Inflatable Indoor FEC

The Safety Side of an Indoor FEC

The Price Is Right

Something that every family entertainment center should really take the time to do is looking to get the best insurance rates. The simplest way to do so is of course to take the time to look around and compare your options. Take a second to see exactly what you want, what’s covered and exactly what the best deal is for you and you FEC. Make sure to get quotes from at least three to four carriers before you jump on to a full on commitment with the company. . Also, if two or more companies offer great rates, break it down to a minimum of two that you are going to be doing business with. This is just to keep things organized and to limit the number of bills you have to pay.

Also, make sure you know exactly what you’re negotiating, some companies can wrap you up so tight in the numbers that you forget about what there quoting you on. Ask questions to try to get somewhat of a sense of understanding of what the numbers mean and how they showed up there. It might be a bit confusing but it is important to show knowledge to these vendors before you sign anything. Another smart move would be to always being eager for change; just because you signed a contract doesn’t mean you can’t keep shopping around. You can always look for bigger and better deals for you indoor FEC to strive on. All you have to do is look.

Jump Around

Inflatables are now becoming a major part of indoor FECs way of entertaining some of the younger age groups that don’t mind getting an extra doze of excitement throughout their day. Of course before getting one of these color filled inflatable units, you have to make sure that you not only plan ahead but also take a second to find out exactly what type of safety requirements need to be followed to have them running properly. Whether you’re looking for a giant 20 ft slide or a15x15 bouncer, you have to make sure that the inflatable unit will fit in your center. Depending on how big of a space you have available and just how tall your ceilings is really how you know what inflatables to look for. Begin with outlining the exact amount of space you have available and maybe even blueprinting how the unit will look. Just make sure that your units still apply to safety regulations and aren’t too close together. Also keep in mind your states safety regulations that also come into play with the inflatable units. You have to plan on just how many attendants you will need with each unit if that’s your states requirements, and just how much you’ll need to invest when these units need some repairs done. All the time you take planning and analyzing if this can really be a possibility will save you surprises down the road.

Another thing to look at before you make the purchase is to see if your insurance covers inflatable units. Some insurance agencies may charge more or even consider it something that they don’t necessarily cover. These days on the other hand, it’s easier to find insurance due to the increasing popularity inflatables have gotten. What you do want to do to save you from the common infraction kids tend to find themselves involved in is a brief one o one with rules on how to play in the inflatable units. Also make sure you set the inflatables up by some kind of an age range. Place the smaller children from 2-s and up to about 4 in a room where they won’t be bothered or trampled over by the bull dozing bigger children that range from 6 and 10. Then place the 10 to 14 year olds in a area where they won’t feel there too big to enjoy the inflatable games. You wouldn’t want to place them all in one room just because age really does make a difference in a family entertainment center. lastly, make sure that you follow the manufacturer’s instructions on just how many children can be on one unit. Follow their step by step tutorials on how to set up the inflatables either indoor or outdoor, and make sure the floors are free of wrinkles.

Steady as a Rock

Other forms of entertainment that have been quite successful in family entertainment centers is the intense and highly popular rock climbing walls that are being set up in FECS all across the country. Of course, it is most important to follow any safety measures that need to be taken before anything is actually set up yet. The most common way to go about safety is to follow the instructions manual or recommendations the manufacturer shares with you. Keep up with the maintenance and repairs that need to be done regularly and also don’t prolong any necessary parts replacements because of costs. In the long run it will cost you and your family entertainment center much less to ensure the rock wall is up to date then to fix a huge problem resulting from an accident. Also make sure to use the safety precautions of just how many riders should take a shot at the wall at the same time. You have to keep in mind how far the wire can wonder, and just how much space a person needs before they find themselves in a nasty accident on the wall with one another. Give your rock climbers enough space to both climb and have n worries of the climbers around them.

Inflatable indoor centers with rock climbing walls usually come across just how much weight the wall can handle. Although it doesn’t necessarily always happen, you have to take into consideration that it can. People can be either too heavy for the wire or to light, like in most cases, children can be too small for the wire to have enough weight to pull them back down if they fall. Therefore letting them gets stuck on the wall for a couple of minutes to say the least. In issues with overweight guests it usually is just because of the wire. They can have the option to free climbing without a harness and land on the thick padded matt if they should fall but usually prefer to just have a test run on a smaller wall and usually that’s all it takes. Training staff to be able to work the wall efficiently is more of the part you should focus on. Shoe your staff tutorials or instructions on how to do it. You can even work with them one on one to make sure they get the hang of it. Work with your employees to be the best at what they do.

Toy Story

A big issue in most family entertainment center's these days has also grown to become concerned about is just how safe their merchandise actually is. With huge worry hitting FECs this past couple years when toy recalls were announced because of hazardous flaws, FECs everywhere had to double check and reassure customers that there products were quality and safe. A great way of handling this issue is to simply explain to your customers that there is nothing they should worry about when it comes to there child’s safety. Walk them through a 3 to 5 minute report of the measures you have already taken to ensure safety. These few minute conversations should not only be done calmly but also with as much confidence as possible, so that your customers can feel 100% sure of what is going on in your facility. Insure that your products are being tested even before they reach the warehouse. With redemption plus that can be handled with documenting and records of actual quality products. This way you could tend to customer concerns immediately rather than later with things accelerate out of control.

Time and money have also come into play with the toy recalls taking place in the inflatable indoor center industry. Even if the toy recalls weren’t exactly directed towards your FEC, increased inspections and closer product scrutiny have caused an increase in cost. With no extra room to lower costs elsewhere pricing may increase. Another issue that has risen with the toy recalls has been those with imported goods. The approximate wait time before you receive your goods may be around 120-160 days before receiving them. Now a day’s family entertainment centers have to be thinking about ordering for the next season when the new season has just begun. Leaving some slower selling items on the shelf for one or more seasons in a row. You have to be able to go somewhere you can trust. Look at reviews and investigate how good their reputation is. Investigate everything you need to investigate in order for your merchandise to be safe and of quality. Any company name you can find a track record for is a company that is willing to put themselves out there.

Preparing for the Worst

Whether your preparing for a small family dispute, or a storm heading full throttle, indoor FECs should always have policies and procedures in place for all types of emergencies. Some examples can be when a child goes missing from an activity room. Your job is to know exactly how to deal with the situation in both a calm and understanding state. Parents generally go crazy; all they want is to find their child, which is completely understandable in anybody’s perspective. Find an alternative way to find the lost child all while doing it as quickly as possible. Make sure that the parents know you are doing your absolute best in finding the child and let other guests join the search. Some family entertainment center go through procedures where the FEC is completely locked down for those brief five to ten minutes it takes to find the child. Following that shortly after with announcing the child’s description and anybody who might know that child’s whereabouts.

Another example can be family disputes or guest conflicts that end up in physical contact. Incidents like that tend to bring negative feedback from customers. Having zero tolerance usually keeps customers happy. If or whenever this incident should occur in you family entertainment center, do not feel it is inappropriate to call the police to diffuse the situation. Sometimes police officers may not be necessary but always be sure to have them on speed dial for anything you feel is out of your control. You may also have them on speed dial for emergencies such as hold ups. Working in a cash handling company it is no rare to find hold ups being reported. Some things you can do to help avoid this is having two or three employees close the store, or having an attendant at the door for whenever the last customers leave lock the doors. Some fun centers also have security guards monitor the premises whenever they have to do a drop off. The safer your openers and closers feel, the better protected your company is.

Laying Down the Law

For the most part, all of the family entertainment center have had to undergo a whole lot of change when it comes to the consumer product safety improvement act forced upon them. FECs have now had to focus on how much lead is into a product, Third Party testing, tracking labels, and nixing phthalates. All four have exact procedure and percentages that they have to have followed. For example, lead has jumped from lower to lower numbers throughout the years for all products intended for children under 12 years old. Making it even more of a priority to focus on your buyers productivity procedures and making sure they comply with the changing act. Also, items have to now meet all applicable CPSC requirements and receive a certificate before being able to be imported or distributed anywhere in the united states. Tracking labels must also have as much information about the product and how it was processed as well. Finally, items that have concentrations higher than 0.1 percent will be considered illegal to manufacture, sell, distribute, or import.

To be able to do your best to comply with these new regulations you have to be able to do your best to inform yourself on exactly what you need to ask for. You have to primarily focus on how to deal with your vendor and or vendors to do the job right. Ask for safety reports for your own documentation. The suppliers name should also be on the paperwork and not just the manufacture, just in case of anything ever coming up you want to be able to have that information available y to you. When it comes to test reports, make sure that your paperwork is dated at least 12 months prior to that. Make sure that the third party testing complies with the CPSC requirements and done by a accredited independent lab. Also, never forget to have as much detail of the product as possible, include descriptions, test performed and possibly even photos of the products is recommended.

Green Light

Making sure you have a successful running inflatable indoor FEC has a lot to do with how well you do with safety issues and keeping up with all of your games maintenance, inspection and supervision. In the case of having Go-karts as a part of your family entertainment center, you have to not only follow requirements, but also have employees who can keep up with all of the people and karts under their supervision. Your employees have to have that go to attitude and speak up in situations that need to be addressed firmly. In many cases, there are younger children that refuse to listen to the safety measure you announce and like to start a little ruckus. You need employees who aren’t afraid of laying down the law to make sure everyone one else has a fun and safe ride. Staff has to undergo a number of readiness and preparing form of training before they actually go and start to work on the track. Make sure they have as must knowledge about the karts as the skilled or veteran employers do. Hire attentive people who are more than likely going to keep an eye out for anything they feel might be a hazard on the track.

You also have to understand that even with the most attentive and on point employees; you will always have some incidents that are inevitable. Some crashes, whip outs, and even bruises are sure to pop up on the go kart track. Some tactics to ensure these surprises are limited to almost none are kill switches, zero tolerance, and even pressure sensitive bumpers. With the kill switch for example, you can control one, two or even all go karts on the track in case an accident happens. You wouldn’t want to see the domino effect when one go kart spins out of control to see the rest follow short after. You can also use zero tolerance to let the guests know that if they keep up there shenanigans, they will be removed from the track. Sacrificing one guest go kart experience is best when you have 6- 8 more guest safety to worry about. Lastly, pressure sensitive bumpers are commonly used to avoid having to use zero tolerance or kill switches. The karts themselves slow down once hitting another kart, allowing the kart in front of them a chance to get away from a nasty hit from the back.

Up and Running

When it comes to having a glorious up and running game room, you have to take in mind that these machines, both new and old need to be constantly worked on. Stay on top of your maintenance protocols and train staff to be able to take care of common coin jams, put in tickets and be able to shut off or turn on a game. Look for glitches if any to avoid a complete shut of when a guest is on the games, it usually leads to an upset guest and very uneasy if they were winning the game. You also wouldn’t want to have your machine miscalculating sales or throwing out free tokens and tickets without you knowing. No matter if the game is new or used, you still have to make sure the games lasts you as long as possible. Just because it sits better in your pocket and because you wouldn’t have to put in an extra couple thousand for a newer unit.

Making sure that you keep your games clean also helps in their upkeep, such as dusting and regular cleaning. Make sure to vacuum the inside as well because even though you can’t see it, dust can get in there as well. It is also recommended for you to stock up on parts for whenever your game or games need s a new set of fuses or buttons, your covered to fix it on the spot. inflatable indoor center who have no stock normally have to shut off that game or games until the new parts arrive and could take up to two weeks depending on where they order from. When a machine breaks down that usually makes from 200 to 300 a night, the loss can begin to sting. Another great tip is to have and read a manual for your games, just in case you have a little slip up that doesn’t need the technician to come in. Fixing a problem that you can do yourself usually is the case when you have an owner’s manual.

FEC Safety: Choking Hazards

A lot of times, people don’t look at a small toy and think it’s dangerous, but really they can be. Small children can definitely be victims of unintentionally choking on a toy. It is very common to find small babies and toddler to want to put everything in their mouth, which is why when selling, distributing, and purchasing small toys in indoor FECs it is unsafe and very harmful. Buyers at FECs have to be very careful at what they purchase for their children. Family entertainment center of today are recommended to have choke testers handy when purchasing or browsing ne items. If the item fits in the tube than it is more likely to be a choking hazard for children of age 3 and under. Being educated and aware of the safety of your gusts of all ages is part of being a successful family entertainment center and should be taken into consideration daily.

Taking the necessary steps to make your vendor is considerate of you concerns and has him meet your standards. As stated before, make sure you ask questions about the product and its testing. Ask if the product is certified and have as much detail of it as possible, Including photos. Be aware of exactly what you’re purchasing and avoid any scams of wrongfully labeled products or choking and lead full toys. Yu have to make sure that you know exactly what your products are and have as much documentation on them as well. Of course accidents happen and they can’t always be prevented, but you can do your best to keep them at a minimum when it comes to your family entertainment center.

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