Basement play cafe?

busymother

Fri, Dec 09 2016, 9:59 am

Hi, not sure where to put this inquiry but we are moving to a new house soon and I was thinking of opening a sensory gym in my basement. I would love if it would be geared towards all ages but wondering if anyone has any ideas- would you come to such a place? What would you want to see? I'm imagining I don't have to be there the whole time, I can just go down when people ring the bell to collect the money- I would start with maybe $3pp just to see if it takes off. Any suggestions? Comments? TIA!

cnc

Fri, Dec 09 2016, 10:03 am

I would come to such a place on Sunday afternoons or on vacation days.

The two issues that you may run into:
Certain sensory equipment can be dangerous if not used or supervised properly by a therapist or an educated parent. I don't think you want kids on a zip line or a swing by themselves.

Insurance- what will you do if someone gets hurts and decides to sue you?

ETA I see that you would charge $3 pp that's very cheap . I would be willing to pay $5-6 pp and come often but I don't see how you would cover your costs. Equipment is very very expensive.

busymother

Fri, Dec 09 2016, 10:14 am

Safety issue-good point. Would have to make sure everything is safe. Would be very expensive to hire someone to keep watch of the kids and I don't want to be tied down.
Insurance-Can I make the parents sign a waiver that I'm not responsible for injury?
Thanks for the input!

L25

Fri, Dec 09 2016, 10:23 am

I would definitely come as long as it's not too crowded and wild. I would also recommend you find out about insurance and speak to a lawyer knowledgeable in this area. You really want to make sure your "back in covered" as they say.

animeme

Fri, Dec 09 2016, 10:40 am

Insurance, and also zoning; that will matter for insurance. I would think a waiver would be mandatory, and you'd have to check if you need anyone supervising for insurance purposes. Also, you need proper egress (a second way to get out besides the stairs), and there will be a limit to how many you can legally have down there at once. Technically, if you plan to hang swings and/or attach anything to walls, you need to check the structural viability of it. And think about the height of the ceiling.

debsey

Fri, Dec 09 2016, 10:44 am

busymother wrote:

Make sure whoever writes the waiver for you specializes in this area. Many waivers don't stand up in court. If a kid CH"V breaks his back on your equipment, even if the parents signed a waiver, your nice new house will be their nice new house!

For example, some waivers have to be backed up by signs on the wall reminding the parents of the unsupervised nature of the equipment, and there are very specific requirements for the signs - location, size, language, even font. You need the kind of lawyer who can not only write up the waiver, but also ensure that it won't be invalidated by your business practices.

You never save money with cheap lawyers. Usually, they end up being ruinously expensive......

cnc

Fri, Dec 09 2016, 10:55 am

debsey wrote:

This.
I was going to say that waivers are not really worth much.

SixOfWands

Fri, Dec 09 2016, 11:00 am

cnc wrote:

This.
I was going to say that waivers are not really worth much.

My guess is it depends. Not so much on the waiver as on the injury. And its likely that someone would claim that the equipment was not properly maintained, so that the waiver is ineffective. OP would need an attorney to consider this. And licensing requirements.

Given the cost of insurance for a trampoline, I would guess this is prohibitively expensive. But I could be wrong.

busymother

Sat, Dec 10 2016, 9:34 pm

Thank you to all who responded, I really appreciate the input. I'm going to need to do a lot more research. With insurance it probably won't end up being worth it:(