Are you about starting a water park business? If YES, here is a complete sample water park business plan template & feasibility report you can use for FREE.
Creating a business that targets children and adults is one sure way of making money especially if the business is laced with all that is required for them to have fun. The real deal in starting a water park business is securing a facility that is large enough to contain water play facilities and other outdoor games for children, and also a place where parents/guardians can hangout while their wards play.
It should be in a location that can attract the kind of clients that would pay to make use of your water park. It might take you months to get an ideal facility, so it is better you inform your real estate agent well in advance to help you with the search.
Starting a standard water park is akin to starting a family entertainment center and it can be expensive, but you can be rest assured that you will make your money within few years of launching the business. If your water park facility is of high standard and it is located close to a residential estate with loads of growing families, you will attract loads of children especially on weekends and special holidays.
You should be able to convince parents and school managements to make use of your water park facility on a regular basis. Below is a sample water park business plan template that can help you to successfully write your own with little or no difficulty.
A Sample Water Park Business Plan Template
1. Industry Overview
The water parks industry consists of amusement parks that feature water – play areas, such as waterslides, splash pads, spray – grounds (water playgrounds), lazy rivers or other recreational bathing, swimming and barefooting environments. Please note that these parks may be indoors, outdoors or a combination of both.
The Water Parks industry has made a big splash over the five years to 2017, as industry revenue was bolstered by rising per capita disposable incomes, falling unemployment rates and a generally improving economy. Increased consumer spending has played into the industry’s growth as consumers splurged on discretionary items such as water park tickets.
The industry’s biggest water parks are owned and operated by global players such as Walt Disney Co. and Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. The Water Parks industry’s recent growth is set to continue during the next five years. The strengthening macroeconomic climate will boost discretionary spending, which will help the domestic tourism sector.
The Water Parks industry is indeed a very large industry and pretty much thriving in all parts of the world especially in developed countries such as united states of America, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Switzerland and Italy.
Statistics has it that in the United States of America alone, there are about 156 licensed and registered water parks who are into franchising responsible for employing about 49,982 employees and the industry rakes in a whooping sum of $3 billion annually with an annual growth rate projected at 10.0 percent between 2011 and 2016.
A recent report published by IBISWORLD shows that due to the seasonality of the Water Parks industry, industry operators concentrate themselves in regions where there is favorable weather. Therefore, the largest water parks are located in states like Texas and Florida.
The colder climates of the Rocky Mountains and New England regions attract only 3.8 percent and 6.0 percent of industry establishments, respectively. The report shows that the Southeast region has the most industry establishments of any geographic area in the United States.
In 2017, this region is expected to contain 27.7 percent of industry establishments, with Florida having the most establishments of any state with 11.5 percent. The largest industry operators are located in Florida because of the favorable weather and vacation destination appeal of the state.
In recent time, the Water Parks industry has experienced revenue growth despite many families being time – strapped. While the industry contended with mounting competition from alternative leisure activities such as bouncing castle, fitness centers and cinemas, many operators generated industry revenue growth on the basis of convenience.
In the coming years, the industry revenue is forecast to grow as family entertainment centers such as water parks will continue to enhance their product portfolios to attract families, despite their reduced leisure time.
In summary, starting a water park business in the United States of America can be stressful, it requires enough cash to acquire land large enough to accommodate the kind of facility that can comfortably attract families and also cash required to equip the facility to meet the standard expected by potential users.
2. Executive Summary
Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. is a standard amusement cum water park business that will be located in a growing community in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida. Our basic aim of setting up the business is to contribute our quota in ensuring that children cum families who live in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater and neighboring cities have a facility for their children to catch fun to the maximum.
We have been able to secure a standard facility in a central and easy to locate area in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater. We will be engaged in operating water – play areas, such as waterslides, splash pads, spray – grounds (water playgrounds), lazy rivers or other recreational bathing, swimming and barefooting environments et al.
Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. is going to become the number one family focused recreation facility in the whole of Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida and we will work hard to build our facility to match the needs of the average family in the community.
We conducted a thorough research and feasibility studies and we were able to come to the conclusion that Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater is the right place to open our water park. As a matter of fact, our major aim of starting Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. is to encourage families in the community to cultivate the habit of going out for recreational activities.
Our water park facility is specifically designed to take care of children as well as parents. We have active childcare services for toddlers and we have membership packages that are highly discounted for families or churches and schools who would want to regularly make use of our facility for camping.
Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. will at all times demonstrate her commitment to sustainability, both individually and as a business, by actively participating in our communities and integrating sustainable business practices wherever possible.
We will ensure that we hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards by meeting our client’s needs precisely and completely.
Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. is owned and managed by Reginald Sawyer. Reginald Sawyer has a degree in Business Management coupled with 10 years’ hands on experience in the water parks industry working for some of the leading brands in the United States of America.
3. Our Products and Services
Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. will provide recreational facility for residents of Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida which is why we have been able to put up a facility that can help us achieve the goal. We are optimistic that everyone who makes use of our water park facility will definitely derive fun and have value for their money. These are the services and amenities that will be made available to our clients in our facility;
- Operating water – play areas such as waterslides, splash pads, spray – grounds (water playgrounds), lazy rivers or other recreational bathing, swimming and barefooting environments et al
- Operating water attractions
- Operating recreational bathing facilities
- Selling merchandise
- Selling food and beverages
4. Our Mission and Vision Statement
- Our Vision of starting Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. is to build a world – class water park recreational facility and also to contribute our quota in encouraging families and residents in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater to actively engage in recreational activities.
- Our mission for establishing Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. is to create a movement in the community that supports total engagement of family in fun filled recreational activities.
- We want to contribute our quota towards ensuring that Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater communities produce some of the happiest children and families in the whole of the United States of America.
Our Business Structure
Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. is in business to become the leading outdoor water park facility in the whole of Florida and we are fully aware that it will take the right facility, management and organizational structure to achieve our goal.
We will ensure that we hire people that are qualified, honest, customer centric and are ready to work to help us build a prosperous business that will benefit all the stakeholders. As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our senior management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of ten years or more.
Our business will not be built only for the purpose of giving our customers value for their money, but also we will ensure that we make our work environment highly conducive for all our employees. In view of that, we have made provisions for the following positions to be occupied by highly qualified and experienced staff;
- Chief Executive Office – CEO
- Facility Manager
- Accountant/Cashier
- Marketing and Sales Officer
- Water Park Safety Instructor/Assistant (5)
- Customer Care Executive/Front Desk Officer
- Cleaners
5. Job Roles and Responsibilities
Chief Executive Officer – CEO:
- Increases management’s effectiveness by recruiting, selecting, orienting, training, coaching, counseling, and disciplining managers; communicating values, strategies, and objectives; assigning accountabilities; planning, monitoring, appraising job results and developing incentives
- Responsible for fixing prices and signing business deals
- Responsible for providing direction for the business
- Creates, communicates, and implements the organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading the development and implementation of the overall organization’s strategy.
- Responsible for signing checks and documents on behalf of the company
- Evaluates the success of the organization
Facility Manager
- Responsible for operating and managing the water park facility
- Ensures that the facility is in tip top condition at all times
- Responsible for managing food and beverage services
- Manages membership and registration services
- Handles other relevant facility operation
Water Park Safety Instructors/Assistant (5)
- Responsible for operating water – play areas, such as waterslides, splash pads, spray – grounds (water playgrounds), lazy rivers or other recreational bathing, swimming and barefooting environments et al
- Ensures that children and adults alike follow laid down safety measures when they make use of our water park
Marketing and Sales Officer (2)
- Identifies and reaches out to new clients, and business opportunities et al
- Writes winning proposal documents, negotiate fees and rates in line with organizations’ policy
- Documents all customer contact and information
- Represents the organization in strategic meetings
- Helps to increase sales and growth for the organization.
Accountant/Cashier:
- Responsible for preparing financial reports, budgets, and financial statements for the organization
- Provides managements with financial analyses, development budgets, and accounting reports
- Responsible for financial forecasting and risks analysis
- Performs cash management, general ledger accounting, and financial reporting for the organization
- Responsible for developing and managing financial systems and policies
- Responsible for administering payrolls
- Ensures compliance with taxation legislation
- Handles all financial transactions for Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc.
- Serves as internal auditor for Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc.
Client Service Executive
- Welcomes members by greeting them in person or on the telephone; answering or directing inquiries.
- Ensures that all contacts with clients (e-mail, walk-In center, SMS or phone) provides the client with a personalized customer service experience of the highest level
- Through interaction with clients on the phone, uses every opportunity to build client’s interest in the organization’s products and services
- Manages administrative duties assigned by the management in an effective and timely manner
- Consistently stays abreast of any new information on the organizations’ products, promotional campaigns etc. to ensure accurate and helpful information is supplied to clients when they make enquiries
Cleaners (3):
- Responsible for cleaning in and around the facility
- Cleans up after customers
- Maintains a clean working area by sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning of glass doors and windows, etc. if required.
- Ensures that toiletries and supplies don’t run out of stock
- Handles any other duty as assigned by the facility center manager.
6. SWOT Analysis
Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. provides water play recreational facility for families in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida. We are aware that there are competitions in the water parks industry which is why we took out time to conduct an effective SWOT Analysis before investing our hard earned money into the business.
We know that if we get things right before starting our water park, we will not have to struggle before attract loyal clients and building our membership base to a level where we can easily breakeven in record time.
We hired the services a HR and Business consultant with bias in business structuring to help us conduct SWOT analysis for our company and he did a pretty good job for us. Here is a of the result we got from the SWOT analysis that was conducted on behalf of Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc.;
- Strength:
One of the obvious strength that will definitely stand as a plus for Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. is the fact that our facility is centrally located in a densely populated – residential area in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida; our location is in fact one of our major strengths.
We equally have a team of highly qualified professionals who will work with our clients to achieve their aims making use of our water park facility and lastly our gate fee/membership package is one of the best that anybody living in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida can get; it is affordable.
- Weakness:
We looked into our Business model and we were able to identify two major weakness. One is the fact that we are a new business.
The second is the fact that we may not have the financial resources required to match up with existing water parks as well as family entertainment and recreation facilities and even government own entertainment and recreation facilities in Florida when it comes to acquiring latest recreational vehicles and generating the needed hype that can drive traffic towards our facility.
- Opportunities:
We are centrally located in one of the busiest and densely populated area in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida and we are open to all the available opportunities that the city has to offer.
- Threat:
Some of the threats that are likely going to confront Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. are unfavorable government policies, inclement weather, demographic / social factors, downturn in the economy which is likely going to affect consumer spending and lastly, the emergence of new competitors within the same location where our water park facility is located.
7. MARKET ANALYSIS
- Market Trends
The Water parks industry has indeed benefited from recent marketing campaigns which are targeted towards encouraging people to participate in recreation activities, as well as consumer trends toward healthy living.
Going forward, people who are part of the baby boomer generation are expected to sign up for recreational club memberships or make use of recreation facilities in their communities, as they become more family cum health – conscious as they grow older.
However, patrons of water park recreation centers are anticipated to increasingly pick up membership from less expensive camping and recreational centers as against expensive all – inclusive clubs.
The trend in the industry is such that if a facility is well – equipped and positioned close to a residential area or a place where people can easily access without much stress, there is the likelihood that the facility will enjoy high patronage. External factors such as domestic trips by US residents and consumer spending will definitely impact industry’s performance.
Just like in other business ventures, the owners of water parks are always looking for ways to increase their market share; they go as far as signing deals with high schools and religious organizations et al to make use of their facility. In an increasingly saturated market, water park operators will try to bring in revenue year-round.
Large, destination water parks dominate the industry, attracting international visitors and operators are expected to continue trying to attract nontraditional markets by providing extra services
Lastly, it is a common trend that as water parks grow, it becomes necessary for them to develop new service offerings or install new facilities that will help them attract more people. Little wonder some water parks now have other facilities targeted towards adults / parents. So, it is very important for water park facilities to continue to improvise if they want to grow their business.
8. Our Target Market
The target market for water parks cuts across people from different backgrounds. The fact that people visit or register in water park recreational facilities makes marketing the business interesting. The target market for water parks can be categorized into three various groups.
The first group are the families who are looking towards creating time for children cum family hangouts and bonding. The other group of people are schools who would want an ideal place to take students / children to during excursions or playtime et al. The last group of people are religious organizations and clubs.
Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. will work towards providing services, facilities and environment that will help us reach out to our target market. These are the category of people that we intend marketing our family entertainment center to;
- Households and families in an around Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida
- Schools
- Churches and Religious centers
- Clubs
- Corporate organizations
- Travelers/Tourists
Our competitive advantage
The Water parks industry is indeed a highly competitive industry. Clients will only make use of your facility if they know that you can provide the enabling environment and facility for them to catch maximum fun. We can boast of having access to multi – skilled and flexible workforce, proximity to key markets and carrying out regular maintenance to keep facilities in a good condition.
Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. is located close to a densely populated residential area in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida; this is obviously going to give us an edge amongst our competitors.
We equally have a team of highly qualified professionals who will work with all our clients to achieve their aims of making use of our water park facility and lastly our gate fee cum membership package is going to be one of the best that anybody living around Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida can get; it is affordable.
Lastly, our employees will be well taken care of, and their welfare package will be among the best within our category in the industry. It will enable them to be more than willing to build the business with us and help deliver our set goals and achieve all our business aims and objectives.
9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY
Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. is established with the aim of maximizing profits in the Water Parks industry and we are going to go all the way to ensure that we do all it takes to attract customers on a regular basis. Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. will generate income by offering the following services;
- Operating water – play areas, such as waterslides, splash pads, spray – grounds (water playgrounds), lazy rivers or other recreational bathing, swimming and barefooting environments et al
- Operating water attractions
- Operating recreational bathing facilities
- Selling merchandise
- Selling food and beverages
10. Sales Forecast
It is important to state that our sales forecast is based on the data gathered during our feasibility studies and also some of the assumptions readily available on the field. It would be hard to create a sales forecast with a newly opened business like water park because the statistics that will be provided will be on a short term basis.
Experts say that usually a business should be in operation for at least one year before they can generate the statistics that will be accurate in forecasting; statistics should be at least one-year-old in order to show the trends and patterns in consumer spending.
We expect to welcome a minimum of 12,000 customers i.e. 0ne thousand customers per month within our first year of operations and then in subsequent years, we will grow by 25 percent on more. Below are the sales projection for Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc., it is based on the location of our water park facility and the services we will be offering to our members;
- First Fiscal Year: $240,000
- Second Fiscal Year: $450,000
- Third Fiscal Year: $750,000
N.B: This projection was done based on what is obtainable in the industry and with the assumption that there won’t be any major competitor offering same services as we do within 4.5 miles’ radius.
- Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy
Our marketing strategies will be directed towards achieving specific objectives that support the strategic goals of the organization. The truth is that all that we do will be geared towards creating new market channels, increasing sales and our market share.
We will leverage on improving on our services and facility to ensure that we win new clients and retain old members. As part of our sales and marketing strategies, we will pay attention to the promotion of our water park facility so as to attract families to enroll.
Our unique selling proposition is that we are well positioned and people can easily access our facility, our prices are affordable and we have a complete package for families, clubs, schools and religious organizations. Parts of the marketing and sales strategies that we will adopt are;
- Open our water park facility with a big party for all and sundry
- Advertise our water park facility on national dailies, local TV and radio stations
- Promote our water park facility online via our official website and all available social media platforms
- Introduce our water park facility by sending introductory letters alongside our brochure to religious organizations, schools, households and key stake holders in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida
- Print out fliers and business cards and strategically drop them in offices, libraries, public facilities and train stations et al.
- Make use of attractive hand bills to create awareness and also to give direction to our water park facility
- Adopt direct mailing coupon marketing approach
- Position our signage / flexi banners at strategic places in and around Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida
- Create a loyalty plan that will enable us reward our consistent members especially those that registered as a family or groups
- Engage in roadshows within our neighborhood to create awareness for our water park facility.
11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy
We have been able to work with our branding and publicity consultants to help us map out publicity and advertising strategies that will help us walk our way into the heart of our target market.
We are set to become the number one choice in the whole of Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida which is why we have made provisions for effective publicity and advertisement of our water park facility. Below are the platforms we intend to leverage on to promote and advertise Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc.;
- Place adverts on both print (community based newspapers and magazines) and electronic media platforms
- Sponsor relevant community based sport events and competitions
- Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like; Instagram, Facebook, twitter, YouTube, Google + et al to promote our brand
- Install our billboards in strategic locations all around Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida
- Engage in roadshow from time to time in targeted neighborhoods
- Distribute our fliers and handbills in target areas
- List Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. on local directories / yellow pages
- Advertise our water park in our official website and employ strategies that will help us pull traffic to the site.
- Ensure that all our staff members wear our branded shirts and vehicles are well branded with our corporate logo.
12. Our Pricing Strategy
Our pricing system is going to be based on what is obtainable in the industry, we don’t intend to charge more and we don’t intend to charge less than what our competitors are charging as gate or members fees.
Be that as it may, we have put plans in place to offer discount services once in a while and also to reward our loyal customers especially when they refer clients to us or when they register as a family, group or a religious organization and schools. The prices of our services will be same as what is obtainable in the United States’ open market.
- Payment Options
The payment policy adopted by Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. is all inclusive because we are quite aware that different customers prefer different payment options as it suits them but at the same time, we will ensure that we abide by the financial rules and regulation of the United States of America.
Here are the payment options that Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. will make available to her clients;
- Payment via bank transfer
- Payment with cash
- Payment via credit cards / Point of Sale Machines (POS Machines)
- Payment via online bank transfer
- Payment via check
- Payment via mobile money transfer
In view of the above, we have chosen banking platforms that will enable our client make payment for admission into our water park facility without any stress on their part. Our bank account numbers will be made available on our website and promotional materials.
13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)
This is what it would cost us to set up Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. in the United of America;
- The total fee for registering the business in the United States of America – $750.
- The cost for legal expenses for obtaining licenses and permits – $1,500.
- Marketing promotion expenses (8,000 flyers at $0.04 per copy) for the total amount of $10,000.
- The cost for hiring Business Consultant – $5,000.
- Insurance (general liability, workers’ compensation and property casualty) coverage at a total premium – $30,800.
- The cost of accounting software, CRM software and Payroll Software – $3,000
- The cost for leasing facility for the water park – $250,000.
- The cost for facility remodeling and equipping the facility with various water play facility – $250,000.
- Other start-up expenses including stationery – $1000
- Phone and utility deposits – $3,500
- Operational cost for the first 3 months (salaries of employees, payments of bills et al) – $100,000
- The cost for Start-up inventory – $15,000
- The cost for the purchase of furniture and gadgets (Computers, Printers, Telephone, TVs, Sound System, video games, snooker board, tables and chairs et al) – $10,000.
- The cost of launching a website – $600
- The cost for our grand opening party – $15,000
- Miscellaneous – $15,000
We would need an estimate of $750,000 to successfully launch a small but standard water park park in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – Florida.
Generating Startup Capital for Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc.
Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. is owned and managed by Reginald Sawyer. He decided to restrict the sourcing of the startup capital for the business to just three major sources. These are the areas we intend generating our startup capital;
- Generate part of the startup capital from personal savings and sale of his stocks
- Generate part of the startup capital from friends and other extended family members
- Generate a larger chunk of the startup capital from the bank (loan facility).
N.B: We have been able to generate about $250,000 (Personal savings $200,000 and soft loan from family members $50,000) and we are at the final stages of obtaining a loan facility of $500,000 from our bank. All the papers and document have been duly signed and submitted, the loan has been approved and any moment from now our account will be credited.
14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy
The future of a business lies in the number of loyal customers that they have, the capacity and competence of their employees, their investment strategy and the business structure. If all of these factors are missing from a business (company), then it won’t be too long before the business closes shop.
One of our major goals of starting Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. is to build a business that will survive off its own cash flow without injecting finance from external sources once the business is officially running. We know that one of the ways of gaining approval and winning customers over to pick up membership in our water park parks is to equip our facility with state of the entertainment equipment and make our services affordable.
Rainbow Ruby® Water Parks, Inc. will make sure that the right foundation, structures and processes are put in place to ensure that our staff welfare are well taken of. Our company’s corporate culture is designed to drive our business to greater heights and training and retraining of our workforce is at the top burner.
As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of ten years or more. We know that if that is put in place, we will be able to successfully hire and retain the best hands we can get in the industry; they will be more committed to help us build the business of our dreams.
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
- Acquiring facility and remodeling the facility (construction of water play spots inclusive): In Progress
- 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
- Printing of Packaging, Marketing/Promotional Materials: In Progress
- Recruitment of employees: In Progress
- Purchase of the needed family entertainment equipment, gym and fitness equipment, electronic appliances, office appliances and suppliers: In progress
- Creating Official Website for the Company: Completed
- Creating Awareness for the business both online and in the neighborhood: In Progress
- Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement (License): Secured
- Opening party planning: In Progress
- Establishing business relationship with vendors and key stakeholders in the industry: In Progress