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How to write a business plan for a family entertainment center

A business plan serves as a guide for how a business will operate. Such a plan is especially necessary for those who will seek funding from outside sources.

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January 9, 2023 by Sara Paz

Every business should have a business plan to serve as a road map for how the business will operate.

Business plans are especially important for companies that plan to seek funding from financial institutions and/or investors — the plan serves as the blueprint that potential investors will use as a guide to determine if your idea is worth financing or investing in.

Outside funding is often necessary to begin business operations. If you are planning to open a single location, family-owned FEC, your own financial resources should be enough to operate, depending on the size and type of FEC you are trying to start.

For FECs that require a deeper financial well, securing capital and funding with a business proposal is necessary to attract investors. Thorough, well-researched and well-prepared business plans convince investors that you have skin in the game and are aware of the financial risks involved in getting started.

A business plan is a document that contains how to achieve optimal management and operations that will support the results of your conducted feasibility study. The latter, on the other hand, shows the potential performance of the business venture.

Business plans that are prepared by industry professionals are usually done from three to six months, running up to 60 or more pages, and have a higher percentage resulting in funding and successful operations.

Here are a few steps to get your family entertainment center business plan started:

1. Conduct a feasibility study

Unlike other businesses, an FEC's success is largely reliant on its real estate and location. A solid feasibility study becomes a steady foundation for the business plan. It should be location and market specific, and cover the following topics:

Geographic boundaries of the market area and population.
Market demographics and socioeconomic lifestyles.
Direct and indirect competition.
Development costs.
Per capita spending.

You can also reach out to an expert to conduct a feasibility study for your business.

2. Prepare the budget.

A convincing business plan incurs a hefty cost. The different studies, design plans, analyses and financial documents cost money when prepared by an industry professional. Depending on the size, location and type of the proposed project, you will need an estimated $50,000 to $100,000 to be in the position of proposing and presenting your business plan. Some costs include:

Environmental and engineering studies.
Detailed financial projections and cost estimates.
Securities attorney fees to comply with state and federal security laws and regulations.
Building design plans,

3. Outline the necessary components

Once the feasibility study is solidified and the necessary components are on hand, your business plan can finally take shape. Here are the minimum contents of a good FEC business plan:

Business description.
Target market description.
Competition analysis.
Market feasibility analysis.
Management team (description, expertise and functions).
Sales and marketing plan.
Operations and personnel plan.
Operational costs.
Pro forma profit and loss statements.
Pro forma cash flows.
Pro forma earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).
Breakeven analysis.

Your business plan is a huge factor in long-term success.

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About Sara Paz

Sara Paz is chief marketing officer at Embed. She is an award-winning marketing professional with a track record in driving transformative business results via innovative marketing at Fortune-100 companies and global “Top-10” brands.

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