24A – "Quarantine Zone" Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity: 

The people that have the need for my service will be anyone that is looking for a good place to be entertained.  They may also be looking for something more immersive than their usual spots.  Currently this need is satisfied by various other means; going to the movies, going to other escape room locations, and other various entertainment establishments. 

I believe that this opportunity is a big one because it is a bit different than the other options out there.  You get to be a part of the action and excitement.  It combines three different entertainment experiences and ties them all together or you can enjoy them separately. 

It is hard to determine how long this opportunity will be there, but I can absolutely see it still being around as long as I am looking toward the future.  There is a place for VR in my idea and even augmented reality.  These technologies need to mature a bit more, but it is on the horizon.

Innovation:

In my opinion, innovations can be large or small.  I consider mine to be small since I am tying a few ideas that currently exist separately together as a cohesive experience.  I believe that innovations like this have a higher chance of success since they are smaller and easier to keep simple and execute.

My innovation is to bring the world of Zombie apocalypse to life.  It combines laser tag, escape rooms and a restaurant with beer and wine available together in one location.  This will be great for groups of friends, team building for corporations or even groups of kids from college looking to have some fun after exams. 

Venture Concept:

I don't believe that my services will pull people away from other forms of entertainment permanently.  People are not going to stop going to the movies or other escape rooms necessarily; but they will repeatedly come back to my offering for the experience I will create.  The moment you enter the facility you will be fully immersed in the illusion.  So deeply, my goal will be some people to start doubting their true existence outside the world I create for them.

I don't really see packaging to be a problem but other normal business hurdles like employee turnover, suppliers for the restaurant and other tools that I will need for the business.  I plan to at least start with a pretty flat structure.  I will not need many mid-level managers.  I anticipate one to manage the laser tag/escape room side and one to manage the restaurant.  These are two very different businesses I am combining and require different mindsets.

At some point I would require a controller and see myself outsourcing HR and IT needs to help keep costs on the lower side.  I would rather pay employees better and create a better environment for them.  They in turn will ensure that our customers have the best experience possible.

Three minor elements:

I plan to create an exceptional work environment and my people will be my advantage.  There are many case studies that support this idea and I have seen it in action.  To me this would be a large part of my “secret sauce”.  It is very hard to replicate this because most companies are less concerned with their employees.  This trend is changing a bit, but it is not quite there, and most business leaders still have not figure this out. 

After getting this venture up and running the next step would be to start looking at how technology can improve the experience for people.  Like I said earlier, I see a place for virtual reality or augmented reality in this industry.  This is how we can truly create a new experience.  I can see the entire experience being delivered via virtual reality.  That would make most of my costs be infrastructure and development.  Most of those items can be wrapped up in operational costs with cloud infrastructure preventing me from having to have a large capital outlay to accomplish it.

I would set a goal of actually making money from this venture after the second to third year in business.  So, by year five I would have it running smoothly and have a steady 20%-25% net profit margin.  This would allow me to continue building this or branch out to other concepts of this idea to reach other customers and their interests.