. We provide information about offline advertising in detail in the tutorial. But we take care of setting up and maintaining online advertising. This is contextual advertising in search engines: Yandex and Google. Social networks: vkontakte (targeting), instagram (again, we will not list the rest, but there are much more sources of Internet traffic than only search networks).
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