Franchise Euphoria Bouncing Into the Future with Launch Entertainment
Before the trampoline park boom in the family entertainment industry, Launch Entertainment was a really new concept. Rob Arnold, CEO of Launch Entertainment joins me today to talk about the opportunities in the family entertainment industry and how they’ve been able to stay ahead of the trend by building a robust experience for the entire family.
The family entertainment industry is expected to reach a whopping $69 billion this year and Rob knows first hand what it is like to tap into that potential. Listen to this episode of Franchise Euphoria to learn about the company, their goals, and how their mom-and-pop trampoline park idea has evolved into more than 30 franchise locations complete with a full restaurant and multiple attractions.
Key Takeaways:
[3:42] - Rob and his wife have always been entrepreneurs and he shares how the idea for Launch Entertainment was developed.
[6:43] - At the time in 2011, there were only about 150 parks like this in the country.
[8:31] - Their personal experience in 2011 took place in a location that was off the beaten path and they imagined what it would be like in a busier area.
[10:52] - Rob knew what he wanted but couldn’t find an existing model.
[12:40] - He knew the potential and took the step to learn about franchising before he even opened the first location.
[14:17] - Rob describes the experience of the grand opening of the first location and how impactful it was on the business.
[15:58] - The first location was a retail location having taken over part of an old Sports Authority.
[17:50] - In the beginning, the food was not good quality and they improved overall to a full restaurant included inside.
[20:26] - Opening a second location is exciting but spotlights areas of improvement.
[23:05] - With the opening of the second location, they kept the first space the same and improved the second one with more games and party rooms.
[24:41] - What happens when a new location doesn’t have a successful launch?
[26:10] - Knowing they wanted to franchise, they started the franchise process early on with the first franchisee opening up a location within a year of the first location.
[27:43] - They started with franchised locations with friends and families. This allowed them to test processes and systems with honest feedback.
[29:26] - The popularity of trampoline parks blew up across the United States and Launch Entertainment branched out into different attractions.
[31:08] - With more attractions catering to the whole family, it created more opportunities to make more money.
[34:33] - Rob lists the other attractions they added to make the experience more robust.
[39:01] - There are a lot of perks to opening a franchise with Launch Entertainment.
[42:17] - When you build something, build a strong brand with a robust operational marketing system to support the growth that lies ahead.