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surface for roller skating, inline hockey,
volleyball, and a basketball court. When the
popularity of an activity decreases, another
sport or activity replaces it. "Early on, the
skateboard park did extremely well; there
was a huge need for a skateboard park. The
problem was the city recognized that ours
was very successful, so they built three
skateboard parks outdoors and put ours out
of business. That wasn't a problem to me.
I tore it out, and I put in 11 inflatables.
I branded it Jumping Jack's. I marketed it.
That is doing very, very well."
Ironically, indoor soccer was also replaced.
"The soccer did well, but again, on a soccer
field, you're going to have 20 people playing
at the most, and it's hard to generate more
than 100 or 150 dollars per hour on that field.
I got approached by someone who wanted to
partner and put in a trampoline park. When he
approached me I thought he was crazy."
Indeed, it sounds crazy to tear out a
250-thousand-dollar soccer field and install a
bunch of trampolines. After researching the
track record of his potential partner, Mike
decided to do it. "I ended up buying it from him
within less than a year. It has done extremely
well."
As far as potential revenue, a trampoline park
makes sense. At Hi Wire Trampoline Park,
190 people can jump at one time,
and the amount of time they can jump is
limited; guests purchase either a one-hour
ticket for 13 dollars or a two-hour ticket for
21 dollars.
"Anytime you come up with an idea, look at the
bottom of the pyramid. What's going to appeal
to the most people? Don't come in with an idea
someone is really passionate about but only
appeals to a small group of people, because it
can be hugely successful for that small group,
but it's not scalable. I need something that is
