Veronica M. answered the call for guest posts and she wanted to get people’s opinions on an idea for restaurant entertainment she has been thinking about. She forwarded a brief “About me” statement for inclusion: I am a scientist by trade with interest in impactful entrepreneur ideas, not just another ‘me-too’ product.
Veronica’s Idea
Dear Shark Tank Community:
I’d love to get feedback on this idea which came to me just a few weeks ago.
Recently my family and I went to a pizza parlor which, instead of offering kids the usual boring and worthless paper and crayon for entertainment, gave them instead a fun and far more interesting magnetized maze which kept them busy until the pizza arrived.
I’ve never see any restaurant offer anything like this and thought it was a great idea as soon as I saw it. Beside it being a great game for eye-hand coordination, they also had memory boards and a couple of other educational games aimed for ages 4 to 8 years. They were a little beat up but, nonetheless, they were highly entertaining, educational, and green!
This particular place has been using these sort of games for a long time, they have no trouble cleaning them, and they are well received by their clients. Could proving these games to restaurants that serve primarily families be turned into a business? I am sure paper and crayons are far less expensive but they are not as entertaining, educational, and they’re very wasteful.
I welcome your feedback and would love to see if this concept could go somewhere! There is no website, Facebook, or Twitter since it just an idea at the moment.
Thank you very much
Veronica M
Veronica would love to hear feedback from Shark Tank Blog Readers, so if you have any suggestions or advice, please leave a comment. Veronica is an active reader of this blog and she’d appreciate any input you have.
Hi Veronica! Thanks for the share… I think this is a very cool idea, but it does seem very niche to me and not sure there’s enough need or true interest out there (meaning…establishments will actually spend money on it and not just say “GREAT IDEA!”) to support an entire business model. I’d imagine most restaurant owners’ main priorities are to deliver excellent food and service, and not so much about becoming educational playcenters for children. While this concept does upgrade the “service” side of the equation, I don’t think there will be enough takers to make this work . Sure there will be some progressive businesses that embrace the concept but I’d be cautious about projecting how many that would realistically be. Personally, I wouldn’t be one to hang my hopes on this… but heck, that’s just my opinion. Best wishes to you…whatever you decide!
Hi Kendra:
Thank you very much for taking the time to provide some feedback on my idea, I really appreciate it. When I saw this concept working so well at the restaurant we visited I wondered if it could work this well for others. In the end, as you mentioned, only progressive family oriented restaurants may be willing to embrace it but probably not be enough to make a sustainable business out of it. Worth asking though! Thanks again.