Are you about starting an amusement park? If YES, here is a complete sample amusement park business plan template & feasibility report you can use for FREE.
An amusement park is a place that has lots of attractions for kids and adults, such as roller coasters, water rides, and all kinds of entertainments. Depending on the size, an amusement park can also contain shops, entertainment outlets like a cinema as well as restaurants.
Starting an amusement park business is a huge deal, as it requires land, huge capital and a unique innovation for it to become successful.
To become successful in this business, you would need to first understand how the business is run and this is only possible if you conduct a feasibility study, that will not only show you how the business is run but will also help you determine what type of amusement park you should go into and if the venture you intend going into is worth your resources.
This is definitely not a business for the fainthearted, as you would likely be going against several large entrepreneurs and corporations that are already established in the industry.
Because this business is a huge one in terms of startup cost, you would need to hire a business consultant who has the required knowledge in this industry to help you write a business plan that will guide you in running the business. The business plan is essential as it will show you what directions you would need to take to be able to compete favorably with other established competitors in the field.
This is why a sample amusement park business plan prepared below. Below is the sample amusement park business plan:
A Sample Amusement Park Business Plan Template
1. Industry Overview
Amusement parks usually operates a variety of attractions such as games, shows, water rides, mechanical rides, theme exhibits as well as picnic grounds and refreshment stands. There are more than 400 amusement parks in the united states of America that receive about 375 million guests annually.
As at 2011, amusement parks in conjunction with all similar industries in the United States of America generated a total $55.4 billion. The industry accounts for 600,000 jobs all year round for seasonal employees and directly employs more than 1.3 million people.
According to a report by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) in 2011, 25% of Americans had visited an amusement park, with 43% making plans to visit an amusement park within a year. 26% of those that visited the amusement parks stayed overnight, while the remaining percent went on a day’s trip.
Demand in this industry is highly dependent on the income of the consumer. Most companies usually make their money by having good marketing strategies. The is industry is highly concentrated in the United States of America as 85% of the total industry revenue are generated by the 50 largest companies.
In the United States, states that had a large local population and international visitors got higher revenue than other states. The Southeastern states in the United States for instance are a major tourist’s attraction and therefore accounts for more of the revenue in the overall industry.
Majority of the revenue in this industry usually come from admissions and the rest from sale of merchandise and other products. Other revenue generating ways for the amusement parks include advertising, earning of commission from third party exhibitors, parking fees, fees from hosting events, and coin-operated games.
Globally, the market for amusement parks is estimated to reach $44.3 billion by 2022 especially as the global economy is improving which has caused an increase in leisure spending as well the rise of more tourists internationally.
Globally, the United States of America represents the largest market with China closely following behind with a projected growth of 12.2%. However by 2022, it is expected that United Arab Emirates (UAE) will overtake both countries as it breaks new grounds in the attraction industry.
2. Executive Summary
Yippy Yap Amusement Park LLC is one of nation’s leading amusement park that will be based in Burlington – Washington State to serve our large local population as well as international visitors with all our unique core services and additional services.
We intend to favorably compete with other amusement parks in our location and in the whole of the United States of America as well. To achieve this, we are willing to invest in competent and experienced professionals who would help run our business from the start to an enviable position in the industry.
We intend to continually train our employees so as to ensure that they are updated as regards new ways in running the business and also to update their skills which will lead to higher productivity for our business.
We intend to combine as many attractions as possible in our park so as to keep the customers attracted and willing to refer us to others. Part of our selling point is the fact that we intend to provide excellent customer care to our various customers by ensuring that all our employees are trained to listen politely to customers and also promptly resolve any complaints.
Yippy Yap Amusement Park LLC is sited in a strategic location that will ensure that it is convenient for not only our customers to get to us but also our employees as well. We have several sustainable and expansion strategies in place to ensure that our business continues to grow strong.
Yippy Yap Amusement Park LLC is being run by entrepreneur and businessman, Mr. Jack Cuba who has the required business experience, having several businesses of his own, to ensure the success of the amusement park.
3. Our Products and Services
Yippy Yap Amusement Park LLC, we intend to be involved in all forms of services asides offering the basic entertainment services for all our various customers.
Because we know how capital intensive this business is, we intend to create multiple sources of income in addition to our core business offerings. This is because we want to shore up our revenue base and make more profit for our amusement park business as is legally possible by the laws of Washington State and that of the United States of America as a whole.
Some of the services we intend to offer include;
- Sale of admission tickets to customers seeking entry into the park
- Development of on-site accommodation such as resorts
- Sale of spaces to commercial businesses and stores
- Merchandise sales
- Advertising
- Coin-operated games
- Commission income from third party exhibitors
- Fees for hosting parties and other events
- Parking fees
- Consultancy services
- Franchise
- Training
4. Our Mission and Vision Statement
- Our vision is to be the preferred amusement park for children, young adults and adults who want something exciting and unique, and to be amongst the top five amusement parks in the whole of the United States of America.
- Our mission is to ensure we are above the regular amusement parks by offering all visitors exciting entertainment different from the regular amusement parks in Burlington – Washington State and the in the whole of the United States as well
Our Business Structure
We know how valuable it is having a business structure as having the right structure in place will enable us start our amusement park with as little hitches as possible. We have put certain plans in place that will ensure that we have only the best hands with several years of experience working in various positions at Yippy Yap Amusement Park LLC.
Also, we would ensure that our employees understand the vision of the company, so that it would help them remain focused towards attaining the goals and objectives of the company.
Because we know how competitive the industry is, we are ready to pay our workers pay packages that are of enviable standard, while also ensuring that there are welfare packages in place. Ensuring that the two conditions are in place will improve work efficiency as well as productivity at the amusement park.
Due to the fact that we intend to offer a wide range of services asides the usual admission service into the park, we would need to carry out a thorough scrutiny of those we would like to fill in these various positions on behalf of Yippy Yap Amusement Park LLC. Below is the intended business structure that we intend to build at Yippy Yap Amusement Park LLC;
- Chief Executive Officer
- General Manager
- Park Manager
- Games Manager
- Human Resources Manager
- Business Development Manager
- Sales and Marketing Team
- Accountant
- Customer Service Executives
- Security Guard
- Cleaners
5. Job Roles and Responsibilities
Chief Executive Officer
- Responsible for generating capital and creating the overall budget for the amusement park
- Engages in high negotiation deals with clients and investors on behalf of the amusement park
- Creates a strategic direction for the company and ensures that it is communicated to the management staff
- Continually evaluates the success of the organization
General Manager
- Sees to the overall daily operations of all the aspects of the amusement
- Coordinates with the park and games manager to ensure that the overall policy of the company is being adhered to
- Takes important decisions on behalf of the amusement park
- Crosschecks with the CEO as regards certain aspects of the business
Park Manager
- Responsible for overseeing the smooth running of all the daily activities that goes on in the amusement park
- Maps out the strategies that would be needed to lead to a better productivity of the employees at the park
- Responsible for appraisals of each employees and making decisions affecting employees in the park
- Ensures that the amusement park meets the expected safety regulations of the authorities
Games Manager
- Responsible for reviewing games and other fun activities at the amusement park to know which would attract customers
- Creates and implements budget for games in the park
- Responsible for training and assessing all game workers
- Crafts strategies that would influence all activities in the gaming section
Human Resources Manager
- Responsible for sourcing, recruiting and training all workers needed in the amusement parks in conjunction with the different managers
- Is responsible for the welfare of all the workers at the amusement park
- Carries out induction for new employees
- Defines job positions in relation to recruitment
Business Development Manager
- Responsible for developing new business ideas for the amusement park
- Create strategies to ensure that the amusement park makes revenue from other services
Sales and Marketing Team
- Constantly carries out research to determine best ways customers can be retained
- Identifies new target markets and opportunities
- Develops and implements new plans for increasing sales
- Create and maintain a reliable database of customers
Accountant
- Handles all the financial transactions on behalf of the amusement park
- In charge of employee payrolls
- Carries out financial forecasting and risks taking on behalf of the amusement park
- Prepares accurate tax information on behalf of the amusement park and submit to the tax authorities.
Customer Service Executives
- Takes bookings from customers on behalf of the customers
- Listen to all customer complaints by ensuring that the complaints get to the right department and are resolved as quickly as possible
- Keep an accurate database of customers on behalf of the amusement park
- Stays updated about new information and services on Yippy Yap amusement Park LLC, to ensure that customers that call for inquiries get accurate information
Security Guard
- Ensure that the amusement park is safe and secure for customers and employees
- Patrols the amusement park during the day to check for any signs of troubles or incidents
- Ensures that lost objects and personal items are kept safe
- Pass along security tips to the employees
Cleaners
- Responsible for ensuring that the environment is kept clean before park is open for visitors everyday
- Ensures that the restrooms are kept clean at all times
- Keeps inventory of cleaning supplies
- Keeps administrative areas and complexes clean
6. SWOT Analysis
Running a standard amusement park requires that all influencing factors be looked into. In determining if we were best suited to run an amusement park business in Burlington – Washington State, we hired business consultants who had the responsibility of looking through our business and determining if the odds were in our favor in running this business.
A SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) analysis was used to determine what would become of our business and if it was worthwhile expending the huge amount of resources – financial and labor in starting this business.
Even though this area is deemed a tough area for any entrepreneur to embark on, the analysis assured us that our strengths and the opportunities available to us would give us leverage over our weaknesses and threats as well as our competitors as well. Below is the result from the SWOT analysis conducted on behalf of Yippy Yap Amusement Park LLC;
- Strengths
Our strengths lies in the various other services added to our core unique services that we intended to introduce to our wide range of customers. We have hired competent employees who know the value of work ethics and are well attuned to our corporate culture in delivering excellent services to our customers.
Our management team all have several years of experience in running an amusement park and therefore have what it takes to run this business from the ground up to an enviable position in the industry. Also, the business is bring run by a seasoned entrepreneur – Mr. jack Cuba who has the necessary experience required in taking strategic decisions that would set the business on its right course.
- Weaknesses
The amusement park business is a tough industry to break into especially as strong competitors abound in this field, also, the fact that we are located in Burlington – Washington State might be a weakness for us but we have plans in place to combat this weakness and turn it into strengths.
- Opportunities
People seek entertainment o a daily basis, some want a sense of adventure, others are looking for something dreamy, and others want something fun, whilst some are on the lookout for challenges. We know how perfectly poised we are in ensuring that we tap into the many available opportunities by ensuring that customers have their needs met.
- Threats
The threat we are likely to face in this business is the threat of new competitors launching a similar business in the location we would be operating from. Another threatening factor might be a downturn of the economy which would mean that people would spend less than they usually do to come to amusement parks. We however have strategies in place to combat these threats.
7. MARKET ANALYSIS
- Market Trends
Amusement parks have a constant demand that changes depending on the season, however, changes are not unusually low for this kind of business as it is for other businesses.
However, any amusement park that intends to be in business for a very long time and favorably compete with other established amusement parks will need to stay creative in bringing forth new ideas and also be unique for the overall benefit of the business.
This includes continually exploring ideas that will be fascinating for the wide range of customers who visit the amusement parks.
Another trend for amusement parks is the fact that most amusement parks do not only sell admission rates for visitors who intend to gain entry into the park to see the various attractions that the park has to offer; it also sells spaces to shops, restaurants, event places and other commercial outlets.
Also, huge amusement parks also have accommodation on the site like resorts for people who like to stay for awhile and experience all the pleasures and attractions that the park has to offer.
Lastly, technology through the internet has played a major role in ensuring that more people are aware of the various services an amusement park can offer. Amusement parks can now interact with potential and existing customers via their websites which have been uniquely designed to showcase all the attractions that the amusement park has to offer.
In this industry, one has to network with a whole lot of people in the entertainment industry so that sales can be increased for the overall healthy bottom line of the business.
8. Our Target Market
The target market for amusement parks is huge, as there are a variety of people that visit and make use of the facilities at the amusement parks. This means that our target market cannot be limited to a certain group of people, but all those who have always seen the amusement park as a place to visit.
Our strategic location in Burlington – Washington State is likely o enable us tap into all the available target market in this industry.
Because we know how big this sort of project is, we have in conjunction with several reputable business consultants have conducted our market research just so as to be able to properly define our target market, which will then enable us draft specific strategies that can be applied. Our business is to offer entertainment and other services to the following group of people:
- Children
- Young Adults
- Adults
- Senior Citizens
- Households
- Business People
- Film Studios
- Celebrities
- Tourists
- Students
Our Competitive Advantage
Having a competitive advantage is very important for every business. This industry is one that is filled with huge established amusement parks and our intention to become one of the top five amusement parks in the whole of the United States of America isn’t going to be achieved if we do not come up with strategies that will not only help us compete favorably with our competitors but also ensure that our goals and objectives are achieved.
First off, we are going to ensure that we offer unique services and will recruit the best creative minds to always remain proactive as regards developing new unique games for our customers that will keep us above our nearest and even far off competitors.
Asides, ensuing that we keep our customers thoroughly entertained in our amusement park, we also intend to offer other unique services that are rarely seen in other amusement parks. We intend to offer on-site accommodation to guests that would want to live in our amusement park for a week or more so as to be able to see as many attractions as possible.
All our workers irrespective of assigned position will be trained in the area of customer care and so we will top our competitors in this regards by offering excellent customer care in all ramifications. The welfare packages for our employees across board will be better than the standard package as we intend to create an atmosphere where efficiency and effectiveness is the norm.
Lastly, we intend to ensure that our equipments and game machines are up to the required standards at all times. Our maintenance team will continually carry out regular maintenance of all our working equipment as this would be a way of detecting defective equipment, and keeping accidents at the amusement park up to the lightest and barest minimum.
9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY
- Sources of Income
Yippy Yap Amusement Park, LLC is established with the sole aim of making profit in Burlington – Washington State and the whole of the United States of America, which we intend to do through different factors by ensuring that we offer different services to our wide range of customers which is intended to shore up revenue for us.
Yippy Yap Amusement Park, LLC intends to generate income through direct and indirect revenue generating methods via the following services;
- Sale of admission tickets to customers seeking entry into the park
- Development of on-site accommodation such as resorts
- Sale of spaces to commercial businesses and stores
- Merchandise sales
- Advertising
- Coin-operated games
- Commission income from third party exhibitors
- Fees for hosting parties and other events
- Parking fees
- Consultancy services
- Training
- Franchise
10. Sales Forecast
The amusement park business is a thriving business that receives a large number of customers daily. However, there is always a demand surge during certain seasons.
Due to our strategic positioning in Burlington – Washington State, we are well positioned to meet our target market in the state as well as around its environs as well. We are optimistic that our target of generating enough revenue that will cover costs of running operations as well as little profits will be achieved during the second year of operations.
Our sales forecast was as a result of a critical evaluation carried out on behalf of Yippy Yap Amusement Parks by our business consultants that we hired. These business consultants who are the best in the field and are well versed regarding the amusement park industry thoroughly analyzed our chances of survival and growth.
The information for the sales projection was gathered based on our location in Burlington – Washington State, and similar start-ups especially those in the same industry as ours. Below are the sales projection for Yippy Yap Amusement Park LLC depending on the above listed factors and several others;
- First Fiscal Year-: $85,000,000
- Second Fiscal Year-: $160,000,000
- Third Fiscal Year-: $320,000,000
N.B: As mentioned above, the above projections are based entirely on what is obtainable in the industry and also based on the facts that the factors used to base the assumptions such as location, stable economy and lack of competitor in the same area of operation remained same. A change in any of these factors will definitely cause a positive or negative change in the sales projections.
- Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy
The intention of marketing a product and or service is very straightforward; however marketing itself serves a dual purpose for every business.
The importance of marketing for any business especially those with the intention of making profit is to generate revenue for the business whilst also increasing awareness about the products and or services a business has to offer and even for the business itself as a whole.
However, the old way of marketing products which was through distribution of fliers as well as placing adverts in print and in television might not be as effective especially as technology has not only made it easier for businesses to gain their customers but is also a faster way of generating income for any business, especially amusement parks.
Without marketing, any business no matter how fantastic it looks would likely fail. Because of how huge the amusement park project is, we were careful in deciding what our marketing and sales strategy would be and for this purpose we hired marketing consultants that conducted a thorough marketing survey and feasibility study on our behalf as regards who our target customers are and how we should penetrate the available market so as to draw customers to our business.
The marketing experts we hired have a thorough knowledge of the amusement park business and so would also help in drafting effective marketing strategies in conjunction with our sales and marketing team so that our corporate goals can be achieved.
Yippy Yap Amusement Park LLC intends to adopt the following marketing and sales strategy in providing service to our various customers;
- Throw a grand opening party to showcase what our amusement park has to offer
- Give huge discounts for the first two weeks of opening our amusement parks
- Advertise our amusement park in magazines, newspapers and on television
- Massively market our amusement park through our website and social media platforms such as Facebook , instagram and Google Plus
- Engage in direct marketing
- Advertise on popular forums and traffic pulling websites
11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy
Every business that intends to grow needs to intensify its publicity and advertising strategies, if they intend to favorably compete with other similar businesses in the same industry. The amusement park business is no different and if we intend to secure our lead amongst the top five in the industry, we would need to intensify publicity for our business and the services we offer at Yippy Yap Amusement Park, LLC.
Other ways we intend to ensure that we publicize our amusement park are offering of trainings for those who intend to start their own amusement park business and consultancy services for those who are already in the business. These services will ensure that the awareness for our brand in Burlington – Washington State and in the whole of the United States of America increases so that our customers can readily identify us amongst others.
Listed below are some of the platforms we intend leveraging on in order to promote our Yippy Yap Amusement Park Business LLC;
- Creating customized tee-shirts with our logos and giving to loyal customers as free
- Placing adverts on radio and television as regards our brands
- Placing advert via Google and other traffic pulling sites
- Participating and sponsoring relevant programs in the community
- Making use of our social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and other such avenues to publicize our business.
- Ensuring that our billboards are installed in various strategic locations in Burlington and around the whole of Washington State
- Design flexi banners and place in different conspicuous locations to increase awareness
- Distribute our unique fliers in target areas
- Sponsor school high school, college, and universities entertainment shows
12. Our Pricing Strategy
We intend to offer admission rates that are affordable to our different customers such as children, adult, senior citizen or a family unit.
Our admission rate is usually all-inclusive and allows customers see attractions, use rides and enjoy live entertainment. Customers who want extra services such as specialty rides and attractions, merchandise, concessions and arcades will definitely have to pay more.
Pricing in admission parks usually boils down to two categories such as physical and non-physical choice categories. Even though both categories need an admission ticket, they offer different services. The physical choice usually includes admission packages that are based on the type of amenities and inventory to be used, while the non-physical choice usually includes rates for different usage times.
During our first one month of operations, we intend to ensure that all rates for different admission categories are discounted so that more customers can patronize our services.
- Payment Options
Yippy Yap Amusement Park LLC intends to ensure that all our customers have different payment options that suit them. Our payment policy will be broad and inclusive of all the categories of customers we are likely to get. The payment options that we will make available to our wide range of customers include;
- Cash payment
- Credit Card payment
- Payment via Point of Sale (POS) Machine
- Payment via online transfer
- Payment via mobile app transfer
The above payment options were carefully chosen in conjunction with our bank which we believe offer the best baking platforms that will ensure that all payments go through with few hitches as possible.
13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)
The amusement park business is one that requires a whole lot of start-up capital that is usually spent on getting the machineries and equipment to use in starting the business. Asides from getting the machineries and equipment, the bulk of the capital is also used to pay employees and pay other bills till the business starts making its own money to pay for these aspects itself.
The key areas where the start-up capital will be spent on are;
- Total fee for registering business and handling other legalities in the United States of America – $2,000
- Zonal licenses and permits – $30,000
- Cost of hiring several business consultants – $500,000
- Insurance policy (workers’ compensation, general liability, property and equipment liability) – $1,000,000
- Operational costs for the first one year (employee salaries, utility payments and other running costs) – $5,000,000
- Cost of leasing land for amusement park – $5,000,000
- Cost of acquiring and installing equipment and machineries – $40,000,000
- Cost of building several facilities – $10,000,000
- Cost of equipping each building with necessary gadgets – $3,000,000
- Other start up expenses (installations of phones, computers, printers, security cameras and furniture) – $2,000,000
- Cost of store facilities (ventilation, shelves, cleaning supplies) – $1,000,000
- Marketing expenses (promotion for grand opening as well as marketing for the first one year) – $2,000,000
- Cost of building and launching an official website – $20,000
- Cost of start-up inventory – $3,000,000
- Cost of hosting launch party – $1,000,000
- Miscellaneous – $500,000
From the above estimation, we would require the sum of $75,000,000 to be able to successfully launch and operate an amusement park in Burlington – Washington State. The amount is inclusive of capital expenditures such as land and building and running costs such as employees’ salaries and utility bills payment for at least a year of operation.
Generating Funding/Startup Capital for Yippy Yap Amusement Park Business
Yippy Yap Amusement Park LLC is a business owned by several investors but run by an entrepreneur and business man, Jack Cuba. Knowing how huge this project is, Jack intends to source for the start-up capital from the following five major sources. The below listed areas are where we intend to start generating capital from;
- Part capital generation from personal savings and sale of stocks
- Sourcing capital from angel investors
- Sourcing capital from venture capitalists
- Apply for loan from a bank
- Source for capital from wealthy friends and family members
N.B: From the following five major sources, we were able to generate $10,000,000 from personal savings and sale of stocks. We generated $10,000,000 from wealthy friends and family members.
From angel investors, we were able to generate the sum of $20,000,000. From venture capitalists, we were able to generate the sum of $10,000,000. We are currently seeking for a loan of $25,000,000 from our bank and have all documentations in place. We know the loan will be approved within a month as we have met all the conditions from the bank.
14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy
Every business that has gone through the rigors of establishing itself to make profit as well as favorably compete against its competitors in the same industry always has plans in place to ensure its sustainability. Not having a sustainability strategy would mean that the business might not last for very long before failing.
While we intend to offer unique services at Yippy Yap Amusement Park LLC, we also intend to ensure that the feedback from our customers guide us all the time. We know how important customers are to any business especially to our kind of business and so we would ensure that asides offering the best services possible to our customers.
We would also ensure that the lines of communication between our customers and us are always opened. We also intend to keep our customers happy by ensuring we promptly attend and resolve all complaints in a timely manner. Asides taking good care of our customers, we know that keeping the employees happy as they are our internal customers is very important too.
We would pay our employees with what is obtainable across the industry. We also would ensure that staff welfare is available for all our employees and that incentive packages are kept in place to reward hard working employees. Our employees would also undergo trainings periodically so that it would enhance their skills on the job and also ensure that they stay updated as regards new improving technologies in the work place.
These two factors are very important and of a huge concern to us and we know that with the right plans in place in hiring a competent workforce that is committed to our goals and objectives, we would attain our vision of becoming amongst the top five well known amusement park in the whole of the United States of America.
Check List/Milestone
- Business Name Availability Check: Completed
- Business Registration: Completed
- Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts: Completed
- Securing Point of Sales (POS) Machines: Completed
- Opening Mobile Money Accounts: Completed
- Opening Online Payment Platforms: Completed
- Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
- Application for business license and permit: Completed
- Purchase of Insurance for the Business: Completed
- Conducting feasibility studies: Completed
- Generating capital from family members: Completed
- Applications for Loan from the bank: In Progress
- writing of business plan: Completed
- Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: Completed
- Drafting of Contract Documents and other relevant Legal Documents: In Progress
- Design of The Company’s Logo: Completed
- Graphic Designs and Printing of Packaging Marketing / Promotional Materials: In Progress
- Recruitment of employees: In Progress
- Creating Official Website for the Company: In Progress
- Creating Awareness for the business both online and around the community: In Progress
- Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement (License): Secured
- Opening party / launching party planning: In Progress
- Establishing business relationship with vendors – wholesale suppliers / merchants: In Progress
- Purchase of trucks: Completed