Lisa Seals

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Creating a Safe Haven for Families

[0:00] Welcome back to Attractions Insides where we talk with the people who are redefining fun, creativity, and

[0:07] community across America's attractions industry. Today, we heading to Centrialia, Washington to meet someone

[0:14] who built something truly special for parents and families. A place where play meets peace of mind. Our guest today is

[0:22] Lisa Seals, owner of Medhatter Play Cafe. It's a and an an indoor playground

[0:30] designed for children seven and under, but equally for parents who just need a

[0:35] moment to breathe, sip a hot coffee, and recharge. Lisa has not only created a

[0:40] welcoming environment for families, but also recently expanded into a beautiful

[0:45] new forever home, a historic building in downtown Central that now includes a

[0:51] private event space, a full commercial kitchen, and even an in-house bakery.

[0:58] Alisa, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me, Dimmitri. Tell me a little bit about the original

[1:05] story. So, when my children, who are now 17 and 19, so it took me a minute to get

[1:11] this actually going, but when they were two and four, I dreamed of a place where

[1:16] I could take my kids that wasn't always to my friends houses um for playdates where we would just end

[1:24] up messing up their house and trying to have a conversation with the chaos of

[1:31] children running around. My husband worked shift work at the time, so having them to my house wasn't

[1:38] really an option because he was either sleeping or trying to get ready for work.

[1:43] And I was desperate to have that time with other families that were also in

[1:49] the same situation that I was. Gotcha. Okay.

[1:55] Yeah. So, I would go an hour out of my way to a tiny little cafe in Vancouver,

[2:02] Washington that's no longer there that had little cubbies that you could put

[2:07] your kids into with some toys that they could play with. And I could get about an hour conversation with a friend

[2:14] before they were wanting everything that I had. Um, and just even that hour to

[2:21] myself to actually get to be an adult again was very helpful as a parent.

[2:28] Did you have any experience in hospitalities before starting the cafe or did you learn everything along the

The Journey to Mad Hatter Play Cafe

[2:34] way? I really feel like the MadHatter Play Cafe is a culmination of all of my

[2:40] favorite things that I have done throughout time. I used to work as a Subway sandwich artist and I worked at

[2:48] Starbucks and made coffee there. I was a preschool teacher for six years, so I

[2:54] got to learn a lot about education through play. Um, and during that time

[3:00] as a preschool teacher, I also saw that the need that I had as a young parent

[3:06] with young kids was still a very large need that our community had. And so I

[3:13] started trying to figure out at that point how I could bring this to life for them.

[3:19] For listeners who have not visited yet, uh how would you describe Mad Hatter plague affair?

[3:26] I would describe it as a very welcoming environment where I've seen not only

[3:31] children make friendships but adults make friendships as well. We have a full

[3:37] cafe with lots of different drink options, snacks, baked goods,

[3:44] and no matter where you sit in the cafe, you can see your children within your

[3:49] view. So, you're not having to chase them around, and you can actually enjoy

[3:55] some time. I've had parents come up to me who actually got to read a couple

[4:00] chapters of their book and they were so excited to have that time um while their

[4:05] children were being fully entertained in an imaginative play environment.

[4:12] Interesting. And so the concept of a tiny town for kids is adorable idea. Uh

[4:18] what kind of imag imaginative spaces do you offer inside?

[4:23] Um, so we have, let's see, we have seven little buildings in our tiny town. Some

[4:29] of them mirror actual businesses in our town. We have a Holly's Place, which is

[4:36] a small fro yo um, frozen yogurt place where you can go. And so we have it set

[4:42] up as our ice cream shop. And so kids can go in there and pretend to make ice

[4:47] cream for their friends and family. We have a house. We have a Fuller's grocery

[4:53] store. We have a a building that is under construction where the kids can go

[4:59] and build with blocks and hammers and um just have continual play in there. We

[5:06] have a medical center and a fire department.

[5:12] We have a dress up room that sometimes switches out and becomes our schoolhouse.

[5:19] And so within our tiny town, we can change out the themes of the buildings.

[5:26] And right now, Holly's Place is a Christmas cookie factory where the kids

[5:33] can go and make their own Christmas cookies. Interesting. This is so cool. You've

Designing a Playful Environment

[5:38] said that your goal is to create a space for parents to recharge. Why is that focus on parents just as important to

[5:45] you as the play experience for kids? So, as a parent of three kids, I know

[5:52] that I strive really hard to be a very good mom to my kids. And when I'm

[5:58] overstressed and overt tired and just feel like I can't handle one more thing,

[6:05] my kids end up taking the brunt of it. So, I feel like if I can provide a space

[6:10] where parents can feel recharged and to get some of their energy back, they're

[6:17] able to enjoy their children more and actually be calmer and be able to focus

[6:26] on the needs of their family without it being overwhelming. Now with your concept, how do you balance like safety,

[6:33] vis visibility uh and fun, especially for children under seven years old?

[6:40] We have one section that is just for kids two and under that has all the toys

[6:47] appropriate for that age range. So you wouldn't find choking hazards in there.

[6:54] Everything is um geared for their age. We have playmats. We have a climbing

[7:01] dome in the main area that has 6-in foam mats underneath that. So, if the kids

[7:07] fall off the dome, they're landing on a soft place. We had a custom gate made

[7:13] for the back of our playground so that if there's a fire emergency, you can

[7:18] still exit that way, but the kids themselves aren't managing to escape out

[7:24] that way without a parent's notice. It's a small enough area at 3,000 square

[7:31] feet that parents feel comfortable being able to watch where they are. It's one

[7:37] giant open room and the town kind of is around the edges with

[7:43] um clear visibility no matter where they are. And I have lots of baby gates to keep

[7:50] them from the stairs that lead to the outside. So there's multiple layers that a kid would have to make it through

[7:57] before they would ever be in a dangerous situation. And now we're talking about your new location, right?

[8:03] Yes. And by the way, yeah, congratulations. Yes, we are so excited. What made this historic downtown space

[8:10] the perfect feat for Medader's next chapter? I was looking to lease a space that the

The Journey to Mad Hatter Play Cafe

[8:18] owner of our current space had as well and it was smaller than what we had and it wasn't accessible for everybody.

[8:25] Where we are now in our new location has an elevator that can come up to the second floor. So, if you are handicapped

[8:32] or disabled, we can still fill that need for you and you're still welcome in the space. And when I was talking with him

[8:39] about what our dream space would look like, he brought us over to our new

[8:45] location and it had everything that I could have ever wanted. It has a private

[8:51] event space. It has a commercial kitchen. So, we're now able to have Tweedled treats in our house baking all

[8:59] of our baked goods. We have the huge play area that is still just one giant

[9:06] open space so that parents can have that relaxed moment. Plus, there's so much

[9:12] storage and room to grow that any ideas that we come up with at this point will

[9:17] be able to fit into this space. And our last location, we started hitting

[9:23] capacity quite often and having to turn children away. and the looks on their

[9:29] faces when I would tell them that they couldn't come in because we were full was just breaking my heart. So, we had

[9:35] to find somewhere that we could have them. That's a good problem to have. It is. It is. But as a child, you don't

[9:42] understand. So, I needed to find somewhere where they could all come. So, how big were your previous space

[9:48] were? And how big is this new space? Our previous space was just under 6,000

[9:55] square ft and it was one big open space. It was the perfect start for us to be in that

[10:03] space. We were really blessed to be there and

[10:08] the setup of our new space. It's just over 6,000 square ft. So, it's

[10:15] not a a huge growth as far as space, but it's set up so differently that we can

[10:22] utilize it in lots of different ways. Cuz with the party space being separate,

[10:28] we can now do daytime parties that we couldn't do before. We can offer events

[10:34] during hours of open play. And then we have that amazing commercial kitchen

[10:39] which has made us be able to offer so many more food options than we could

[10:45] before. Nice. And are you listening it now too? No. So we were actually able to buy the

[10:51] building. So that's amazing. Tell us tell us Yeah. Tell us more about it. Very very

Navigating Ownership and Financing

[10:57] interesting. Yeah. So when we went to look at this space that we're currently in, I've

[11:03] lived in Lewis County, Washington for a very long time. And so I knew this space

[11:08] as being this big wedding venue. Lots of um schools would have their prom there.

[11:16] It was just this beautiful like princess dream of a space. And so, never in a

[11:23] million years would I have thought we could own it and be able to run our business inside of it because our

[11:29] business is not a business model that makes a lot of profit. It makes enough

[11:35] that I'm able to pay my staff and I'm able to keep the business going, but it's not like your million-doll Nike,

[11:42] you know? So, when he brought us in there um and offered to sell us the building, I told

[11:50] him that I thought that that wouldn't work. And he asked, "How much are we

[11:56] paying where we are?" And at the time, um we were paying between 2500 and 3,000

[12:03] a month. And that wasn't counting utilities. That was just our lease.

[12:08] and he said that absolutely we could do that in this building if we purchased it

[12:14] because it's a threestory building. So one of the new challenges that I had

[12:22] is now we're landlords as well. So the whole first floor is leased to another

[12:28] business that then pays a percentage of our mortgage and then we were able to

[12:33] lease out the rooms on the third floor. And so that also helps pay the mortgage

[12:39] to where we're paying about the same amount as building owners in this space

[12:45] as we were leasing in our last space. Okay, this is interesting. And how much

[12:51] were the purchase? Uh what's the terms? Was it owner financing or did you have to go to the bank?

[12:57] Um so the building is 1.2 2 million um which is a pretty big chunk of change

[13:04] and we had to put a h 100,000 down on that but as far as the bank is concerned they

[13:13] don't understand what a play cafe is or how we generate revenue. So even though

[13:21] on paper we could show that we were fully capable of paying this amount,

[13:27] they wanted us to be able to pay that amount and then like half the amount

[13:32] again to feel comfortable loaning us money. Mhm.

[13:38] So, we ended up doing owner financing and in the next two years when we can

[13:46] bring to the bank what we've been able to accomplish as far as we've paid this

Building Community Connections

[13:51] mortgage every month, every bill has been paid and kept up to date. Um, we're

[13:57] hoping to then be able to buy the owners out and have traditional financing.

[14:03] Okay. So, so you bought it with the option or how how does it work? No. So, we bought it. Technically, we are the

[14:09] owners of it and then the current owners would just be considered the financers.

[14:15] Um, so if we ever couldn't pay just like a bank, they could repossess the

[14:21] building. Okay, that makes sense. But as far as Okay, so the terms basically owner right now sold you on financing. Do you pay

[14:29] any interest rate? Is it like 20 year note or how long?

[14:34] Yeah, I I know our interest is 6.8%.

[14:40] Which is great, but I Yeah, but I don't remember how long the term is over. Got

[14:48] um because our plan is just to um refinance again with the bank.

[14:53] Makes sense. In two to three years. Makes sense. Okay. Well, this is this is great terms and looks like uh the owner

[14:59] was very motivated to to sell it. He is a very generous man. Absolutely. Yeah.

[15:06] He wanted to pay it forward. He felt like we were in his position 30 years

[15:12] ago when he bought the building and he's really excited to see kids running around in there again.

[15:18] Nice. Nice. This is awesome. Okay. Yeah. Exciting.

[15:24] So, how long you've been in this place now? We have been here, let's see, we opened

[15:30] back up in April. So, we've been in there about nine

[15:36] months now. Was it a far away from the previous spot? Only about 5 minutes away.

[15:43] Really convenient for those that were already coming to our location. We closed down where we were and then 10

[15:52] days later we reopened where we are. It was a very ambitious 10day turnover.

[15:57] Wow. And we were really lucky to have a lot of customers come forward and just give

[16:03] us a helping hand. Wow. So, they came to help to set up.

[16:08] They did. And to haul boxes up some flights of stairs and to just clean

[16:15] things and get things ready to go. We've really been blessed with the community that we have here. They have rallied

[16:22] around us and just really want to see us succeed. Tell me, what was your secret to

[16:28] building that community? Honestly, I think it's just the fact

Expanding Offerings and Menu

[16:34] that I truly love and care about people and I am a good listener. So, a lot of

[16:41] people really tell me a lot of what's going on in their lives, and

[16:48] they're just happy to find somewhere safe and secure where they can come and

[16:54] share who they are and find more community and love than maybe your

[17:02] average coffee shop where they're just trying to get their order out. Um, it

[17:08] was actually one of the things that kind of surprised me is the level of therapy

[17:14] kind of that happens in our location. There's just a lot of need in our

[17:22] society and I'm really happy to be able to love on these people and help

[17:30] them in their time of need and to give them a safe space. you mentioned about

[17:36] now you have a private space there. What type of celebrations or gatherings do

[17:41] you host there? So in our old location we only did

[17:46] birthday parties because it was very small and it was all open to the play

[17:53] floor. And now we have held a baby shower. We have a sweet 16 on the books.

[18:01] I have a couple who's interested in getting married in our event space. Our

[18:06] majority of things that we do is still seven and under birthday parties, but

[18:11] the space is gorgeous and it had been used as a wedding venue for over 20

[18:17] years and it still has that opulence to it. Now with the commercial kitchen, tell us

[18:23] what is your menu? We're definitely kid oriented in our food options. We're working on maybe

[18:31] putting some soup on the menu at some point or adding some more panini type

[18:37] sandwiches that we do right now. We offer cheese and pizza paninis and so

[18:42] both parents and kids seem to like those flavors really well. We also have corn

[18:48] dogs and chicken nuggets and French fries and little pretzel bites. And then

Balancing Revenue Streams

[18:54] we have pretty much any snack food that you could think of for kids like uncrustable

[19:01] sandwiches, squeeze pouches, chips, bagels.

[19:07] We have a wide variety of foods there. What would you say your tickets versus

[19:13] food sales? Uh what's the percentage? We definitely do. Most of our sales are

[19:21] playful play floor sales. Um, we also have memberships available for people.

[19:28] So, if you do live locally and you're wanting to come all the time or even

[19:33] multiple times a month, memberships are definitely a cheaper option for you. And

[19:39] then as far as the food, it's definitely been a great revenue stream for us

[19:47] because you're able to do um profit more on food than even on play

[19:55] in despite the fact that how much uh food cost? Yes. cuz most of what we have is very

[20:02] shelf stable or starts out in the freezer and so we're able to buy it in

[20:09] large quantities and just bring it out when we need it. Okay. And there is no food that you

[20:15] throw away because everything like frozen foods. We do end up throwing away some of our

[20:21] baked goods on occasion. We try to just bake for the need of what we need in the

[20:27] case at the time so that everything is very fresh, but on occasion some will sit there past what we're comfortable

[20:35] selling. Mhm. And those will end up getting pulled. So you you have pizza, you have paninis.

[20:43] Yeah. So paninis are like a grilled sandwich. And so we have like a grilled cheese. Um, we have the chicken nuggets

[20:51] that are dinosaur shaped. We have miniature corn dogs and French fries and

[20:58] pretzel bites. We also have little sandwiches for kids and some meat and

[21:04] cheese and squeeze pouches like applesauce and yogurt

[21:10] and that sort of thing. What's the best seller? Oh man, that's hard. Um,

[21:18] I would say that our chicken nuggets and French fries have been very popular.

[21:25] We also sell a lot of bagels. And people really love our Rice

[21:30] Krispies, brownies, and cookies, and so those tend to sell really well. Also,

[21:36] kids can't get enough chips. They really love chips. And so we've made a menu that is a

[21:44] visual menu that we have on the front of our counter down at kid height so that they can see all the options of things

[21:51] that we have and even if they're not able to tell you yet what they want, they can point at what they want.

[21:57] How do you control that people don't take food for the play play area?

[22:02] We have a lot of signage everywhere and we can see the main gate that leads onto

[22:08] the play floor from the cafe where we're usually making things and doing things.

[22:14] We also have a security system hardwired in. So even from the cafe counter, we're

[22:22] continually watching the play floor and seeing what everybody is up to. Um so

[22:28] that we can kind of keep track of that. We also have a great customer base that

[22:34] they want that environment on the play floor to stay clean. So sometimes they'll police people as

[22:40] well. If they see somebody out there with food, they'll remind them that this is a no food zone and please take that

[22:47] back out. Nice. As far as percentage split approximately, uh what do you think uh

Sales Breakdown: Food vs. Ticket Revenue

[22:52] food sales uh compared to ticket sales? I would say food sales are probably 30%

[23:01] and ticket sales would be 70% of what we do. It's interesting. I helped to build and

[23:07] used to uh co own um mini golf arena indoor uh high-end mini golf and we had

[23:16] about uh 10,000 square ft facility with beer and um full kitchen. And so we had

[23:23] a similar split 3270 split uh food forward versus versus ticket sales. So

[23:28] yeah, I was really surprised when I pulled those figures that it wasn't more equal. Um but we have people who utilize

[23:39] the membership and they get discounts on drinks when they have a membership. So,

[23:45] our drink sales, the profit margin is not as high as

[23:52] being able to have the kids play. How important do you think role of

[23:58] having a food? I think what we offer food-wise is very important cuz we'll

[24:03] have a lot of families who come in who are working remotely and so they'll tap

[24:09] into our Wi-Fi and try to get some work done while their kids are playing and if

[24:14] they had to stop every time their kids were hungry and leave um that would be really disruptive for them and instead

[24:21] they can just come and buy a $2 to$3 treat and get a couple more hours out of

[24:28] their useful time. Couple more hours. What's the average people spend there

[24:34] time wise? Yeah. So, um I would say

[24:40] on average people spend 2 to three hours when they come in. Um people who are

[24:46] working remotely or trying to get their homework done or doing that sort of

[24:51] thing while there sometimes they'll be there for six hours or more. Mhm. And

[24:57] yeah, what is your admission prices and what's the packages? So, you said you you have also um membership

[25:05] for one kid to come and play for the day, it's $12 and for a membership package, it's 35

[25:13] for the month. They definitely get a very good deal if they go membership wise.

[25:18] Um we also give a discount for families with multiple children. So, your first

[25:24] child's $12, but then every additional child in that same household is only $6

[25:30] after that. Wow, what a great system. Okay. Yeah, I know how hard it is for families

[25:37] with multiple children and one income coming in to find finances to be able to

[25:44] support coming to a place like ours. When I was looking at your business, it caught my attention that you have a

[25:51] perfect clientele because women probably between 18 to I don't know 36 something

[25:57] like this probably majority. You would be surprised how many grandparents actually come in as well.

Target Demographics and Marketing Strategies

[26:03] We have a lot of grandparents who are the primary caregivers of their grandkids while both their parents work.

[26:11] And it's hard to raise the next generation when you're a grandparent cuz you did

[26:18] this once and it's a lot of work. So what kind of marketing you do and what

[26:24] works, what doesn't work, what you suggest. Yes. So, I am on a lot of different mom

[26:31] groups in the area and we'll post on there if we're having special events or

[26:36] running deals. And we definitely have built up an

[26:41] amazing word of mouth and so people are constantly talking about, oh, have you

[26:47] been to the Mad Hatter? You need to come to the Mad Hatter and check it out. different mom groups on Facebook and

[26:55] Instagram. They'll do meetups at our space. We have preschools that will come

[27:01] and do um field trips to our space.

[27:06] We also advertise on the radio, which I

[27:12] have found to be really useful to us as well. and we run Facebook ads through

[27:17] the radio and they market it specifically to people within a certain range around our

[27:25] business and ages and then it just kind of spreads from there. Oh, tell me more about Facebook ads

[27:32] through the radio. What do you mean by that? Yeah. So, I signed up with KMNT and

Leveraging Social Media and Influencers

[27:39] they're our local country radio station, which the majority of people here listen

[27:45] to, and they partner with um a company that does

[27:52] mixed multimedia advertising. And so, they make up um

[27:58] Facebook ads for us and run them for us. Mhm. Okay. So, Facebook ads, I'm

[28:05] assuming, Instagram ads. Have you ever tried to work with local influencers?

[28:10] I have had different influencers come in who have randomly posted about us on

[28:18] their blogs and things that they do, but no one has specifically come in um

[28:25] for that. And I haven't ever tried reaching out for that. But when you sent

[28:30] me that question, I it got me thinking that I should be doing that because

[28:35] there are definitely a lot of people who watch other moms and what are they doing

[28:42] and where should we be going and that sort of thing. Yes. When I was preparing, you know, for

[28:48] our call, I was thinking, man, what a great demographic. There's so many opportunities for you to reach through

[28:53] social media and through influencers. One of the things that we do at our marketing agency is influencers. We we

[29:00] start with influencers. We would invite to to the business five influencers and then we will see what they post and what

[29:07] really works, what people like and share and comment. Then we will take this work they've done and we would convert it to

[29:15] the Facebook ads and Instagram ads because we see that they perform and it works really really well. And I think in

[29:21] your industry it it's going to be Yeah. very powerful. Especially with a beautiful place that you have, it's easy

[29:27] to sell because it sells itself. Yes, it really does. Once we get people

Encouraging Repeat Visits and Customer Loyalty

[29:33] in the door, they tend to come back over and over and over again. For one,

[29:38] because the children are so upset upon leaving that they just keep asking to

[29:44] come back. but also just because the parents had such a great time in our

[29:49] space. So, besides doing a memberships, how else do you encourage repeat visits?

[29:57] Um, we have punch cards that people can buy also. Um,

[30:05] that's a fine question. Um, memberships is really our biggest way of trying to

[30:11] get repeat customers to come back. We definitely are a business that is very

[30:18] weather driven. So if the weather is bad, we're hopping that day, like lots

[30:25] of business. But if the weather is nice outside, then they're taking their kids to an outdoor park. And so trying to

[30:33] find a way to get them to come on a regular basis um is definitely something

[30:39] I've been working on. And how many employees uh do you

[30:44] currently have? I have four employees. I work the lion

Operational Insights and Employee Management

[30:49] share myself and then I have one who is my baker and then is also an employee of

[30:57] mine and three others who work for me. One of them is um a high school student

[31:05] who's doing Running Start and so I try to fit her in between her class

[31:11] schedules and then I have my other two prime employees. Are they full-time and part-time?

[31:18] part-time. How big is your city and um how do you

[31:23] think it affects right the number of customers you have?

Location and Competition Analysis

[31:29] So our city is kind of conveniently located in between

[31:36] two really large cities, Portland and Seattle. Each one is only an hour and a

[31:42] half from us. We're kind of a central hub of the area. As far as how large we

[31:48] are, I want to say maybe 90,000 in population, but growing all the time, we

[31:55] have a lot of people who are moving from the bigger cities to here.

[32:01] But I also find that with us being so centrally located, that has worked out

[32:07] in our favor because we'll have families who have friends in Portland and Seattle

[32:14] and they'll meet at our location to catch up with each other while their

[32:19] kids run around and play. We've had people drive as far as the ocean to come in and play. I had one

[32:28] family this summer. It was the first time we've ever been able to run summer camps now that we have that separate

[32:34] space that came an hour and a half from Monoseno three times a week for our

[32:42] summer camps for their kids and they would sit and have coffee and hang out

[32:47] and enjoy the space while their kid did summer camp. So I'm always amazed by how

[32:53] far people are willing to travel to have this kind of an experience. And you mentioned that in your area you

[32:59] don't have any competition. You're unique in this regard. Yeah. I think our nearest competition

[33:06] and I don't even know that I would necessarily call them that because it is so far away would be over an hour in

[33:13] either direction. Mhm. Yeah. Um, how do you see the future?

Future Projections and Demographic Shifts

[33:18] Because demographic shift happening and people is talking about there's just

[33:24] less and less kids being born every year. What is your like projection in

[33:30] the future? Are you worried about it at all or no? So, I feel like

[33:38] with less kids being born, um that's more of a a financial demographic. And

[33:46] so, I find those that only have one or two children have more money to spend on

[33:53] those children. And so, as far as visitors coming to my location, I don't

[33:59] foresee that impacted greatly by that. We have so many children everywhere and

[34:08] everyone still is having children and if they're just having less children than

[34:14] they were before their financial situation I would feel

[34:19] would improve and they would be more likely to visit us than they would if they maybe had five children.

[34:26] Have you ever thought about expanding into different age groups?

Expanding Offerings for Older Kids

[34:31] I have thought about that. My youngest is now nine and so he has aged out of

[34:36] being able to play on our playground and he keeps asking me if we could make like

[34:43] a Nerf zone where the kids could all go and have a Nerf battle um or something

[34:50] along those lines. I don't foresee that anywhere in our near future. Um,

[34:57] in our area, I feel like there are things for the tween kind of children to

[35:03] do like Shanks Miniolf or the Roller Rink or we have an insert coin, which is

[35:10] like a video game space. And really what we were needing to fill

[35:16] a hole for was the younger children running this business.

[35:22] what kind of things you learned and maybe you can say okay this is what I

[35:29] would do differently if I had to start over.

Lessons Learned from Business Ownership

[35:34] I would say that I was very surprised

[35:40] by how little financial institutions would understand our business plan. Only

[35:48] after we had been in business for about two and a half years were we finally able to get any kind of small business

[35:55] loan or anything based upon what our business has done.

[36:01] Um so what I would tell people is be prepared to put up your own money to get

[36:09] this off the ground and to not necessarily see that come back quickly.

[36:15] We have yet to really um pay ourselves back in that regard at all. I feel

[36:22] really lucky that my husband has a good job and so his job is able to support

[36:28] our household and so my running this business wasn't so much about

[36:35] bringing in income as it was more a mission for what I felt our community

[36:41] needed because it's definitely not going to be

[36:46] that quick fix money maker that some people um I think would like it to be. I

[36:52] do get asked all the time for information on how I went about starting

[36:58] this business because people want one in their area as well and would we expand

[37:04] in that direction. And at this point, since I really still

[37:09] do most of the working in our current location, I don't think we'll be expanding anytime soon. But as far as

[37:17] learning how to open a business and do it, I watched a lot of YouTube and asked

[37:24] a lot of business owners that I know different tips and tricks on how to get

[37:29] this going. And every time I thought I was on the right path and had all my

[37:35] ducks in a row, I would realize two steps back I had forgotten something and

[37:40] I would have to kind of go back and get that caught up. So, it took us about a

[37:45] year behind the scenes just to get everything cleared with the city and to

[37:51] get everything lined up to be able to open a business. And for somebody who is thinking about

[37:58] potentially opening something similar in a different city, what would you say the startup cost uh not to include the

[38:04] buying the building, but let's say that somebody just want to lease the space? uh what do you think minimum they should

[38:10] have as far as how much cash they need to bring to the table to open business like this? So, in our previous location where we

Startup Costs and Financial Planning

[38:17] did just lease it, um we ended up having to run electric. We

[38:25] had to bring water in to where we wanted it. The building owner was not going to

[38:32] do those kind of updates for us. Um, so we ended up going into it thinking

[38:39] that 50,000 would be more than enough and by the time we were done it was

[38:45] closer to 100,000. It always like whatever you think double

[38:51] it, right? Exactly. Yes. Your husband, is he helping you or he

[38:57] helping you with the fact that actually helps to pay the bills? He helps me by keeping the household

Support Systems and Community Engagement

[39:05] going, making sure that our bills are paid. He also runs the majority of my

[39:11] errands for me. So, I always give him a giant honeydew list of, "Babe, I need all these things and he gathers them up

[39:18] for me." He will come in in a pinch and help in the kitchen or help to set up a

[39:25] party or do pretty much anything that I ask of him to do, but he doesn't work

[39:33] the location. For somebody who lives locally and never heard of you, uh maybe go ahead and give

[39:39] them what's your website, uh what's the address, where you're located, so they can find you.

Final Thoughts and Contact Information

[39:44] Excellent. So, we are now located at 219 South Tower Avenue in Centriia, directly

[39:52] above the beauty college, right across from the Juice Box. So, we're really easy to find. And our website is

[40:00] madhatterplaycafe.com. And on there, you can see how we kind of

[40:05] went about starting our business. We have a tiny blog that I do not keep up with, but that you can kind of see what

[40:12] we've gone through in the past to get to where we are. Lisa, thank you so much for joining us

[40:17] today and sharing your story. For everyone listening, if you're ever in Washington and in the area, I'll make

[40:24] sure to stop by. You can also find Lisa on a Facebook, Madhatterplay Cafe.

[40:30] Yep. Facebook and Instagram at Madhatterplay Cafe.

[40:35] Perfect. And uh as always, you can find more inspiring stories and practical insights from attractions owners across

[40:42] the country at attractions insights.com or follow us on social media. And until

[40:48] next time, keep creating, keep innovating, and keep making people smile.