How We Built a Fully Booked Soft Play Business in Under 2 Years (Without a Huge Following)

12 Jul

Written By Cherish Harding

One of the questions I get asked the most is...

"How did your Soft Play business become so busy so quickly?"

And honestly... the answer probably isn't what you think.

Before I tell you how we did it, here's something that still blows my mind...

The Social Duo has now been in business for 6 years.

In that time we've:

Moved house 5 times... (oops!)
Been through IVF.
Had our beautiful little girl, who is now 2 and a half.
Started a luxury soft play hire business from scratch.

Looking back, there have been so many moments where I genuinely thought everything was about to change.

It's weird because I was thinking about when we first started, and all of a sudden Canva came out with logo templates and Squarespace launched their own templates. I remember thinking, "Oh great... is anyone gonna book now?!" And guess what... they booked. And I mean BOOKED!

Then 2 years ago, with AI, I remember thinking the same thing. And guess what? YOU ALL BOOKED WITH US AGAIN. So it got me thinking... with all these tools to help you, can you really beat a human with passion, heart, and knowledge? I guess not!

And actually, my Soft Play business is proof of that.

Our Soft Play Business was never meant to become our main business.

I can't lie, the plan was never to be booked solid with the soft play. I just wanted to put my creativity back into parties again. But as we start to creep into 2 years (September), we are officially fully booked with parties.

If I'm being honest...

If I still worked a full-time job, I'd have handed my notice in by now because I'd be earning more through soft play.

So...

What actually made the difference?

It Wasn't A Huge Budget

Things I DON'T have;

A huge team - just me, Wesley doing the graphics, and my mum coming with me for a coffee as payment.

A van - we have a seven-seater, and my mum has the same. By creating certain packages, we can manage 3 parties a day!

The best equipment - we don't have huge ball pits, inflatables, giant slides, and loads of props... just a good amount of equipment that we make work for us.

A huge social media following - I'm still sitting under 1k nearly 2 years later. I don't need followers... I need customers who BOOK.

Things I DO have;

Probably the best website in my area - people mention every time they book how good it looks, how easy it is to find packages, how easy it is to book, and of course, how I come up in A LOT of searches.

A good booking system - I'm not asking people to bank transfer money. I simply send them a professional email with their invoice embedded so they can pay online (and we offer Klarna).

A USP - probably one of the ONLY companies in the UK that draws everything ourselves. We have something recognisable that's hard to copy.

A good workflow - even customers who don't book get an email the following year reminding them they enquired, along with an incentive to book this year or book again.

Could I have done this with no website, knowledge, and just AI for help?

Honestly, no. And if it was that easy…. every single party business would be booked. But people are closing at rapid rates, because the stuff that isn’t as fun to invest in, isn’t being invested in. How much do you make per party, per setup, per hire…. I bet it’s more than £85.

£85 for a website template that pays for itself after 1 enquiry.

Why Some Party Businesses Grow While Others Struggle

I see so many businesses investing thousands into equipment... But almost nothing into the things that actually generate bookings.

A website. SEO. Customer experience. Booking systems. Marketing.

They're not always the exciting purchases. But they're often the ones making the money.

Sale

Tiny Tots Template

£85.00 £105.00

So you have launched your new soft play business but have no budget left for a professional custom website? Our drag-and-drop templates are perfect for you.

Includes: