Quest in reality as a business: ideas and implementations. How to open an quest room: script, advertising
Quest rooms are a promising area of entertainment in major cities, which is characterized by a quick payback. Unlike other areas of business, in this area competition plays into your hands - after visiting one quest room in the city, clients will look for new sources of thrill.
What is a quest room
Quest rooms as a type of indoor entertainment came to us from abroad. In 2000, the beloved computer quest games, in which you need to complete certain tasks, moved offline and quickly conquered the entertainment market. In Russia, the first quest rooms appeared in 2012, and since then their number has grown to almost a thousand. About a third of them are in Moscow and St. Petersburg. There are quest rooms in most major cities of the country. There is even a whole Quest Guild.
Prison escape is one of the popular plots of quest rooms
The quest is usually designed for one hour, during which its participants will solve riddles, find objects, move around rooms using logic, erudition and intuition. Remember Fort Boyard - the principle of operation is the same, but, of course, the possibilities are limited indoors, and you are unlikely to have a chance to get hold of a couple of tigers.
Quests come in various themes. Thrillers, horror (horror) and detective stories are popular among adults, while quests in the format of riddles and puzzles are suitable for children. Players are transported to an alternate reality for an hour, so it is important to create the right atmosphere.
Video: interview with the owners of the Keyhole quest room
The target audience
The main consumers of the service are men and women from 20 to 35 years old with average and above average income who prefer active recreation. Students usually go to the cheapest quests, while others are willing to pay more, the main thing for them is intrigue. average price- 1–2 thousand rubles per person for one session. According to experts, up to 60% of the population of the million-plus city are potential visitors to quest rooms.
Getting out of the room is the most great idea for youth quests
Quests may also be interesting to corporative clients who use this pastime for team building. Having gained a certain reputation, you can conduct away quests - for example, for weddings, birthdays, corporate events.
Children's quest rooms
Interesting quests can be carried out for children (from 6 years old) with their parents. Of course, they don’t need horror or thriller, but riddles and puzzles will be a great success. For example, you can come up with interesting story about Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, the Addams family, the heroes of Gravity Falls or characters folk tales. Well-promoted quest rooms also have stories for teenagers aged 10–14 years. Usually these are slightly simplified adult scenarios.
Choose popular characters for the children's quest
How to open an quest room
Opening your own escape room is the same as opening other types of business. Register, choose a taxation system, and receive the necessary approvals.
Business registration
You can open a business in any form - it is enough to become an individual entrepreneur if you organize an quest room alone, or create an LLC when you start a business together with friends or partners. Open checking account at the bank and open a cash register.
There is no separate economic classification code for quest rooms, so use the OKVED code “Other activities for organizing recreation and entertainment, not included in other groups.”
Tax scheme
A simplified taxation system (STS) or a patent will be suitable. A patent is convenient because you pay a fixed amount once a year, which does not depend on your income and profit. However, this system is not available in all regions of Russia. Under the simplified tax system, you can pay either 6% on profit or 15% on income. It is recommended to choose the second option, since the quest room is considered a highly profitable business.
Before choosing a taxation system, it is a good idea to once again study the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in order to understand what the planned tax burden is.
Business plan for opening a quest room
You will need a business plan to understand what your upcoming income and expenses will be. It is necessary if you expect to receive a bank loan or a subsidy from the state.
Permissions
Opening a quest room does not require licensing. It is enough to obtain approval from the fire department and Rospotrebnadzor to ensure that the room complies with general fire and sanitary standards.
Interestingly, in Germany, opening an quest room requires approval from the local community.
An agreement is usually concluded with each quest room client. Safety instructions are also provided. If there is no agreement, relations with the client are regulated by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which states that the contractor is responsible for the safety of clients when special equipment and tools are used.
Selecting a room
It is promising to open a quest room in a large city - with a population of 500 thousand people or more. There you will have enough potential customers to ensure constant demand.
The room for the quest should be located in good transport accessibility - in the city center or in a residential area with high traffic. It is advisable to be located away from other entertainment venues. A good option- rent in a shopping center. Consider the possibility of scaling the business: if it is successful, you will probably want to open new rooms, so there must be the prospect of expanding. But in general, the room can even be in the basement.
Basement room for an quest room (theme is a mental hospital)
The minimum area of the room for the quest is 20 square meters, but on average about 100 “squares” are required. Large quest centers occupy 250 square meters or more.
Room equipment
It is worth considering that renovation of the premises and its equipment is the main expense item of this business. Refurbishment may take up to one year, during which you will also have to pay rent if you do not have your own premises. Repairs and equipment start from 100 thousand rubles. and reach 2 million rubles.
In addition, even a successful quest room becomes obsolete over time. According to experts, one quest “lives” for 3–4 months. Therefore, from time to time you will have to update the design of the room, purchase new decorations and props.
Quest for the computer game Half Life
In addition to the props necessary for direct participation in quests, take care of good lighting and sound equipment. In addition, CCTV cameras must be installed in all rooms, and your employee must be in front of the monitor at all times. This way you will protect yourself from theft and be able to intervene in case of an unforeseen situation.
The props should be as safe as possible for the quest participants, since people are placed in stressful situation. It is difficult to predict how a person will behave in such an environment. It is clear that there should be no bladed weapons or even potentially traumatic objects.
Don't Go Overboard with Shocking Escape Room Props
Recruitment
First things first initial stage you will need the services of builders who will renovate the premises, decorators, technical specialists responsible for lighting and sound equipment.
The key component of each quest is the script. The success of your venture directly depends on how interesting and exciting it is. You can order a one-time script writing (the price starts from 1 thousand rubles and can reach up to 20 thousand rubles) from freelancers. The script is usually based on some kind of mystery or riddle. The solution must be logical and non-trivial. Before running your own script, you need to carefully roll it out. To do this, you can use friends or a focus group recruited via the Internet. If you are going to work as a franchise, they will provide you with a script.
Art quest "Mysterion" was created with impressive props
To inform the masses about the appearance of an quest room, you will need a marketer who will organize competent promotion on the Internet and offline.
With the staff for servicing the quest room, everything is simple - you just need to hire one person who will act as an administrator: greet visitors, accept payments, conduct instructions, monitor via video cameras so that everything is in order. It is advisable that such a “key keeper” have experience in the entertainment industry. However, you can perform this function yourself.
Depending on the quest, the participation of actors may be required. Since no special skills are usually required, students are also suitable. You can pay them hourly.
To create the right atmosphere, the actors can look quite scary (quest “Whispers 2: Exile”)
Marketing strategy
Taking into account the characteristics of the target audience, the main emphasis should be on promotion on the Internet:
You can also support your promotion using offline methods: print business cards and flyers and distribute them in places with a large flow of people, place advertising on a billboard or city-light near your room, and so on.
To popularize your quest room, come up with competitions, sweepstakes, and make it free certain days months - there are plenty of options.
Word of mouth plays a big role in promoting quest rooms. If you have a really interesting quest, clients will probably share their impressions with their friends, colleagues and acquaintances who may become interested and visit your quest room.
Build an adventure quest to make the client feel like Indiana Jones
Franchise or own script
There are over 60 quest room franchises on the Russian market (data for 2019). Many people choose a franchise as more reliable option starting a business. Of course, this approach has its advantages: you can act under a well-promoted brand, and most importantly, you get a ready-made, proven script. The franchisor will help equip the premises, develop a room plan, train actors, and provide general advertising promotion. The downsides are a fairly large entry fee and the need to pay royalties (from 10% of turnover), as well as restrictions from the parent company.
The most famous quest rooms in Russia: “Claustrophobia”, “Urban Legends”, RabbitHole, RealQuest, Questime, “Room”, “Exit the Room”.
Quest room "Claustrophobia" - a popular Russian franchise
It is worth considering that popular franchises always enthusiastically describe the advantages of such a business and promise a very quick payback - in the first 1–4 months. This should be taken with a grain of salt, as the franchisor's goal is to sell the franchise and make money on the entry fee. In practice, it often happens that quest rooms are closed without even recouping the initial costs. Therefore, if you are the first franchisee in your city, experts advise seeking more favorable franchise conditions.
2–8 people can participate in the quest
Market analysis
It is most profitable to open quest rooms in large cities where they already exist, and the population is aware of what it is and why it is needed. At the same time, the presence of competitors may even be to your advantage: quest participants, having visited existing rooms, will want new experiences and will look for similar vacation spots.
Video: quest room “Freddy Krueger”
Risks
The main risks in this area include:
Another risk of this business is seasonality. Peak attendance at quest rooms occurs in January. Demand is consistently high during the cold season, and in the summer most city dwellers prefer to go outdoors, so we need to figure out how to attract customers in the summer.
Development strategy
You can start a business with one quest, for the promotion of which you can use marketing mechanisms. If successful, you can open new quest rooms or change the format of existing ones. Perhaps you will be able to become a franchisor yourself and sell franchises to other cities.
The “I am Legend” quest will make you sweat over the solution
Financial plan
Before opening a room, be sure to draw up a business plan and calculate income, expenses, and profits.
Calculation example:
- quest duration - 1 hour;
- number of launched quests - 4;
- working hours per month - 312 hours;
- registration cost for 1 game is 1500 rubles;
- workload level - 45%;
- monthly income - 1*4*312*1,500*0.45 = 842.4 thousand rubles.
Thus, the game will generate monthly revenue in the amount of 842.4 thousand rubles.
Sample organizational plan:
- registration of individual entrepreneur - 800 rubles;
- refurbishment of rooms (repairs, decorations) – 500 thousand rubles;
- furniture, appliances - 50 thousand rubles;
- video surveillance system - 60 thousand rubles;
- costs for drawing up scenarios - 80 thousand rubles;
- website development - 35 thousand rubles;
- initial costs - 795.8 thousand rubles.
Fixed costs:
- monthly rental rate - 90 thousand rubles;
- wage fund - 120 thousand rubles;
- advertising budget - 70 thousand rubles;
- funds for the development of new scenarios and refurbishment of the premises - 120 thousand rubles.
Total fixed costs - 400 thousand rubles.
- Tax-free profit: 842.4 thousand rubles. - 400 thousand rubles. = 442.4 thousand rubles.
- Profit after payment of tax under the “simplified” system (6% of income): 842400 * 0.06 = 50.544 thousand rubles.
- Net profit: 442400–50544 = 391.856 thousand rubles.
- Profitability: 391865/842400 = 46.52%.
- Payback period: 795800/391856 = 2.04.
That is, the minimum payback period is 3 months.
Video: quest room is a profitable business
An quest room is a promising type of business, but it requires high initial costs. Key moment- come up with original script. If you don’t have one, you can become a franchisee of successful quest rooms.
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People are already pretty tired of the monotonous offers of recreation and entertainment: cinema, cafe, restaurant, anti-cafe, bowling, billiards, pinball. That is why the entertainment market needed something new, and it appeared in the form of quests in reality! This is not just an arcade game on a computer or smartphone, it is a game in life that will make you think, be horrified and take your mind off the hustle and bustle of the world.
Due to the low price and unusual type of entertainment, the demand for this type of leisure is only increasing every year. Therefore, novice entrepreneurs have a question: how to open an quest room? We will talk about this in our article today.
Where to begin?
The target audience of such quests are people from 20 to 35 years old
In reality, quests have been actively developing over the past few years; today there are several representatives of this business in almost every city. At the same time, it is believed that competitors only help each other if they have different scenarios, since a client who has visited one quest will definitely visit another. Marketers say such entertainment helps people take their minds off pressing problems, plunging into a game with an unusual scenario.
It started on the streets - maybe someone remembers “Watch” or “Encounter” - but more recently the situation has changed, and quest rooms have come to the fore, reviving the scripts of famous horror films or thrillers. The target audience of such quests are people from 20 to 35 years old, that is, the most solvent category. Usually a company of 3-4 people goes to one room, but there are larger teams. The format of this entertainment involves investing in the premises in which the game will be played. The point of such a quest is to get out of a locked room with the help of tips and knowledge from the players. various areas: chemistry, geography, biology, physics, music and films. The entrepreneur must equip the premises according to the script (for example, there is a script based on the famous horror film “Saw”).
Today there are many franchise offers famous representatives quests: “Room”, “Claustrophobia”, “Real Quest”. They provide the entrepreneur with well-developed scenarios and recommendations for arranging rooms, offer a city section on the official website, a logo, advertising banners and effective advertising campaigns. therefore, businessmen often buy a franchise, trying to save on script development, website and promotion.
Like any event business, quests have the risk of not justifying the costs. Escape rooms require not only large investments, but also frequent changes in the scenario and interior, otherwise people will simply get tired of the same thing and go to an advanced competitor. Scripts should meet people's current interests - for example, new books and films.
Room
The interior renovation must completely recreate the scenario
The location of your escape room will play an important role in the development of your business. If it is located in the central part of the city, then advertising banners and signs can attract people passing by, which will create an additional influx of customers. The interior renovation should recreate the scenarios - for example, you have 3 rooms: you create one in the horror genre, the second in a detective style, and the third in a fantasy style. As we have already noted, every few months it will be necessary to change the interiors and scenarios in order to attract new customers and give previous visitors a reason to return.
To begin with, it will be enough to be equipped three-room apartment area 100-120 square meters. In the future, it will be possible to develop the business and rent a new premises with larger footage.
Equipment
The most important thing for an quest room is its scenarios. They are created by experienced writers, a team of writers and editors, or freelancers. Composing a new quest is not a cheap matter, but if you bought a franchise, then the scripts will be sent for free or for a low fee from patrons “from above”.
The basis of any scenario is a secret or riddle that needs to be solved in order to get out of the room. At the same time, the outcome should be clear, but unexpected for the players. In order to cover the interests of different segments of society, it is necessary to equip at least 3 quest rooms, thereby giving clients a choice. Plots are formed according to the age, interests and roles of the players.
Before the game is launched, you need to carefully test the quest in order to identify shortcomings and shortcomings and add storyline or, conversely, remove the unnecessary and incomprehensible. For the test, you can call your friends or attract volunteers from social networks and the website.
Before starting, be sure to test the quest for any shortcomings.
The ambience of the room will require large investments from the owner: the room must fully correspond to the game scenario, the right moments Audio and video effects may be present to add reality to the event. Sometimes you need to purchase costumes and game props, which can be found in specialized online stores.
Staff
The administrator's task is to meet players, register them for the game and answer calls
In order for the quest to work, it is necessary to invite scriptwriters and editors. They may not be on staff, but receive a fee for the work done. Their salary will be at least 15-20 thousand per script. In order for everything to go according to plan during the game, it is necessary to hire an administrator who will meet the players, take calls and sign up for the game, and also tell clients all the details. The administrator's salary ranges from 18 to 20 thousand rubles.
To promote and position the quest, you will need a marketer who will interact with advertising companies, hold competitions on social networks and attract customers. The salary of a marketer will be at least 25 thousand rubles.
You can also use additional characters in quests
Sometimes additional characters are required to carry out quests, who can be invited on a piece-work basis or on staff for a salary and interest.
Documents upon registration
You can legalize your business by opening an individual entrepreneur. In order to obtain permission from the SES and firefighters, the premises must meet their requirements. Quests should not include the presence of open fire or provoke life-threatening situations for players. Before the game, visitors must listen to a short safety briefing - this will protect the entrepreneur from lawsuits in case of emergency.
A simplified system (income minus expenses) is suitable for taxation. It will minimize tax costs and simplify the payment procedure.
Positioning
In order for customers to visit your quest room, you need to create your own website on the Internet, with a detailed description of the plots, schedule, price tags and promotions. In addition to the website, you should take care of groups on social networks, competitions and sweepstakes for quests, discounts regular customers, gift certificates. Before opening and updating the quest, you can order a banner or banner in the city center with a reservation number. Word of mouth will play a big role, so every client should be satisfied with the game and service.
To be active, you can start a blog with photo reports and visitors’ opinions about a particular quest scenario. The main thing is not to be afraid of experiments, because quests are a business for creative people.
Income and expenses
In order to open the quest in reality, you need to spend at least 1 million rubles at a time on repairs and equipment of the premises. Every month it will be necessary to spend about 60 thousand on staff salaries, update scenarios and surroundings every 2-3 months, which will entail costs of 300-350 thousand. Total annual costs will be about 3 million rubles.
Promoted quest rooms earn from 400 thousand to 1 million rubles per month. However, this requires 2-3 months for the development of the company. On average, the payback period for a project takes from 8 to 12 months.
As we were able to see, quest rooms are a non-standard type of profitable business, the demand for whose services is increasing every year. However, starting such a business requires large investments, which not all entrepreneurs can handle. But if you are confident in your abilities, in your creativity and the prospects of the project, then you can contact the bank with detailed business plan to receive funds.
Quest room is a new type of entertainment. The essence of the game is that a team of players is locked in a room and in a certain time (usually 1 hour) by solving all sorts of logical problems and puzzles must find the key to the door and get out of the room (solve the main mystery). The interior and decorations create a special atmosphere, similar to the script of Hollywood thrillers. The game has become so fashionable and popular that new quest rooms in the cities of the Russian Federation began to grow at a rapid pace.
How to open an quest room? We invite you to familiarize yourself with step by step instructions to open a business in your city.
Step 1. Search for sources of project financing.
The amount of funds for starting a business will depend on the number of quests that are planned to be conducted at one address. Every separate quest involves the appropriate renovation and design of the room, the purchase of interior items, the development of a script, etc.
One quest room requires investments from 100,000 to 250,000 rubles. Accordingly, two quests will require investments of up to 500,000 rubles, three quests - up to 750,000 rubles, four - up to 1,000,000 rubles.
Saving at the initial stage will not hurt. Although, the more scenarios (quests) you offer, the higher the potential income will be. And a small number of scenarios suggest that regular customers will quickly get tired of the service.
Step 2. Search for premises - location
The next stage is the selection of premises. It is important to adhere to two basic principles here: convenient location buildings and low rents. The presence of good transport accessibility (bus stops, tram tracks) will have great importance, since most young people do not have their own car. Therefore, a room opened on the outskirts of the city will lose a huge share of clients, and will also spend significantly on advertising the service.
It is also worth considering in advance such an issue as the planned expansion of the number of scenarios. Let's say you decide to open only three quest rooms. This requires about 60 - 70 sq. m of rentable area (from 15 sq. m. per scenario). However, as you run your business, you may need to add a few more scenarios. In this case you will need additional areas. Therefore, it is worth renting those premises that will allow, if necessary, to increase the number of quests. Otherwise, you will have to look for another premises if you want to earn more.
Step 3. Business registration
Most best option legalization of business - registration of individual entrepreneurship. This procedure will cost only 800 rubles. state duties. The most suitable OKVED is 92.72 “Other activities for organizing recreation and entertainment, not included in other groups.” As a taxation system, you can choose from three main special regimes: simplified tax system, UTII and patent system. The most optimal tax regime for quest rooms - a patent system. You pay only once a year (when registering a patent) and work for a whole year quietly, without accounting. The only drawback is that the patent system is not accepted in all regions of the country.
No licenses or additional approvals are required for this business.
Step 4. Repair and design of the premises, acquisition of equipment and inventory
Next, you need to renovate and design the premises taking into account the scenario. This is one of the most difficult stages because it requires serious investments and a lot of time to prepare. Developing a script often requires the involvement of outside specialists. Making something worthwhile and interesting on your own is not easy (you can copy an idea from your competitors, but this will not be the best way out). One option is to purchase a franchise of an existing company, which will provide you with a dozen or so different scenarios. There are plenty of similar franchisor companies on the market. You need to be careful here. Some companies offer extremely unfavorable conditions: either high royalties (deductions for using the brand) or an unreasonably high initial payment.
In addition to developing scenarios, it is worth paying attention to equipping the premises with all possible means of comfort and service. It wouldn’t hurt to put it in the hall soft sofa for guests, a water cooler and supplies of sweets (there are many young people among the clients). These little things often form a general opinion about the company. It takes 3-4 months to prepare an quest room.
Step 5. Advertising and promotion of services
- Cheerful companies who want to find interesting entertainment;
- Couples who decided to spend unusual time together;
- Students who are already fed up with the cinema and are looking for new entertainment;
- Tourists who will find your organization via the Internet;
- Schoolchildren who have some pocket money and love quests.
There are a lot of options for advertising quests. In most cases, you can only promote a service using the Internet. To do this, you can hold competitions on couponer websites (kukukupon, biglion, etc.). The purpose of such competitions is to gather a large audience of clients into groups on social networks (according to the rules, in order to become a participant in the competition you need to join the group). In return, you provide the winner of the competition with a free visit to the quest room. Also, through couponers you can sell tickets with large discounts (70 - 80%). This option will help gather a decent audience of clients in the first month after opening.
Another way of promotion is cooperation with holiday agencies. Such companies with great pleasure will promote your services in exchange for a percentage of the ticket price. Entertainment such as an quest room sells very well in the form of a birthday certificate.
Business profitability certificate
Fixed expenses:
- Rent of premises (80 sq. m.) – 40,000 rub.
- Wage administrator – 20,000 rub.
- Social contributions to the Pension Fund and Social Insurance Fund – 7,000 rubles.
- Taxes (UTII) – 5,000 rub.
- Advertising expenses – 15,000 rub.
- Other expenses - 10,000 rubles.
Total - 97,000 rub.
Income:
The average price for one hour of completing a quest is 3000 rubles. from the company. The main sales are on weekends and holidays~ 10 days in a month. According to statistics, up to 6 companies come to active quests per day off. Potential revenue – 18,000 rub. in a day. For ten days - 180,000 rubles. (excluding revenue on weekdays).
Net profit is: 180,000 – 97,000 (expenses) = 83,000 rubles. per month. Business profitability is estimated at 70 - 85%.
- Description of services
- Production plan
- Financial plan
- Step-by-step opening plan
- Documents for opening
- Permissions to open
- Similar business ideas:
Sample business plan for a quest room opened under a franchise agreement.
Input data:
- City population: 1,200,000 inhabitants
- Premises: rent, 130 sq. m.
- Working hours of the organization: from 10:00 to 22:00
- Number of staff: 2 people.
- Project launch costs: RUB 670,000.
- Potential profit after 2 months: RUB 280,000. per month
- Return on investment: 6 months.
The purpose of this business plan is to prove the feasibility of opening a quest room in our city. Quest room - new, interesting business, which is distinguished by relatively low investments, simple organization and high potential income.
How much money do you need to open an quest room?
The project can be opened under a franchise agreement, or independently. To open things up on their own, entrepreneurs most often turn to screenwriters. This business plan was calculated using the example of opening a quest room through franchising. The company will provide us with all the necessary documentation, help us find premises and create decorations for quest rooms, help us select personnel and promote our business. Our main task is to find investments to open a project. Investments in the project will include:
- Purchasing a franchise or the right to use a brand - 120,000 rubles.
- Materials for creating locations (2 rooms) - 400,000 rubles.
- Deposit for rent of premises for 2 months. - 120,000 rub.
- Business registration and other org. expenses - 30,000 rub.
Total - 670,000 rubles.
Description of services
The average cost of visiting for one company in our club will be 1,500 rubles. The price will depend on the time of visit and day of the week. In the evenings, as well as on weekends, the price is higher by 500 - 1000 rubles. Game reservations can be made either by phone or through the website. Types of quests for visitors:
- Isolarium
- Sarah's Curse
- Countdown
- Double Breathing
On birthdays, visitors will be offered a 20% discount. You can also purchase gift certificates worth RUB 2,500 from us. for a company of up to 4 people. Quest room opening hours: from 10:00 to 22:00.
Production plan
To accommodate the quest club, it is planned to rent a room with an area of at least 120 square meters. m. That's enough big square, so the choice of inexpensive premises will be relevant. Otherwise, rent will eat up most of the profit. As a result, we selected premises in one of the small shopping centers in our city. The shopping center is located in a residential area of the city, so rental rates here are not high. However, there is good traffic from buyers, including young people. The big advantage of being located in a shopping center is that all conditions are created here: there is security, fire alarm, communications. Repairs and other costs for preparing the premises are not required. The rented area will be 130 sq. m. m. rent amount - 60,000 rubles. per month We will employ two operators as personnel who will work on a 2/2 shift schedule. Young people and students are ideal for this position. The salary of one operator will be 18,000 rubles, and the total wage fund per month will be 36,000 rubles. For employees, monthly contributions to extra-budgetary funds (PFR and Social Insurance Fund) will be made in the amount of 10,800 rubles.
Which OKVED code should I indicate for business?
The organizational form of the quest room will be an ordinary individual entrepreneurship. It is planned to select as the main OKVED code: 92.72 - “Other activities for organizing recreation and entertainment, not included in other groups.” Taxation system - simplified tax system, 6% of revenue. Cash machine and no license is required to operate.
Marketing and promotion of services
It is planned to spend up to 40,000 rubles on business promotion. per month. Advertising and promotion of the quest room is planned to be carried out in the following areas:
- Outdoor advertising - placement of banners, billboards, advertising on video stands. Will help make our services more popular and recognizable;
- Internet advertising - contextual advertising(Yandex-Direct), advertising on social networks and on specialized forums.
- Distributing flyers and leaflets near places of potential clients - near universities, large shopping centers, youth parks.
- Carrying out promotions and charity events.
- Attracting television, creating videos and publishing them on the Internet.
Financial plan
Fixed monthly expenses:
- Rental payments - 60,000 rub.
- Salary - 36,000 rubles.
- Contributions to the Pension Fund and Social Insurance Fund - 10,800 rubles.
- Advertising - 40,000 rub.
- Other expenses - 20,000 rubles.
Total - 166,800 rubles.
How much can you earn from quest room services?
According to the franchisor’s statistics, after two months of operation of the quest room, attendance is approximately 4 groups on weekdays and up to 10 groups on weekends per room. With an average bill of 1,500 rubles. we receive the following revenue:
- 22 weekdays- 132,000 rub.
- 8 days off - 120,000 rub.
Total - 252,000 rubles. from one room. We will have two rooms open at the same time, which means potential revenue doubles, since we can accommodate twice as many visitors. The monthly turnover will thus be 504,000 rubles. We understand that in practice it will be difficult to achieve such indicators, so we will count only on 70% of the indicated revenue (we also take into account tax deductions) or 352,800 rubles. per month. Net profit will be: 352,800 (revenue) - 166,800 ( fixed costs) = 186,000 rub. per month. Business profitability is 111%! Taking into account the period for business promotion, the return on investment will occur in approximately 6 months of work.
Step-by-step opening plan
- Decide on the format of the service, whether it will be provided indoors or on-site around the city (the purchased equipment and rented space depend on this).
- It is necessary to involve a third-party screenwriter who can create detailed plots for at least several quest scenarios. It is better if the outcome is unpredictable.
- It is necessary to obtain registration documents (more details below) and register with the relevant authorities.
- A room is being looked for that will house several rooms and also house the administrator, agents and technical staff.
- This is followed by advertising promotion (ads, contextual advertising on social networks, creating your own groups and public pages, etc.).
How and what equipment to choose
In order for an enterprise to be competitive, it is necessary to purchase or rent long-term audio equipment, a remote control for the dispatcher who will monitor the situation inside the room, surveillance cameras, surroundings (antiques, themed costumes, etc.). Every 3-6 months it is necessary to update the surroundings and interior of quest rooms, which will entail an approximate cost of 300-400 thousand rubles. However, this amount of equipment costs can be reduced, because many people make decorative items from scrap materials with their own hands.
Documents for opening
In order to legalize this type of business, registration is required. individual entrepreneur- at first this is quite enough. To obtain a certificate, you must submit an application of the proposed sample, indicate contact information and the place where the quests will take place. In addition, you will need a citizen's passport and an individual tax code. A lease agreement must be concluded with the owner of the premises, which will be required by each government agency. It must be certified by the signatures and seals of both parties.
Which tax system to choose?
For this type of business activity, it is not possible to choose a patent form for the taxpayer, since the list of such types of business is clearly regulated. It will also not be possible to select tax on imputed income, because the classifier in the “household services” section does not indicate quest rooms. Therefore, the entrepreneur will have to choose between a simplified system and common system taxation. Most prefer the simplified version with its 6 or 15% tax burden. It is this scheme that will simplify reporting and minimize the cost of paying taxes.
Permissions to open
In addition to registering with the tax office and obtaining a registration certificate, permission from the fire service and sanitary and epidemiological station may be required. To do this, the premises where services will be provided (games will take place) must fully comply with their criteria. No situation should arise in any quaestor that could result in a risk of injury to the participant. Before the start of the game, each visitor must undergo a simple safety briefing.
Service delivery technology
To open a truly successful quest room, you will need a renovated room that will correspond to the theme of the events being held. If you focus on role-playing outdoor games, then they can be held in corporate premises of customers, rented anti-cafes, tourist centers, and parks. To protect yourself from possible incidents, it is necessary to conduct safety training with client players and obtain appropriate signatures from them. Since potential clients, as a rule, look for an quest room on the Internet or based on reviews from their friends, it makes sense to pay great attention to the marketing campaign. Its tools can be social networks with a page or group, information on forums, and advertising banners. Flyer distribution works well shopping centers and cinemas, as well as all kinds of promotions. Some businessmen prefer to open franchise rooms from more well-known and promoted brands.
Quest in reality - a form of active recreation in the form intellectual game. There are several forms of organizing a business of this kind. The optimal form of start: purchasing a franchise.
What a quest is is known to many, especially amateurs. computer games. This is an adventure that includes a solution various tasks and puzzles, the goal of which is usually to find the most favorable way out of a situation. Bringing the adventure “to life” is becoming such popular entertainment for a wide variety of categories of consumers.
Who's playing?
The main target audience of this business is young people. Students, office workers 20-35 years old. It is they who, having played enough quests on the computer, are ready to try their hand at reality. But these living adventures are also in demand among family people, including children and middle-aged people.
Now this business is at the stage of rapid development, that is, for those who want to realize themselves in this direction - the most favorable time. Even despite the crisis, and perhaps thanks to it. After all, quests can complement what is already working: a cafe, club, event agency, children's studio and other similar types of activities, thereby expanding and strengthening your position.
This is what one of the founders of the Claustrophobia company says about his project.
There is a choice
Currently, there are 2 models for organizing this business.
The first is the so-called room quests.
Players of 2-6 people are locked in a room, and within an hour the participants need to find a way out of it. The room is equipped thematically according to the scenario and contains appropriate props. The details contain secrets, clues - everything that is needed to reveal the “main secret” and help you get out of the room. This model requires the presence of at least one equipped room, hiring staff, that is, the initial costs are quite high. But the profit in this option is considerable.
The second model is away quests.
Here, each participant is assigned to a specific role, and together the players must solve the main mystery of the game.
There are three types of this model:
- open, where anyone who submits an application can participate. They are carried out in various predetermined in public places: cafes, shopping malls, recreation parks, etc.
- Individual, which are usually ordered for a group of 7-20 people for some holiday and are held in places determined by the customer: at home, in a cafe, at a picnic and others convenient places.
- And corporate events, designed for large (more than 25 people) groups of participants and held at the request of enterprises. The initial costs in this model are minimal. All you need is a script, Handout and some simple props for the participants, as well as the presenter. The profit in this option is less, but quite stable.
| Indoor | Outcall |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | Closed (individual) | Corporate |
||
| Start-up costs | ||||
| Payback | ||||
| Expandable | Costly (purchase/rent of premises, equipment, script) | No significant costs (scenario only) |
||
| Number of games according to one scenario that can be played per day | ||||
| Number of game participants | ||||
| Cost of the game for a group of participants, thousand rubles | 0.2-0.7 (per person) | |||
As you can see, each of the models has its own advantages and disadvantages, but both options are quite in demand among clients and are easy to implement.
In addition to these two main models, there are also quest tourism, local history games and some others, but they can be considered varieties of the second option.
Addition 2016: New type of quest: Virtual reality (the player is immersed in virtual world and performs various tasks and missions) and Quests based on famous films and TV series - Quest House.
How to start?
The most difficult thing in the quest business is the scenarios. Of course, the course of the game open games and its ending is indoor, largely depends on the actions of the participants, but a high-quality plot is the basis of everything. Therefore, it is necessary to start with writing and developing a script, and then build on it in the future when equipping the premises and thinking through the props.
However, it is worth understanding that even for professional producers and screenwriters, starting on their own and from scratch is long, difficult and risky.
Another option is franchise work. In this case there is no need for any special education or special skills - the franchisor provides a lump sum fee and royalties ready-made scripts, advertising strategy and the general concept of development. It is enough to have a desire and basic knowledge in the field of doing business. Below we will look at franchise options from the main players in the Russian market in more detail, but their essence is similar. The new franchisee receives a package that includes a brand, 1-3 game scenarios, a general development strategy, a set of instructions and best practices, and advertising support on the main website. This will allow you to start working immediately after preparing the premises in the version of indoor quests, and in the case of open ones - after only slightly testing the game.
What to start from when thinking about a quest business?
The first thing to consider when calculating a new project is the population in the city. The lump sum fee depends on the size of the city. The practice of the main players shows that cities with a population of one million are the most optimal for the quest business. 400-800 thousand is also not bad. In cities with a population of less than 400 thousand, it will not be easy to get promoted; downloads, and therefore the return, will be weak with comparable costs for advertising and running games.
It wouldn't hurt to study the competitive situation. In the complete absence of competition, promotion can take a long time, since potential clients You will need to first explain what a quest is and why it is needed.
If there are 1-2 competitors, promotion will go faster. The essence of entertainment will already be known to people, but a person will not go to the same plot a second time, he will look for something new.
A large number of competitors in a million-plus market will not be a particular obstacle, especially if the quest business is launched not as an independent business, but as an additional one.
Let's look at the main players in the quest market in reality.
Questrooms
There are still few companies working with closed quests, but they are developing quickly: new companies appear once a quarter. And although common features everyone is similar, each company tries to initially add its own flavor, be it general atmosphere games, complexity of scenarios, technical equipment and other nuances and little things.
Let's compare the two first players in the Russian questroom market. (Table 2)
Claustrophobia is the first company of “room quests” in Russia. It has been operating since December 2013 and during this short time it has reached a monthly network turnover of 40 million rubles. It has franchisees in more than 20 regions of the Russian Federation, as well as abroad.
Questrum.rf is a company with its head office in St. Petersburg. Operating since the beginning of 2014. Presented in 15 cities of Russia, Belarus, Sweden, and Canada.
| Claustrophobia | Questroom.rf |
|
|---|---|---|
| Total stories as of February 2015 | ||
| In developing | ||
| From 350 thousand rubles (in large cities - 1 million rubles and more), depending on the population and the presence of competitors and other franchisees. | From 200 thousand rubles, depending on the population and the presence of competitors and other franchisees. |
|
| From 15% of revenue depending on population |
||
| 1.0-1.5 million rubles (excluding lump-sum franchise fee) | 1.2-1.5 million rubles (including lump-sum franchise fee) |
The cost of a franchise for both companies includes 2 scenarios, premises equipment projects, instructions for staff, specific equipment, a reservation system on the website, a brand and brand book, special software, expert support, new scenarios (after working out the existing ones).
Both companies claim approximately the same payback period: 3-4 months in million-plus cities and 6-8 months in small cities.
As can be seen from the table, the terms of cooperation are not much different. It is best to navigate your choice by obtaining specific conditions for your city, as well as by playing 1-2 games (which are starting games) from each of the companies, that is, based on your own subjective opinion.
Open or away quests
This direction has been known in Russia since 2009, and thanks to the ease of starting, it is widespread throughout the country. In this format, virtually no investment is needed other than a lump sum contribution; the royalty rate is at least 15%, and often much higher (35%). In addition, new scripts are sometimes also available for an additional fee.
So, let’s compare the most popular organizers of away quests.
Questime. Start of work - 2012. As of the beginning of 2015, it is represented in 12 cities of the Russian Federation, as well as in Riga.
Questoria. Operating since 2009. At the end of 2014, it was represented in 55 cities of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.
| Questime | Questoria |
|
|---|---|---|
| Total number of scenarios as of February 2015 | ||
| Maximum amount players in the standard story | ||
| Duration of a standard game, hours | ||
| Possibility of holding holidays and corporate events (for large quantity participants) | ||
| Franchise cost. Starting (lump sum) fee | From 40 to 100 thousand rubles depending on the population | 60-85 thousand rubles depending on the population |
| From 15% depending on population | 0-35% depending on population (for cities with a population of less than 400 thousand there are no royalties) |
|
| Estimated initial investment in the project | Lump sum payment plus 20-30 thousand rubles |
|
| Purchasing new scripts | For large cities it is included in the royalty; for small cities it is available only for an additional fee. |
The cost of the franchise includes 2-3 scenarios, handouts for participants (except for consumables and costumes), marketing strategy, advertising support, including layouts of advertising materials, a booking system on the website, training for presenters, expert support at all stages.
The payback period is stated to be 3-4 months in large cities and 4-8 in small cities.
Review of the Questoria franchise.
What to choose?
As can be seen from comparative analysis, any of the quest models in reality is an excellent business idea for both beginners and those who want to expand their existing business or invest free funds. Beginners will certainly appreciate the second option - open quests - as it does not require significant investment and provides the opportunity to simply earn extra money in free time. It will also be of interest to cafe and restaurant owners as an excellent tool for expanding and retaining their customer base.
Those who are looking for an option for capital investments, or the idea of adapting their own premises with an area of 50-100 m2, will certainly be interested in questrooms.
But whatever you choose, exciting work awaits you, bringing a decent profit.