Today, bowling in Russia is one of the prestigious and rapidly growing types of active leisure time. In the process of conducting a population survey, there were almost no respondents who did not know about the existence of such a form of entertainment as bowling. A certain part of the respondents even have some experience in bowling, acquired in bowling centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg, other cities of Russia or abroad.
The market size (number of service consumers) of the Bowling Center was determined to be 28.5-30.5 thousand people or about 8 - 10% of consumers (adult residents) of leisure services.
Based on the results of calculating the potential number of visits to each service on average in the city, and data on the volume of leisure services provided, we obtained the following results of the technical equipment of the bowling center
- 16 bowling lanes;
- bar with 200 seats;
- restaurant with 100 seats;
- 10 Russian billiard tables;
- 10 roog tables;
- disco for 200 visitors (with an average occupancy of −100 people per day);
- 10 slot machines with cash winnings;
- 10 gaming entertainment machines and complexes;
- children's room for 10 visitors;
- 4 VIP rooms for 6 visitors each.
2. Description of the business, product or service
Based on a study of the leisure services market, leisure services were ranked according to their degree of attractiveness. The integral indicator of attractiveness allows us to judge the degree of demand by potential consumers for specific types of leisure services.
Attractiveness of leisure services
Name of service | Integral indicator of attractiveness, points |
Restaurant | |
Disco | |
Russian billiards | |
Gym | |
Shopping arcades | |
Rent of premises for offices | |
Massage room | |
Slot machines | |
Video room (with digital equipment) | |
Children's room | |
Internet cafe | |
The table clearly shows that in terms of attractiveness, the bar (1047 points) and the restaurant (938 points) are far ahead of other services.
The second group of services in terms of degree of attractiveness with a slight difference in points are: disco, bowling and Russian billiards (781, 765 and 758 points, respectively).
Slot machines, both with cash winnings, and entertainment machines and complexes without cash winnings, despite not having a high place in the overall rating of the attractiveness of leisure services, have a fairly stable demand and their target group of consumers. Thus, based on the basic concept of the Bowling Center at Alfa Center LLC, we believe that the main services in the Bowling Center should include: bowling, billiards, slot machines, disco, bar and restaurant. In this case, a gym, sauna, massage room, swimming pool and table tennis can be organized in a separate complex. It should be noted that the flows of visitors to the group of services associated with bowling and the flows of visitors to the group of services associated with the gym should, if possible, not intersect.
The group of services related to bowling should be supplemented with a children's room and a VIP room, which will best affect the image of the Bowling Center and its competitiveness.
As additional services for visitors, we recommend introducing into the activities of the Bowling Center: individual training with specially trained and certified instructors, holding tournaments, business parties and corporate parties, birthdays, presentations, banquets, a system of discounts and rewards for good play, club discount cards for regular club members, card index of players and their victories, Pro-Shop (sport accessories store for bowling, billiards - sports uniforms, shoes, balls, sports bags, glue and oil for balls, ball remover, cues, billiard chalk etc.), a convenient and large 24-hour guarded parking lot, a car wash, your own vehicle for meeting important guests, etc.
Calculation of attendance at leisure services
As a result of in-depth interviews with different segments of the population, we obtained data that allowed us to calculate the expected attendance of the types of leisure services identified in the previous section, in the context of target groups of visitors. The calculation results are shown in the table.
Estimated attendance of various types of services
The indicator of attendance of certain types of services characterizes the demand for leisure services identified during the survey and is expressed as the number of visits to each service per month, broken down by target groups of potential visitors.
As can be seen from table. 6, the most visited service is the bar (5.11 times per month). The attendance of the bar is far ahead of the attendance of other services, and the bar is almost equally in demand by all categories and age groups of potential visitors to the Bowling Center.
Unlike a bar, restaurant attendance (2.48 times per month) depends much more on the age of potential visitors to the Bowling Center. Thus, people aged 24 years and older are almost one and a half times more likely to visit a restaurant than young people under the age of 24.
Russian billiards is slightly more visited than Pool (2.86 and 2.18 times per month, respectively). It should be noted that while pool is mostly visited by young people under the age of 24, Russian billiards is more often visited by people aged 25 and older.
When analyzing disco attendance (2.27 times a month), it is necessary to take into account the fact that practically the main visitors to the disco are young people under the age of 24, i.e. Visitors in this age group visit discotheques approximately 4-5 times more often than people aged 25 years and older.
The assessment of their expected bowling attendance (2.03 times per month) by various categories of potential visitors to the Bowling Center depends little on their age. At the same time, many potential visitors are wary of a new and, for some, unfamiliar type of sports and entertainment services. In our opinion, the bowling alley attendance indicator does not fully reflect the potential attendance at the time of the opening of the Bowling Center, because... by that time, many potential consumers will have already become acquainted with the bowling alley at the Universal center, which will increase the interest and demand for bowling.
Attendance at slot machines, both with and without cash winnings (1.09 and 0.93 times per month, respectively), is practically independent of the age of consumers. The low attendance rate indicates limited demand for this type of service, which at the same time does not exclude the installation of gaming machines for a certain category of players who have a stable demand for gaming machines.
Children's room and VIP room (0.86 and 0.77 times per month, respectively), although they are at the bottom of the table. 6, however, these services also have their own specific category of consumers, and since these services do not require significant expenses, we recommend that they be provided at the Bowling Center. It is also necessary to take into account that the presence of a children's room and a VIP room will have a rather beneficial effect on the image of the Bowling Center.
Using the indicator of expected traffic of individual types in the context of target segments, as well as the size of the target segments themselves, we can calculate the average number of visits to the services we analyze.
Potential number of visits to leisure services
Services | Number of visits per month | Number of visits per day |
Russian billiards | ||
Restaurant | ||
Disco | ||
Slot machines with cash winnings | ||
Slot entertainment machines | ||
Children's room | ||
3. Description of the sales market
Today, bowling is one of the most popular and popular sports activities abroad. Bowling centers in one form or another exist in almost a hundred countries around the world.
Nowadays, bowling on a global scale has acquired a huge number of fans, but along with fans of this game there are professional players. Various championships are held for them in different countries.
Currently, the growth rate of bowling services in Russia is developing at a rapid pace. So, if at the end of 1997 in Moscow there was only one bowling alley in the Cosmos Hotel, then just a year later there were already 15 bowling centers in the capital. Today bowling centers are open in more than 30 cities of Russia. Today in Russia as a whole there are about 70 bowling centers, including: in Moscow - 25 bowling centers, in St. Petersburg - 8, in the Moscow region - 5, in Yekaterinburg - 6, Magnitogorsk - 2. The number of bowling alleys installed throughout Russia has already exceeded 400, and in Moscow alone there are about 200 alleys.
Firstly, the benefits of this entertainment concept are quite obvious. Any bowling club has several paid gaming lanes, slot machines and, if desired, a dance floor, bar or restaurant, i.e. a whole complex of complementary mini-enterprises, each of which generates income.
The second reason why the number of bowling centers will continue to grow is the change in demand in the service industry market. New bowling alleys with their powerful marketing support are gaining recognition among different segments of the population, who are already tired of the monotonous entertainment in nightclubs, restaurants and pubs, and the broad Russian soul persistently demands new entertainment.
Taking into account the obvious benefits of bowling as a new niche of sports leisure, many representatives of the financial elite in the field of entrepreneurship are becoming increasingly enthusiastic about organizing projects to create bowling centers.
As noted above, all the basics of bowling have long been standardized. This applies to the rules of keeping score, the size of the court, and the gaming accessories used.
All these standards are embedded in a wide variety of equipment offered by many foreign manufacturers. The most well-known developers and suppliers of turnkey bowling alleys include three companies: AMF Bowling Inc; Brunswick Bowling & Billiards Co; Dacos. They can easily be called “trend setters” in the world of bowling. All of these companies have extensive experience in installing equipment around the world. In addition to selling equipment and turnkey equipping a bowling center, equipment manufacturers offer a wide range of services: pre-sale consultations, after-sales service, assistance in organizing and holding tournaments, training for bowling alley staff.
Typical bowling alley maintenance equipment includes the following interconnected modules: an automated pin placement system - a pinsetter, an automated system for returning balls to their original position, an automatic scoring system and, finally, a host computer that monitors and processes information about the processes at all play paths. The equipment set also includes a gaming stand with seats, where a hanging or stationary terminal is usually mounted, displaying information about the current score and the progress of the game.
There are two types of playing path surfaces; wooden (maple) and synthetic. Due to lower cost and lower maintenance costs, synthetic turf paths are now increasingly being used. The most famous manufacturer of synthetic and wooden lanes is the American company Brunswik Bowling & Billiards Co, which provides a lifetime guarantee on its synthetic playing lanes.
To create comfortable relaxation conditions for players, a special area with several seats is installed. Here the participants of the game are located, waiting for their turn to throw the ball. The scoring system terminal is located in this area, and for a better overview, an additional monitor can be hung to display the game score.
Currently, many foreign companies are ready to offer installation of used bowling equipment. Purchasing refurbished equipment can save up to 50% in financial costs. However, the coin also has a flip side. Excessive savings at the initial stage can contribute to increased maintenance costs in the future, which in turn will slow down the return on investment of the entire bowling center.
In general, the maximum possible number of lanes in a bowling alley is limited only by the available usable area of the premises and the budget allocated for the project. For example, the most modern bowling complex is located in Japan and has 147 playing lanes.
In developed countries, the payback period for equipment is only −8-12 months. In Russian conditions, this indicator is estimated in the range from two to three years. To speed up the payback of bowling alleys, it makes sense to develop a marketing mix based on the richest global experience in the bowling industry. Among other marketing measures, it is worth paying great attention to the quality of service and professional training of service personnel; you can apply a flexible system of discounts and introduce club cards; it makes sense to set aside an area for guarded parking for cars.
4. Sales and marketing
The base market of a bowling center is the entire adult population, amounting to 340 thousand people). Thus, in the process of segmentation, the adult population of the city (consumers of leisure services) was divided into homogeneous groups of consumers. Segmentation of the base market of the Bowling Center was carried out on the basis of the following socio-demographic characteristics: age, occupation, per capita income and gender.
As a result of population segmentation, the following segments of consumers of leisure services were identified:
- “Golden Youth” (students and working youth);
- "Blue collar" (working elite);
- Businessmen and white collar workers;
- Housewives;
- Business elite;
- Business travelers
Homogeneous group of consumers - a group of consumers with similar characteristics, requirements and consumption habits.
In the course of analyzing segments of consumers of leisure services, so-called “niches” were identified and described, i.e. groups of consumers (parts of segments) who, for one reason or another, do not visit leisure establishments in Magnitogorsk.
Indicators of the attractiveness of a niche for a Bowling Center are its size and capacity (as the difference between the sizes and capacities of the city and Bowling Center segments).
The result of the comparative analysis was a brief description of the structure of each niche and the characteristics of the demand of consumers of these niches.
It should be noted that in the analysis of the segments of housewives and the business elite, the error is maximum due to the small sample size (due to the small number and difficulty of reaching the segment). In addition, it is important to take into account that in these segments, consumers of high age groups (pensioners) were not included in the sample due to the fact that they rarely visit leisure establishments, and visitors under 16 years of age visit leisure establishments mainly with adult visitors.
The “Golden Youth” segment includes students from 16 to 24 years old and workers from 16 to 19 years old.
The student body includes:
- senior secondary school students
- students of higher, technical and special educational institutions.
The majority of consumers of leisure services do not have their own income and live with their parents
Among consumers of leisure services in this segment, 52% are women, 93% are students, 70% of consumers are young people under the age of 20. 13% of consumers in the segment live independently (alone or in young families without children). 52% of the segment’s consumers live in families with minor children, including 10% in young families with children. About 15% of the segment are young people living with parents and dependent pensioners, constituting the least affluent part of the segment. Potential visitors with an average per capita income of 5 thousand rubles or more were considered as the bowling center segment of this target group. and higher. The number of such visitors is about 6.5-7 thousand people, or about 2.1% of the total adult population.
Visitors to this target group are characterized by the following indicators:
- average attendance - 2.27 times per month;
- average costs for 1 visit - 600 rubles.
According to the survey results, the most popular for this target group are a bar, a disco, a bowling alley and, to a lesser extent, darts and a VIP room.
The “blue collar” segment includes workers over 20 years of age (highly skilled workers, shift supervisors, shop foremen).
Men make up 80% of the segment size, the majority of women (7% of the segment size or about 40% of all segment women) are aged 25-34 years. 89% of the segment is evenly distributed between 25 and 54 years old.
This segment is classified as highly profitable. The bowling center segment of this target group included visitors with an average per capita income of 5 thousand rubles and above. The number of such visitors is about 2.3% of the total adult population of Moscow.
Bowling center visitors of this target group are characterized by the following indicators:
- average attendance - 1.91 times per month;
- average costs for 1 visit - 80 rubles;
For this target group, the most popular are restaurants, bars and bowling alleys, and the least popular are Internet cafes and darts.
Businessmen and white-collar workers consist of highly qualified specialists and managers of medium and large commercial enterprises. The majority of consumers in this segment are the main source of income in the family.
Women make up 53% of consumers in this segment. A third of the segment size is women aged 35-54. Young men aged 20-34 make up over 26% of the segment size.
This segment is formed by consumers with high income levels. Potential visitors with an average per capita income of 5 to 10 thousand rubles were considered as a segment of the Bowling Center for this target group. The number of such visitors is about 3% of the total adult population of Magnitogorsk.
The business elite are senior managers of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, senior managers and owners of large commercial enterprises.
Among consumers in this segment, about 100% are men. The bulk of the segment is men under 44 years of age, and only about 5% are over 54 years of age. Moreover, more than 60% of the segment size are men aged 35-44 years.
Income in this segment is highly differentiated (ranges from 10,000 rubles to a maximum of 100,000 rubles per month identified during surveys).
5. Production plan
Volume of services provided, thousand $
Services list | 10 sq. | 11 sq. | 12 sq. | 13 sq. | 14 sq. |
|
Russian billiards | ||||||
American billiards | ||||||
Slot machines | ||||||
Disco | ||||||
Restaurant | ||||||
6. Organizational structure
The proposed organizational form of the enterprise is Closed Joint Stock Company. The size of the authorized capital is $10 thousand. The recruitment schedule for specialists and their pay levels are presented in the table.
Recruitment schedule
Name | Unit change | |||||||||||
Gene. Director, deputies, accounting | ||||||||||||
Gene. Managers | ||||||||||||
Managers | ||||||||||||
Mechanics | ||||||||||||
Cashier | ||||||||||||
Bartender and cooks | ||||||||||||
Waitresses | ||||||||||||
Drivers, cleaners | ||||||||||||
Electricians, plumbers and other specialists | ||||||||||||
* - coefficient applied to the salary that will be paid to the employee after reaching full capacity
7. Financial plan
The initial data for estimating costs were taken taking into account the specifics of the implementation of this project at the level of currently prevailing average prices.
At the same time, the structure of investment costs (as a whole for the complex) is presented in the table.
The effectiveness of total investment costs is characterized by the net cash flow indicator. After 3.4 years, the accumulated net cash flow becomes positive. Based on the results of the 20th quarter, its value reaches 106,470,000 rubles.
These indicators have become positive since the start of operation of the Bowling Center - the 9th quarter.
Return on assets will be 8% per quarter
Sales profitability will be 50% per quarter
Return on invested capital 8-10% per quarter
All indicators are calculated based on net profit
Results of calculations of project performance indicators
Revenues from sales | ||||||||||
Revenue (excluding VAT) | ||||||||||
Russian billiards | ||||||||||
Revenue (excluding VAT) | ||||||||||
Revenue (excluding VAT) | ||||||||||
Slot machines | ||||||||||
Revenue (excluding VAT) | ||||||||||
Disco | ||||||||||
Revenue (excluding VAT) | ||||||||||
Restaurant | ||||||||||
Revenue (excluding VAT) | ||||||||||
Revenue (excluding VAT) | ||||||||||
Revenue (excluding VAT) | ||||||||||
Total revenue |
Revenues from sales |
Attention! The free business plan offered for download below is a sample. A business plan that best suits the conditions of your business must be created with the help of specialists.
The story is told by an entrepreneur from the Tambov region, Inna Golikova, the owner of a large bowling club. Inna founded her own successfully developing business in the city center, on the 2nd floor of a shopping and entertainment center. She supervises 15 employees. The club’s monthly income is 2,000,000 rubles.
Bowling alley business plan ready. And inexpensive!
The idea of organizing a private bowling club came to me as a profitable investment. After the accident in which my husband died, I sold his business, and decided to invest the money I received in my own enterprise.
I must say that the revenue turned out to be very good, about 45,000,000 rubles, this amount could be invested in the purchase of 2-3 cafes with equipment.
But I decided that a bowling alley was the best solution for several reasons:
- There are very few of them in our city, which means competition decreases and demand increases;
- With proper business development, good revenue could be obtained;
- I love bowling very much.
Finding a suitable premises turned out to be the most difficult thing. The main hall must have ceilings no lower than 4 m, and each track, of which there are at least 10, has 55 sq.m. area.
Luckily for me, I saw an advertisement on the Internet for renting out the 2nd floor of a huge entertainment center. It turned out that I was even luckier - the hall was already partially equipped for a bowling club.
Purchased a pinspotter, tracks, monitors, balls, pins, boots, and so on. All I had to do was buy furniture.
Since I had several rooms at my disposal - in one of them, I decided to open a hairdresser a little later, in another I set up a relaxation room, and in the third I planned to equip it as a bar. But for now, my main goal was the bowling club itself.
How to create your own ready-made business plan for a bowling club?
I officially registered an individual entrepreneur and registered a company.
But first, we had to think about how to do it so as not to lose the money invested, but, on the contrary, to increase it. It was necessary to draw up a business plan, from which it would be clear:
- how much money should I invest in total;
- analysis of competitiveness by location and demand market saturation;
- regulations and legal acts that determine all the nuances of my business;
- equipment calculation;
- number of personnel;
- the payback of the project and a thousand other little things, important and not so important.
Frankly speaking, I really didn’t want to trust the future of my club to any dubious agencies that my husband didn’t like during his lifetime.
I turned to my friend’s son, a future analyst. I wanted not only to get a high-quality economics program, but also to learn how to write business plans myself.
We downloaded the template from the Internet for only 350-400 rubles. As it turns out, you could do it for free. However, the free ones are last year's versions, created by those who practice composing them. They need to change almost all prices and more data.
For 400 rubles, we received a modern scheme for developing my business. I just needed to add a few details and innovations, as well as include my additional expenses.
Then combine the data in a special program and in less than 23 hours, the working program of the business plan was ready.
Subsequently, I completely followed it and as a result, after 3 years, I completely repaid all expenses. The income of the club, with a cafe and a hairdresser, is 2 million rubles per month.
Business idea bowling club
Some useful information and a brief presentation of the bowling alley business plan:
Bowling business plan with calculations
Currently, bowling in Russia is very popular, although there are not many bowling clubs in our country yet, so it can be safely classified as a fast-growing and developing type of business.
According to forecasts, the reserve of interest and investment growth will be approximately 15–20 years. Such an enterprise guarantees enviable profitability with relatively low risks.
It should be noted that the costs of opening a club are very significant - about 200-400 thousand dollars. Costs depend on the format of the club you plan to create.
A full-fledged entertainment center (bar, bowling alley, billiards room, climbing wall, children's room, etc.) or an exclusively sports and entertainment bowling club?
If there is a shortage of money, then at the first stage you can start with 5-8 tracks and a small player recreation area.
However, the experience of bowling clubs shows that the more lanes there are, the lower the costs for maintenance, operation and repair of one lane.
It is important to find a suitable premises.
The ten-lane club occupies approximately 1,500 square meters. m., there should be no obstacles: pillars, partitions, columns.
Abandoned workshops of enterprises, as a rule, are not suitable due to their location; few people would want to go to the outskirts of the city or to an industrial zone in order to play bowling.
To build such a building in the city center on a turnkey basis is quite expensive. The best option would be to rent or buy a hall in a shopping and entertainment center.
When setting up a bowling club, the main expense item will be the purchase and installation of special equipment: a lane, a base and a pinspotter (a mechanism that collects and installs pins on the lane, returns the balls and counts points).
The cost of one set will be 25-48 thousand dollars, depending on the manufacturer. At the same time, the design life of this equipment is 25-45 years.
You should also spend a certain amount of money on interior design, organizing a recreation area, and spend on advertising and your own website.
Table No. 1. Potential of consumers of bowling club services in Russia
The minimum staff of a bowling center includes:
- bowling instructor;
- security;
- administrator;
- accountant.
According to experts, one lane in the club is occupied on average 6-8 hours a day. The cost of an hour of play is 10-20 dollars on weekends and holidays.
On weekdays, morning and daytime, as a rule, the cost of renting a track is reduced to 5-8 dollars. In this case, for 156 weekend days a year (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), one track will bring the owner 16.38 thousand dollars.
The same track will bring approximately 7.25 thousand dollars on weekdays. In this case, the annual income from one track will be 23.63 thousand dollars. This will completely recoup the cost of the equipment, taking into account all additional costs.
Now in St. Petersburg there are about 170 working lanes of bowling centers. According to experts, the city can accommodate twice as many. Experts estimate the minimum investment in opening a bowling club at $6 thousand.
Bowling gets richer on weekends
Now in St. Petersburg there are about 170 working lanes of bowling centers. According to experts, the city can accommodate twice as many.
Bowling is increasingly competing with such traditional forms of entertainment as discos, cinema, casinos, etc.
“Russia now ranks first in the world in the number of new bowling centers being introduced, surpassing even the United States,” says Ilya Bronsky, Deputy General Director for Marketing of Bowling City LLC. According to Yuri Vatlin, general director of Bowling City LLC, the income from operating one lane in St. Petersburg averages $3-4 thousand per month.
Step 1. Business Concept
You need to start with developing a club concept, which includes choosing a location for a bowling center, developing a business plan and project.
To open a bowling club, you need a standard set of documents, business registration, certificate of ownership, etc. Bowling alley licensing is not provided and is not subject to special taxes.
Assistance in organizing is provided by manufacturing companies, which, in addition to the equipment itself, sell the business concept.
“The most difficult stage is searching and planning a location. Not all objects are suitable for housing a club. To accommodate the bowling center in the Sennaya shopping center, the entire premises were radically redesigned,” recalls Yuri Vatlin, General Director of Bowling City LLC.
Step 2. Room
One of the main criteria for choosing a location to open a bowling club is proximity to residential buildings and the absence of other entertainment centers nearby.
“Today, there is a shortage of establishments for active recreation in the Primorsky district, whose population is approaching 500 thousand people,” says Sergei Knyazev, general director of SportStroyProekt LLC, which is engaged in the construction of sports facilities. The club's good neighbors are transport routes and metro stations. Parking for at least 20 cars must be provided next to the building. Moreover, a project that does not include parking may not be approved by the city administration. On the websites of official equipment suppliers, you can plan your future club, as well as analyze investments and future profits.
To host a bowling club you will need a premises of 1000 m2. This area should accommodate several bowling alleys, a bar, utility rooms, toilets, etc. As a rule, the top floor of a shopping or business center, a former recreation center, a cinema or a warehouse is chosen. You can build your own bowling alley. The turnkey construction of a 1000 m2 building will cost $500-700 thousand and will take six months. According to Sergei Knyazev, general director of SportStroyProekt LLC, “it will be possible to recoup construction costs in 1.5–2 years.” The safety of the premises is subject to standard requirements from firefighters, SES, etc. The location of the bowling alley is not on the first floor requires that the floors comply with safety standards. In the area where visitors are accommodated, they must withstand a weight of 300 kg per 1 m2, in the area where equipment is installed - 500 kg per 1 m2. The room should be selected with the greatest possible distance from each other of the load-bearing columns. This is important when equipping paths.
It is necessary to equip the future club with supply and exhaust ventilation, sewerage, cold and hot water supply. In addition to the engine room, you will need a technical compartment for storing spare parts and consumables. It is worth soundproofing the walls if, in addition to the bowling center, the building contains shopping centers or offices. Particular attention should be paid to sound insulation of the engine room to maintain the comfort of visitors to the hall. The bowling alley is provided with level and calm overhead lighting, so windows, if available, are closed.
Cost of playing in city clubs
"Almak" - 260-650 rubles/hour
“Leader” - 290-790 rubles/hour
"Bowling City" - 300-900 rubles/hour
Step 3. Equipment
When purchasing equipment from official representatives, its price includes: planning, supply and installation of equipment, as well as service.
The Russian bowling industry uses equipment from American companies Brunswick, AMF and Chinese Xima, Via. These companies have their representative offices in Moscow. From the moment of the first payment to the receipt of the first profit from the operation of the bowling alley, up to 120 days can pass: the equipment at the time of order is located in the manufacturing countries, installation of bowling equipment in the club takes from 14 to 40 days. The service life of bowling equipment is 30-50 years.
The equipment is mounted on a rectangular platform, the dimensions of which are determined taking into account the number of tracks and seating areas for players.
For example, for 10 paths you will need a space of about 700 m2 (18 m wide and 25-30.5 m long, taking into account passages and the location of columns). This area will accommodate a runway area, a track and a pinsetter machine. A podium is created in front of the runway area to accommodate seats for the players. To create a “space” effect (luminous paths in a dark hall), fluorescent lamps are installed on the equipment.
Step 4. Staff
The mechanic is considered an important person in the center’s staff. The quality of the equipment depends on it.
To operate, you will need one or three mechanics, three administrators, three instructors and security.
The service staff should include waitresses, bartenders and cooks to work in the bar. Equipment suppliers provide training and consultation to personnel; this is included in the contract price.
Step 5. Features
Additional sources of profit are the bar, kitchen, and slot machines.
According to Denis Groshev, director of the first bowling club in St. Petersburg, Almak, “in America and Europe, bowling is a sport. There can often be only lanes indoors. In our country, people come to a bowling club to relax and socialize, so you can install there is also a bar with a kitchen, TVs, slot machines, billiards and a children's room. Of the 100% profit, 75% comes from the bowling alley, and 25% from the bar.
“When working on the image of a club, it’s worth getting your own sports team of two or more people. Firstly, this is additional advertising. Secondly, it’s a good incentive for other players and clients. A beautiful throw at the pins is a real spectacle for visitors,” believes Pavel Timets, general director of the bowling club "Leader".
The most profitable time for the club is night, Friday, Saturday and Sunday: at this time there is the largest influx of visitors and the highest prices for bowling.
According to Pavel Timets, bowling is also a family sport: many couples with children come during the day on weekends. For the latter, there are special children's tracks.
$320 thousand per year - profit from operating an eight-lane bowling alley
There are currently 14 bowling clubs in St. Petersburg. There are now more than 74 operating in Moscow.
Costs of opening a bowling club with 10 lanes in a premises of 1000 sq. m.
Rent - from $300 m2 per year
Equipment - $25-40 thousand.
Renovation of the premises - $250 m2
Maintenance personnel - $3 thousand per month
Management personnel - $7-10 thousand per month
Bar equipment - $50 thousand.
Total: $600 thousand minimum
The profits of a bowling alley encourage many to open a bowling club. For the sake of a profit of approximately $400 thousand per year from eight tracks, many are willing to shell out half a million dollars at the start. Moreover, the tracks can be used for about 20 years.
The profitability of the business is approximately 25% and very much depends on what type of club you decide to choose. The most profitable and easiest to open is considered to be an establishment aimed at the middle class, where they pay approximately 500-800 rubles per track per hour. The big advantage of business is that the market is not yet saturated enough and there is relatively little competition here.
Room
The first thing a bowling club business plan should include is finding suitable premises. The length of the path must be at least 35 meters, plus another 100 square meters. m for its maintenance. For a total of 10 tracks, it is advisable to find premises of 1500 sq. m. m. It is desirable that the premises be located in the city center, close to other entertainment venues, office centers, as well as a good transport interchange or metro station. Parking must be provided. It is not possible to find a premises that would meet such requirements in every city.
Otherwise, the premises for a club do not require any special conditions: you can do without windows, communications and other nuances. This significantly reduces the cost of entering the business.
Equipment
The biggest expense item will be bowling equipment: its purchase, installation and maintenance. Bowling set includes:
- base;
- paths;
- pinspotter.
The latter's task includes counting points, setting pins and returning balls. The cost of equipment also includes furniture, decorative panels, consumables, accessories, and spare parts. The cost of such a set is 25-48 thousand dollars. Bowling equipment is supplied by leading manufacturers such as Brunswick and AMF. Representatives of these companies also help to design the club hall and develop its concept.
Types of bowling clubs
Before purchasing bowling equipment, you need to decide on the concept of the club. The zoning of the room, the number of paths, additional services, design of engineering systems, etc. depend on this. There are the following main types of clubs:
- sports;
- family;
- entertaining;
- closed.
For each of these cases, the question of how much it costs to open a bowling alley is solved differently.
Sport Club
The sports bowling business plan is aimed at professional athletes. Therefore, this club opens at fitness centers, stadiums, and sports complexes. Additional income here comes from the sale of soft drinks and accessories. Separate profits come from the work of instructors who teach the game, as well as the work of a dealer - a person who makes custom-made balls to suit the individual characteristics of the player.
Another task of such a club is to regularly hold competitions of various levels with a prize fund.
Family Club
In this case, in addition to the tracks themselves, it is necessary to provide other types of entertainment. We need to install slot machines and open a small cafe. Since the holiday is aimed at families, it is imperative to provide a play area for children. In such a club, additional profit can be received from birthday celebrations and corporate events.
Entertainment club
The entertaining bowling club is aimed mainly at young people, who usually visit it at any time of the day. Therefore, the club should offer a lot of other entertainment aimed at students and young people: a disco, slot machines, American pool, a computer club, etc.
Such a club allows you to open a bar not only with light cocktails, but also with alcoholic and low-alcohol drinks. The question of how to open an entertainment bowling alley has a number of advantageous solutions. For example, you don’t have to worry about parking, spend money on expensive repairs and exclusive bowling equipment. The only requirement is that it is located close to educational institutions and a low price per hour of using the track.
Closed club
In fact, such a club is aimed at VIP clients. For a VIP club it is enough to equip a small number of tracks. But the question of how to open a bowling alley will require significant financial investments. First of all, you need to buy new and expensive equipment, make good repairs, and purchase high-quality furniture. The main bet on income should be made not from the game itself, but from the sale of club cards, which are sold for an average period of a year.
Expenditure
To launch a ready-made business, you will need to allocate at least 300 thousand dollars. Often this figure reaches 3 million dollars. It all depends on what type of club you are opening, what equipment you buy for it and how many tracks you will operate.
The cost of equipment largely depends on the manufacturer. Thus, a ready-made kit from a Chinese manufacturer will cost 25-27 thousand dollars, from an American one - 38-40 thousand dollars. Wanting to save money at the start, many prefer to buy used equipment. But we must carefully check how well it was restored.
The list of expenses must include advertising, without which the club simply cannot break even. Conventional advertising in the media gives little return. It is much more effective to present it on banners, to use advertising platforms of nearby office and entertainment centers. Therefore, an entrepreneur must be prepared to invest at least $3 thousand in advertising every month.
If, in addition to the bowling itself, you plan to receive additional income from other services, the cost items will expand significantly. For example, to install one billiard table, you will need about another 10 thousand dollars. To organize the work of a bar, you will need 15 thousand dollars. Another 10 thousand dollars must be allocated to pay for staff.
Profit
As we have already said, the cost of one hour of playing on the track is 500-800 rubles. depending on the time of day and day of the week. As a rule, unpopular watches have promotions with discounts of up to 150 rubles. in an hour. The most popular days of the week are Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
One track works on average 6-8 hours per day. On peak days, the track can bring in profits of about 748 thousand rubles, during less popular times - about 376 thousand rubles. That is, from one track per month you can receive a little more than a million rubles.
If you opened a club with 15 lanes, your profit will be approximately 17 million rubles. It is believed that despite the large investments, this long-term business has a relatively short payback period if good advertising is organized.
Opening a bowling club involves significant investment costs and hardly falls under the “small business” category. Investments in opening a club with 8-12 tracks will range from 30-40 million rubles.
Therefore, the accuracy of all aspects of the business plan and the viability of the business model used is extremely important.
In this case, it is advisable to use franchising schemes, especially if the business is planned to open in a small city with a population of 300 - 500 thousand people.
Real Franchising Group and the Maxima company offer a franchise of the bowling center "Kegelmania". The terms of the franchise are individual for each partner, but we have found out the approximate figures.
When opening a family or entertainment bowling center with 6 lanes (this is the number that is considered optimal for a small town):
- investments will amount to 20 million rubles;
- lump sum payment – 2.5 million rubles;
- royalty – 3%.
The size of the lump sum contribution and the royalty percentage are somewhat lower than, for example, opening a restaurant with a well-known Italian brand, which is due to the specifics of the business (the competitive advantages of the brand are not as high as in the restaurant business).
What do we get for this money?
A proven model of business efficiency (in our case, the interest is in a family or entertainment bowling club rather than a sporting one).
Equipment from leading manufacturers. There are not many players on the Russian market in this segment, so we are, of course, talking about the following companies: AMF, Brunswick and Via Bowling Products.
The equipment can be new, used or refurbished - depending on the budget. In the city of Western Dvina there is a large production and warehouse complex, unique in Russia, where assembly, maintenance and repair are carried out.
You can read about the latest news and trends in franchise business
A design project from professionals, taking into account the specifics of the Russian market, as well as the individual characteristics of the city and the wishes of the customer.
Tangible assistance in the design and opening of a restaurant, bar, disco combined with a club and a Hipster surveillance platform.
Qualified training of personnel at all levels. Wide range of additional services.
Reviews from partners who bought the franchise in question at different times are rather positive, with some reservations.
Reviews:
A preliminary analysis of this market segment and the use of the franchising mechanism to open a business allows us to draw the following conclusions.
The bowling market in Russia, especially in provincial cities, is still not saturated. The market growth rate, although slowed, is significant.
Bowling clubs to this day generate significant income, although not as significant as in the first years of the appearance of such establishments in Russia.
Business profitability consistently exceeds 25%. Payback period – from 3 years (depending on the initial investment). On the plus side, the walkway has a 20-year lifespan and the ongoing operating costs of running the business are low.
In addition, having a joint restaurant, bar, billiards or disco with the club has a very good effect on the influx of guests and insures the owner against losses.
Bowling club Galaktik
In most cases, a franchise for opening the business in question works great if a number of conditions are met:
- correct choice of city, accurate and unquestionable analysis of demand;
- a correct business plan that takes into account all the nuances and does not allow sensitivity to profitability indicators and cash flows of more than 10%;
- optimal business model, narrowly aimed at the target segment of guests;
- correct positioning of the bowling club in the local market;
- corresponding design project;
- mandatory presence of combined establishments to increase guest flow and potential protection against losses.