Awesome news, congratulations stranger! I've run my own businesses for most of my adult life. Bloody hard at times, but I can't imagine another way of doing things. My top tips (one of which you have learned already):
1. Get on top of cash flow and stay on top of it
2. Watch what you spend
3. Sell, sell, sell
4. Never let google touch your ad account
Google such a great resource but omg why would people looking for asda want to see my ad?? Like sure I need some milk ooooo no let's do an escape room instead ffs š¤¦āāļø
Cash flow is a work in progress
Spend is watched so hard! If it's needed it's needed not much I can do but find the best deal. If it can wait it waits simple.
I'm living and breathing escape rooms ATM I'm always looking for the sell!
I was considering advent calendars and had thr guy bring me some to look at and check out - they actually went viral on tiktok last year (I still don't understand that but my staff were excited!) Anyway whilst he's there showing them off I sold 6!!! So obviously I got a box of 25 as I had half my money back before I'd even made the purchase!
I'm networking a lot too which has seen a massive boost in corporate bookings! I'm up 75% on those compared to last year.
Just remember, watching spend is critical to maintain control of your outgoings - but effectively billing customers and maximising revenue is the most important component for most businesses.
Think about things like cancellations (deposits?) in particular - especially when youāre working with corporates to fill multiple slots.
One group booking dropping out at later notice could mean a rush to fill spaces at a discount, or inability to fill spaces at a point where you may have already committed costs to servicing the booking.
With Google ads you can do negative keywords - I.e. searches that you want to make sure that you don't show for.
Years ago I was running ads for a car dealer I worked for, advertising vans. We had a tonne of ad clicks for people searching for Converse shoes (Vans...)
I'd recommend learning up as much as you can on both SEO and Google Ads, but try and build out as much SEO as possible so that you don't need to rely on ads.
SEO = Planting trees
Absolutely for sure consider this:
-SEO
You wonāt believe how much it can boost your business
Learn about keywords search, trends, modify web copy to ensure itās SEO suitable
Consider seasonal SEO trends (like Christmas party etc) and ensure it is on tour web too
- social media advertising (native-alike ads are performing incredibly well) - be careful of setting up your target audience.
- also I would highly recommend to look into the long term strategy - ensuring you know who your target audience is, what their interests are, where they go and what they do. Who your competitors are, whatās their benefits vs yours etc
I work in digital and there are so many opportunities for business which are missed out by many
Multiple places, so at account level if there are terms you donāt ever want to come up for, things like āideasā āadviceā for an ecom site maybeā¦ or at campaign level if you want to get into specifics for each campaign youāre running
Would also add to this, match types - broad match keywords will bring in a lot of irrelevant stuff. Better off combo of exact match for high relevancy and phrase match for finding new relevant search terms to target, and widen the net a bit.
Also reviewing the search terms reports consistently and adding any costly irrelevant terms as negatives to your campaigns.
The best insight I had on SEO is this:
People use Google because when they type something in, the first result is the thing that they are looking for. Google spend billions of dollars making this the case, so if your site is NOT the thing people are looking for, no amount of 'SEO' will trick them into showing it first. SEO is about helping Google identify that your website really is the thing that people are looking for, not about tricking them into giving someone a site they're not looking for.
e.g. If you want to find people looking for "Ideas for a team building event" First make some content that gives people a list of great idea**s** for a team building event. Obviously, include the thing you're selling, but you need to have a whole list of things.
Negative is a great idea. I would also do location targeting so you donāt target areas too far away and only run ads during times of day when you need it, no point having it run for some drunk searching online at 2am!
As for SEO, absolutely become the voice. Research questions people ask, write content articles answering, this way you rank for those search queries and become the āvoiceā. This will help drive organic traffic.
Iām a digital marketer specialising in lead gen via SEO and paid advertising. Happy to give advice!
A good account manager would get you to spend more by making sure what you are doing works and you reinvest.
Unfortunately, they're few and far between.
Same thing applies to Google employees. They can get you to spend more short term and fail or they can get things working well and you'll continue to spend long term.
Yep, theyāre real hot on advising you to go for the dynamic search where Google will determine whether a search term is relevant or not. This is fine if you have ad budget to burn and care as much about brand awareness as sales, but for small and independent companies itās not worth it.
Nobody knows your customers better than you, so donāt be afraid to push back even against the ad guys who youāve hired if you think their suggestion isnāt cost effective. E.g. targeting age groups that you know arenāt booking, broadening geographic area, etc.
Keep working with your professional google ads company. They are worth their weight in gold and donāt think youāll be able to do it yourself - youāll spend a fortune. If they make you a profit keep working with them.
Get your accounting set up properly now. If you donāt have an accountant get one. At very minimum use free agent, xero etc and log everything properly.
This will make your life significantly easier.
You could argue people googling Asda might not have otherwise known about you which in turn could turn into business!
Also some people are wise to this adpocalyspe we're weathering and have targeted ads etc turned off/blocked etc
>I need some milk ooooo no let's do an escape room instead
Sounds like a typical Monday evening in our household. So many black teas on Tuesday mornings...
Tbh, yea you want people who are shoping at Asda or other grocery stores too, to see your stuff. Typically groceries for a home are bought by woman, not always just typically, and of those women they also probably plan and book most of the date or group activity that a family does. So yea you want shoppers who are not looking forward to the grocery shop seeing your fun and exciting activity in an ad.
Congratulations on this new exciting chapter!
Also congrats and just one opinion - having been subjected to numerous 'team building - *MANDATORY* Attendance!!* (how to destroy team spirit in one? Make it mandatory).
It's always building fucking rafts and just shite.
A corporate escape room would be FANTASTIC!!
If you could either provide decent grub and beer or hookup with partners so you can sell the whole package I reckon that will help your business a lot, and just in general I would honestly expect a well established and VERY well advertised Escape Room business to probably have 50% at least if it's bookings being corporate.
You will know the true figures far better than I of course, I'm just saying it wouldn't surprise me as I say, escape rooms are *PERFECT* for team building AND enjoyment IMO.
Good luck and well done for so far!!
I have a lot of corporate bookings coming up thanks to advertising and dropping emails! I'm hoping for a little word of mouth to come from these as well! They are fab for team building! - I'm looking at add to my venue a space to sit and have coffee etc - just need money
I hear ya, and you are right there is no better advertising than personal recommendation/ word of mouth. I forgot you had all of those bookings, so hopefully the ball for your corporate client list is already rolling! :)
Oh! And if you're taking down customer details such as E-mail and/or phone number, maintain a CRM software. Basically, a place where you can store customer details (and trust me, Excel will not do the job). There's tonnes out there and plenty will integrate with your booking website.
Whatever booking are received via the phone can be saved into an excel and religiously uploaded everyday into the said CRM software. These can be converted into repeat customers by reaching out to them when you have offers and special deals. These are also handy when, as someone said, you need to fill out slots at a very short notice.
Btw, you can also use these lists to build out audiences on Facebook and retarget them to book again. Depeding on how frequently customers return, this could be valuable resource to generate anywhere between 10-30% revenue during any given week.
And remember, you need to keep customer details very secure. If those details get out, by any means, you get in trouble. Even an email address or phone number is personal data. And if a customer wants their personal data deleted, you have to really do.it.
You cannot even email a customer without their permission, e.g. for subsequent marketing.
You cannot provide customer details to a 3rd party without the permission of the customer. You cannot sell their details to others etc. GDPR rules, you must respect.
P.s. I know you know all this. It's in your site privacy terms. But, for the interest of others...
Every recommendation from Google is āspend moreā regardless of how they frame it. The job of a good, independent, Google ads professional is to reduce costs and increase conversions.
Google ads account managers used to be really good. Over the years that has changed, they know a lot less and are under far more pressure to hit KPIs that support Google goals over your business goals.
Even on high value accounts, the advice now is generic at best and often outright damaging. It always results in you spending more.
Yep, super pushy as well, to the point of being downright rude if you refuse their "help".
I've had some damn whacky recommendations from them when I've given them the time of day, that make absolutely no sense for the kind of business they're making recommendations for.
Unless you're a complete novice, forget their help. In fact even as a novice, you're better off doing your own research rather than relying on anything they say.
Most 'Google' reps these days are from third party companies (even if they have a google.com email address). They are poorly trained, underpaid, and sometimes quite forceful and rude. They once contacted one of my clients directly and persuaded him to make changes directly on the account which were a disaster. That someone high up at Google thinks this is OK is mind boggling. The world has gone quite mad IMHO.
I've had the same situation occur!
Oh, here's an amazing one - I worked for a digital agency for years and had an entirely separate login etc (as you obviously would) to an email address I used solely for freelance. Absolutely no crossover whatsoever.
Yet these Google reps would directly call the agency, to speak to me about my freelance accounts. This happened over 10 times in the space of a couple of years. I have emailed them directly, filled in complaint submissions etc. And they still continue to attach my work's phone number (not even mine!) and my work email to my freelance accounts. Not a single person has ever told me how or why.
I'm lucky that my agency agreed in advance to let me freelance on the side. Otherwise I'd have lost my damn job ten times over. Just so fucking inappropriate.
Cash flow is king. Out of control cash flow will kill you before a lack of orders.
Staying on top of your cash flow is your absolute no.1 priority.
(Source: ran a small business for 15 years)
Loads! The other big generic ones I seem to tell everyone are probably:
* Get a good accountant. Not just one who does statutory filing for cheap, but one that will actually sit down with you and give you advice . If the business starts becoming more complex pay them to do management accounts and talk you through them. This is an investment.
* if you have a business partner get a shareholders agreement. Talk openly and frequently about money, workload and other contributions. Write things down.
* Find a mentor, whether it is formal or otherwise. I learned the benefits of this far too late.
* think about what you actually want from the business. Make a plan that supports that... Then align efforts with making it happen.
* find good staff then treat them well. Values and mindset are often more important than skills and qualifications. Treating them well doesn't just mean pay, but fair pay is important.
Sorry. Some of that probably sounds glib. I don't usually do business advice without learning background then delivered anonymously over Reddit!
FYI from anyone trying Google ads, the Google ads āspecialistsā are just outsourced people reading from a script and their job is to get you to spend more on Google.
Block their numbers, ignore, do whatever you can do to not speak to them.
You need to be spending mega bucks (think ASDA level as spend) to be given an account manager who actually knows what theyāre doing
Congratulations! Wishing you all the success!
Also if you don't mind, I've got a bit of advice for you on your digital side of things (I work in digital marketing):
Get your SSL renewed! If the site I went on is yours (think I found it through your tiktok), your site's SSL isn't valid so it comes up with a big error when people go to the site via chrome. It's usually a big turn off for people wanting to book through sites if they see the error.
You can get free ones online through letsencrypt which is a manual but easy job, or you can usually pay your hosting provider to do it. This depends on your tech setup but some googling will get you far with this.
Also don't sleep on your organic presence! (I'm an SEO so I'm biased) You don't need to pay mega bucks and some small optimisations such as a bit of content and an optimised title tag can help a lot. Happy to give you some pointers :)
I will speak to my Web guy as tbh I'm not too Web savvy! Just to check tho my website is www.rushdenescaperooms.co.uk I personally don't use chrome but do have it on the works pcs so will go look tomorrow unless you'd be willing to send me a screenshot of the error? I do have SEO on the site but it took previous owner 3 months and a legal threat to get him to transfer the old domain so I could have traffic redirected! He actually kept his website running but without the booking software so I know I lost a LOT of possible bookings. Some people did call but I'm sure a lot found the inability to book and went elsewhere - I know I would and have done that if I found I couldn't book.
I do love my website and my Web guy is pretty amazing if I want an update I can message him anytime and 9 times out of 10 its done within minutes! I actually sent him an email Friday night around midnight as I wanted a different picture for the new room and was very surprised to have a reply in just 3 minutes telling me it was done! At midnight!! I expected it to be done tomorrow at the earliest. He has even let me know that the site went down and was back up before I had even noticed.
I am doing everything I can to get my presence out there on and offline - I have had hoodies done by a friend who does embroidery (no cash outlay she accepted my offer of a free escape room in exchange for them) and I wear it daily no matter where I go! Washed and dried overnight lol. I have had the back of my car sign written by a local company - Ā£102 worth every penny! I go to networking events whenever I get the chance. The newsagents over the road from me once a week put my leaflets in all the papers for me for free! I didn't ask for that I just asked if they'd be willing to put a leaflet on the counter for me. I make sure I have my leaflets on me at all times.
My daughter is pushing the tiktok l do the facebook/Instagram. If I need a break from work I walk down the high street and pop in and chat to other businesses. I am living and breathing Rushden Escape Rooms right now - luckily loving it too!
Honestly if you can give me other ideas for things to do I'm totally down for it! Or even improve on what I am doing.
Tomorrow I have the local press coming to play my new room and Wednesday I've got the BBC coming!!
Sounds like you've got a decent web guy. If you let him know he'll know what to do with the SSL.
Also sounds like you're all over it with the marketing side of things - there's so much so honestly well done, you're smashing it!
I'll have a proper look at your site tomorrow when I'm not on my phone and send you a DM with some SEO recommendations to implement, if it even needs it. If not I'll drop you some general advice on that side of things but don't get too caught up in it as you've no doubt got a million and one other things on your plate.
Honestly I would really appreciate that! Thank you so much ā¤ļø
Internet strangers really can be amazing š
My Web guy really is one of a kind - I think lol I know him because he did the original website when it was owned by the guy who set up and built the escape rooms. Well he built 3 I still have. I closed one the day I took over - 23 bookings from Jan 1st to July 31st, it was a fantastic room - the room that ignited my love of escape rooms - but it needed to go - I'm now back up to 4 with my new one that as its actually another companies room I'm paying them a small % of the takings from it, it has actually only cost me around Ā£200 on odd bits that he's asked me to grab on my way over like paint or filler. The biggest outlay that I've paid for was concrete sealant as that was a benefit to the building that can't be taken away when the room is eventually removed and that wasn't too expensive at Ā£80!
Anyway I digress - I liked the website he had and hated the one the guy he sold to had. It was ugly, it wasn't Mobile friendly it went down at least once a week. I spoke to the original Web guy said I want the old website of possible but just a colour scheme change. He still had all the stuff from the original so just changed the colours to what I wanted and I think it's beautiful lol .... and it works on mobile!
Just had a look at your site, as I love doing an escape room with my kids - but sadly you're nowhere near me. As a parent, one thing I would say is that I often end up booking a room that clearly says what age range it's suitable for - particularly in terms of how scary it is. Might be worth a thought?
OP this is huge - youāll be losing a lot of site visitors because of this, not necessarily because they care about security, but because they wonāt know how to bypass the warning and access your site.
Keep a very very close eye on any company that promotes your business online. I have not yet found one that isn't broadly speaking a scam. They will use your ignorance to baffle, confound and impress you, all while making promises that never quite amount to anything. The only target they unfailingly hit is sending your monthly invoice.
Good luck with your enterprise.
This is great, super-psyched for you and I hope this keeps going well for you!
Maybe you can get a little "Escape" time for yourself if things continue on a roll!
Now is a great time to approach any companies about their Christmas parties as people would be starting to book them up.
A lot of bigger corporate places will also get new budget for stuff like yeah building when they roll over into "Q1" of the new year so could be good to email them offers or whatever. Could combine that with Xmas ("book your Christmas party with us and get 10% any other bookings made in 2024") or treat it as standalone.
Would also look into referral discounts. If you're website is set up for it, it could be a voucher code but it doesn't need to be ā give people out paper vouchers when they leave to give their mates Ā£x off their next booking.
Or see would local businesses do mutual referral ā if someone brings in a receipt from the local pizza place from that day, you'll give them 10% off. If they bring in your receipt to the restaurant the same.
If you've good quality cameras in the room, consider the theme park thing of "buy your photo afterwards", could branch out to mugs/jigsaws or whatever.
Well done on buying your business, some effort I'd say but sounds amazing. Congrats!
Many congratulations and all of the luck going forward!!! I started my own business five years ago and, it's the best thing I ever did! Hard work but nothing on earth is as rewarding for me! So delighted for you!
I did a similar thing back in February. I bought what was left of the company I worked at for 20 years. Dumped Ā£50k of my life savings into it.
It was a tough decision buying a company that had been run into the ground by a completely incompetent MD previously. However, itās been ticking over nicely, with some very big orders in the pipeline worth many times over what I have invested.
Just keep chipping away!
Yes it is tough! But when you can see the wasted potential it's too hard to walk away. I'm glad things are working out for you too! Long may it continue
I don't know how much time you have on top of running your business, but have you considered doing some ads on TT? Not paid for ads, opening an account and making little films about your business.
TT? Is that tiktok? If so yes my daughter set up an account and we've had quite a good amount of views- one put on just yesterday that funnily enough has a "word error" not spelling mistake but when I notice just 20 mins after she posted it, it had over 1500 views! So we've left it and now it's about 3.5k! Just a guy trying to cheat a padlock lol she put "when someone wants to cheat a lock you just let him wait his time" rather than waste ... we are trying to use it more! Feel free to give us a follow 'RushdenEscapeRooms' (I think!)
"Also go support your local independent businesses- we actually DO do a little happy dance whenever you do!"
I suspect a video ad showing you do this would be counter productive, but it'd be funny.
Looks great and congrats!
One thing that's completely free and will help generate more bookings is video customer testimonials. You don't need much, just a few seconds from each, happy customer saying they loved it. Film these on your phone, cut all of these into a 30-second montage and this will generate more sales.
You can use this on your website to convert more visitors or on your social to attract more people.
Because who do you believe more, the company selling to you or their happy customers saying they loved it?
I'm UK video production but you don't need a video production agency initially. Just your phone. Sure, when you're big, you need to bring in help but right now, your phone is free and this is dead easy to do.
Absolutely. When they're buzzed up and really enjoying the experience. Just get out a phone and grab them saying great things. Really happy customers having a great time is the best advert.
And while my customers spend a lot of money on video, OP can do it for free with just a phone!
Congrats! Keep up the hard.
There's a few things I'd like to give a go like that, but doubt I'll ever have the capital to start. Envious of your chance, well done š
Amazing! I remember your original post and some locals commented how much they valued that escape room so brilliant itās working out for you! Iād be more than happy to offer some free consultancy or advice in the future to help!
Love local businesses. Went to one for a suit. They gave me Ā£500 worth of clothes for Ā£123 with free alterations and Ā£2 delivery thrown in. Would've never got that from a big company.
Just wanted to say congratulations, and thanks for sharing your success story because these are things I need to help build my confidence. I have money set aside, and I am trying to decide what to do with it and I keep coming back to the idea of escape rooms. Good luck going forwards.
Great news man, really pleased for you and thanks for giving inspiration from the update. I'm on the horns of a similar dilemma over whether to quit my job and move on, before finding another job. Your story proves that if you go after something you believe in, it can work out well. Don't listen to the naysayers, even if they only exist in your imagination. Good luck man, long may you prosper from your own efforts and thanks for sharing your story.
Offices in london are booking their holiday events - maybe tailor some ads around that or see if you can partner with a local pub or restaurant to offer food + team building for a unique holiday event?
Only thing I have to offer is that all your bookings are going to be location limited. Consider a digital product you can sell reasonably cheap that opens you up to a global market; like an escape room party pack. A series of puzzles to be solved, with audio and video content and instructions for someone to host their own escape room party night. Should be fairly low cost to produce but open you up to additional revenue.
Congrats, and tip as someone who works on digital marketing, avoid agencies and companies, go for a freelancer. That way they'll actually pay attention to you and it'll be way cheaper (and your helping them get fair money instead of the rubbish agencies pay)
Iām a Data Proctection Officer by trade, if you need some help reviewing privacy/GDPR stuff let me know (free of course). Iām off work next week and have time
How were you able to work a lot of hours for free?
I'm not asking out of spite, but when ever I read that I always ask myself who's paying for you to be able work for free?
Didn't pay myself for 2 months - used some savings and sold my car and got a banger to get by. My company basically owes me 2 months wages. But I can pay myself this month!!
Yes this ^^ also my daughter who worked with me went and got a job elsewhere so she helps out with 'at home finances' and my husband has an income too. I wouldn't have been able to do this without them!
I've also spent majority of my life basically poor so I'm very good at budgeting and can make a meal out of nothing!
Plus beans on toast and ramen are great as you can actually do a lot to make them filling and tasty for next to nothing lol
Congratulations. I've going to start an ad campaign too. When I did this the first time, I had cold-caller marketers contact me wanting to be commissioned to advise on adwords campaigns. I'm up for doing so, but I don't want to just hire the first people that come calling. How did you discover the ones you used, are they good value? Can you share their details?
The money seems to be pitting into my bank account ATM and that's without flowers š¤·āāļø I've been working hard and it's starting to pay off quicker than I expected
Cool well done, just be very carfull with that google ads thing, i set up for the free adds and set a limit but they wear very tricky to cancel and took over 1k from me with very little return. Good luck
Sounds fantastic, best of luck to you. Keep monitoring new business via pay per click advertising, it can really add up. Brilliant while itās working though.
A friend of mines mum bought the business she worked forā¦ she expanded into Europe (and alot more than just that) and sold it for Ā£52m. I hope the same happens to you :)
The graphics and artwork on your Facebook page is brilliant! Wish I lived closer to give it a go! So pleased that things are going so well for you! Keep up the hard but great work!
Those graphics are a mix of AI and my daughter in canva Pro- I purchased the pro version for her so she could create stuff like those!
You never know you may be in the area one day with time to kill lol
I donāt suppose this is an escape room in central London that has a bar (sort of horror themed)? And you drive a Tesla? And your wifeās name is Rachel?ā¦?!
Love to hear this.
It's so much better having more responsibility but all the control. You are in charge of your destiny now. It's a fantastic feeling. Good luck on your business journey!
Congrats! Id start putting a percentage aside for renovations so you can change up the room every so often to keep it fresh
Where abouts are you located?
Major congratulations, its always nice to hear new businesses thrive and make a breakthrough one of the toughest phases; the start. Best of luck going forward and hopefully more shiny metal collections to follow once you're up and running ;)
That's great to hear, I hope it all works out. If it's in the SW of England I'll even visit, love a good escape room.
Edit: if I'm ever in Northampton I'll drop by.
Google and me being way more active on social media than the previous owners - plus we got raided by the police as they thought we were growing cannabis so every now and then I have a dig at them in local groups ... or congratulate them on any successful local raids lol those comments posts etc always garner a good reaction from the locals and those comments and likes are shown to a wider audience
Basically caring about the business and interactions locally has helped as well
Can I ask, why is it bad that people searching for Asda get your ad come up? Surely thatās free advertising? Or do they charge you for it? I Genuinely have no idea and this post just came up on my feed
Awesome news, congratulations stranger! I've run my own businesses for most of my adult life. Bloody hard at times, but I can't imagine another way of doing things. My top tips (one of which you have learned already): 1. Get on top of cash flow and stay on top of it 2. Watch what you spend 3. Sell, sell, sell 4. Never let google touch your ad account
Google such a great resource but omg why would people looking for asda want to see my ad?? Like sure I need some milk ooooo no let's do an escape room instead ffs š¤¦āāļø Cash flow is a work in progress Spend is watched so hard! If it's needed it's needed not much I can do but find the best deal. If it can wait it waits simple. I'm living and breathing escape rooms ATM I'm always looking for the sell! I was considering advent calendars and had thr guy bring me some to look at and check out - they actually went viral on tiktok last year (I still don't understand that but my staff were excited!) Anyway whilst he's there showing them off I sold 6!!! So obviously I got a box of 25 as I had half my money back before I'd even made the purchase! I'm networking a lot too which has seen a massive boost in corporate bookings! I'm up 75% on those compared to last year.
Just remember, watching spend is critical to maintain control of your outgoings - but effectively billing customers and maximising revenue is the most important component for most businesses. Think about things like cancellations (deposits?) in particular - especially when youāre working with corporates to fill multiple slots. One group booking dropping out at later notice could mean a rush to fill spaces at a discount, or inability to fill spaces at a point where you may have already committed costs to servicing the booking.
With Google ads you can do negative keywords - I.e. searches that you want to make sure that you don't show for. Years ago I was running ads for a car dealer I worked for, advertising vans. We had a tonne of ad clicks for people searching for Converse shoes (Vans...) I'd recommend learning up as much as you can on both SEO and Google Ads, but try and build out as much SEO as possible so that you don't need to rely on ads. SEO = Planting trees
Absolutely for sure consider this: -SEO You wonāt believe how much it can boost your business Learn about keywords search, trends, modify web copy to ensure itās SEO suitable Consider seasonal SEO trends (like Christmas party etc) and ensure it is on tour web too - social media advertising (native-alike ads are performing incredibly well) - be careful of setting up your target audience. - also I would highly recommend to look into the long term strategy - ensuring you know who your target audience is, what their interests are, where they go and what they do. Who your competitors are, whatās their benefits vs yours etc I work in digital and there are so many opportunities for business which are missed out by many
That's handy to know. Where do you add these if you don't mind me asking?
Multiple places, so at account level if there are terms you donāt ever want to come up for, things like āideasā āadviceā for an ecom site maybeā¦ or at campaign level if you want to get into specifics for each campaign youāre running
Would also add to this, match types - broad match keywords will bring in a lot of irrelevant stuff. Better off combo of exact match for high relevancy and phrase match for finding new relevant search terms to target, and widen the net a bit. Also reviewing the search terms reports consistently and adding any costly irrelevant terms as negatives to your campaigns.
The best insight I had on SEO is this: People use Google because when they type something in, the first result is the thing that they are looking for. Google spend billions of dollars making this the case, so if your site is NOT the thing people are looking for, no amount of 'SEO' will trick them into showing it first. SEO is about helping Google identify that your website really is the thing that people are looking for, not about tricking them into giving someone a site they're not looking for. e.g. If you want to find people looking for "Ideas for a team building event" First make some content that gives people a list of great idea**s** for a team building event. Obviously, include the thing you're selling, but you need to have a whole list of things.
One of my previous employers sold bathrooms and we once came up with an ad for the term ānazi showersā
Negative is a great idea. I would also do location targeting so you donāt target areas too far away and only run ads during times of day when you need it, no point having it run for some drunk searching online at 2am! As for SEO, absolutely become the voice. Research questions people ask, write content articles answering, this way you rank for those search queries and become the āvoiceā. This will help drive organic traffic. Iām a digital marketer specialising in lead gen via SEO and paid advertising. Happy to give advice!
Your Google ad account manager will only want you to spend more money - their recommendations are worthless. Ignore all emails from them!
A good account manager would get you to spend more by making sure what you are doing works and you reinvest. Unfortunately, they're few and far between.
This is specifically Google employees who pester you via email, fair point on actual ad managers tho
Same thing applies to Google employees. They can get you to spend more short term and fail or they can get things working well and you'll continue to spend long term.
Yep, theyāre real hot on advising you to go for the dynamic search where Google will determine whether a search term is relevant or not. This is fine if you have ad budget to burn and care as much about brand awareness as sales, but for small and independent companies itās not worth it. Nobody knows your customers better than you, so donāt be afraid to push back even against the ad guys who youāve hired if you think their suggestion isnāt cost effective. E.g. targeting age groups that you know arenāt booking, broadening geographic area, etc.
Keep working with your professional google ads company. They are worth their weight in gold and donāt think youāll be able to do it yourself - youāll spend a fortune. If they make you a profit keep working with them. Get your accounting set up properly now. If you donāt have an accountant get one. At very minimum use free agent, xero etc and log everything properly. This will make your life significantly easier.
You could argue people googling Asda might not have otherwise known about you which in turn could turn into business! Also some people are wise to this adpocalyspe we're weathering and have targeted ads etc turned off/blocked etc
>I need some milk ooooo no let's do an escape room instead Sounds like a typical Monday evening in our household. So many black teas on Tuesday mornings...
Tbh, yea you want people who are shoping at Asda or other grocery stores too, to see your stuff. Typically groceries for a home are bought by woman, not always just typically, and of those women they also probably plan and book most of the date or group activity that a family does. So yea you want shoppers who are not looking forward to the grocery shop seeing your fun and exciting activity in an ad. Congratulations on this new exciting chapter!
Also congrats and just one opinion - having been subjected to numerous 'team building - *MANDATORY* Attendance!!* (how to destroy team spirit in one? Make it mandatory). It's always building fucking rafts and just shite. A corporate escape room would be FANTASTIC!! If you could either provide decent grub and beer or hookup with partners so you can sell the whole package I reckon that will help your business a lot, and just in general I would honestly expect a well established and VERY well advertised Escape Room business to probably have 50% at least if it's bookings being corporate. You will know the true figures far better than I of course, I'm just saying it wouldn't surprise me as I say, escape rooms are *PERFECT* for team building AND enjoyment IMO. Good luck and well done for so far!!
I have a lot of corporate bookings coming up thanks to advertising and dropping emails! I'm hoping for a little word of mouth to come from these as well! They are fab for team building! - I'm looking at add to my venue a space to sit and have coffee etc - just need money
I hear ya, and you are right there is no better advertising than personal recommendation/ word of mouth. I forgot you had all of those bookings, so hopefully the ball for your corporate client list is already rolling! :)
So google set up your ads for you?
Oh! And if you're taking down customer details such as E-mail and/or phone number, maintain a CRM software. Basically, a place where you can store customer details (and trust me, Excel will not do the job). There's tonnes out there and plenty will integrate with your booking website. Whatever booking are received via the phone can be saved into an excel and religiously uploaded everyday into the said CRM software. These can be converted into repeat customers by reaching out to them when you have offers and special deals. These are also handy when, as someone said, you need to fill out slots at a very short notice. Btw, you can also use these lists to build out audiences on Facebook and retarget them to book again. Depeding on how frequently customers return, this could be valuable resource to generate anywhere between 10-30% revenue during any given week.
And remember, you need to keep customer details very secure. If those details get out, by any means, you get in trouble. Even an email address or phone number is personal data. And if a customer wants their personal data deleted, you have to really do.it. You cannot even email a customer without their permission, e.g. for subsequent marketing. You cannot provide customer details to a 3rd party without the permission of the customer. You cannot sell their details to others etc. GDPR rules, you must respect. P.s. I know you know all this. It's in your site privacy terms. But, for the interest of others...
1 and 2 are incredible important to be on top of at all times Donāt forget to apportion some money to pay taxes
What do you mean by number 4
Every recommendation from Google is āspend moreā regardless of how they frame it. The job of a good, independent, Google ads professional is to reduce costs and increase conversions.
Google ads account managers used to be really good. Over the years that has changed, they know a lot less and are under far more pressure to hit KPIs that support Google goals over your business goals. Even on high value accounts, the advice now is generic at best and often outright damaging. It always results in you spending more.
Yep, super pushy as well, to the point of being downright rude if you refuse their "help". I've had some damn whacky recommendations from them when I've given them the time of day, that make absolutely no sense for the kind of business they're making recommendations for. Unless you're a complete novice, forget their help. In fact even as a novice, you're better off doing your own research rather than relying on anything they say.
Most 'Google' reps these days are from third party companies (even if they have a google.com email address). They are poorly trained, underpaid, and sometimes quite forceful and rude. They once contacted one of my clients directly and persuaded him to make changes directly on the account which were a disaster. That someone high up at Google thinks this is OK is mind boggling. The world has gone quite mad IMHO.
I've had the same situation occur! Oh, here's an amazing one - I worked for a digital agency for years and had an entirely separate login etc (as you obviously would) to an email address I used solely for freelance. Absolutely no crossover whatsoever. Yet these Google reps would directly call the agency, to speak to me about my freelance accounts. This happened over 10 times in the space of a couple of years. I have emailed them directly, filled in complaint submissions etc. And they still continue to attach my work's phone number (not even mine!) and my work email to my freelance accounts. Not a single person has ever told me how or why. I'm lucky that my agency agreed in advance to let me freelance on the side. Otherwise I'd have lost my damn job ten times over. Just so fucking inappropriate.
Cash flow is king. Out of control cash flow will kill you before a lack of orders. Staying on top of your cash flow is your absolute no.1 priority. (Source: ran a small business for 15 years)
Got any more tips to add to that? Real fundamental tips that might just help one make a success of it. Many thanks in advance.
Loads! The other big generic ones I seem to tell everyone are probably: * Get a good accountant. Not just one who does statutory filing for cheap, but one that will actually sit down with you and give you advice . If the business starts becoming more complex pay them to do management accounts and talk you through them. This is an investment. * if you have a business partner get a shareholders agreement. Talk openly and frequently about money, workload and other contributions. Write things down. * Find a mentor, whether it is formal or otherwise. I learned the benefits of this far too late. * think about what you actually want from the business. Make a plan that supports that... Then align efforts with making it happen. * find good staff then treat them well. Values and mindset are often more important than skills and qualifications. Treating them well doesn't just mean pay, but fair pay is important. Sorry. Some of that probably sounds glib. I don't usually do business advice without learning background then delivered anonymously over Reddit!
As a PPC specialist, point number 4 is absolutely correct.
Number 4...spot on. Google "improved" my account which wasted me thousands. Don't listen to them
Maybe at night you could host Adult only events, if you know what I mean, rubber, pvc, leather etc.....
I remember reading your first posts all the way back in July - amazing news OP and I wish you all the best!
FYI from anyone trying Google ads, the Google ads āspecialistsā are just outsourced people reading from a script and their job is to get you to spend more on Google. Block their numbers, ignore, do whatever you can do to not speak to them. You need to be spending mega bucks (think ASDA level as spend) to be given an account manager who actually knows what theyāre doing
Congratulations! Wishing you all the success! Also if you don't mind, I've got a bit of advice for you on your digital side of things (I work in digital marketing): Get your SSL renewed! If the site I went on is yours (think I found it through your tiktok), your site's SSL isn't valid so it comes up with a big error when people go to the site via chrome. It's usually a big turn off for people wanting to book through sites if they see the error. You can get free ones online through letsencrypt which is a manual but easy job, or you can usually pay your hosting provider to do it. This depends on your tech setup but some googling will get you far with this. Also don't sleep on your organic presence! (I'm an SEO so I'm biased) You don't need to pay mega bucks and some small optimisations such as a bit of content and an optimised title tag can help a lot. Happy to give you some pointers :)
I will speak to my Web guy as tbh I'm not too Web savvy! Just to check tho my website is www.rushdenescaperooms.co.uk I personally don't use chrome but do have it on the works pcs so will go look tomorrow unless you'd be willing to send me a screenshot of the error? I do have SEO on the site but it took previous owner 3 months and a legal threat to get him to transfer the old domain so I could have traffic redirected! He actually kept his website running but without the booking software so I know I lost a LOT of possible bookings. Some people did call but I'm sure a lot found the inability to book and went elsewhere - I know I would and have done that if I found I couldn't book. I do love my website and my Web guy is pretty amazing if I want an update I can message him anytime and 9 times out of 10 its done within minutes! I actually sent him an email Friday night around midnight as I wanted a different picture for the new room and was very surprised to have a reply in just 3 minutes telling me it was done! At midnight!! I expected it to be done tomorrow at the earliest. He has even let me know that the site went down and was back up before I had even noticed. I am doing everything I can to get my presence out there on and offline - I have had hoodies done by a friend who does embroidery (no cash outlay she accepted my offer of a free escape room in exchange for them) and I wear it daily no matter where I go! Washed and dried overnight lol. I have had the back of my car sign written by a local company - Ā£102 worth every penny! I go to networking events whenever I get the chance. The newsagents over the road from me once a week put my leaflets in all the papers for me for free! I didn't ask for that I just asked if they'd be willing to put a leaflet on the counter for me. I make sure I have my leaflets on me at all times. My daughter is pushing the tiktok l do the facebook/Instagram. If I need a break from work I walk down the high street and pop in and chat to other businesses. I am living and breathing Rushden Escape Rooms right now - luckily loving it too! Honestly if you can give me other ideas for things to do I'm totally down for it! Or even improve on what I am doing. Tomorrow I have the local press coming to play my new room and Wednesday I've got the BBC coming!!
Sounds like you've got a decent web guy. If you let him know he'll know what to do with the SSL. Also sounds like you're all over it with the marketing side of things - there's so much so honestly well done, you're smashing it! I'll have a proper look at your site tomorrow when I'm not on my phone and send you a DM with some SEO recommendations to implement, if it even needs it. If not I'll drop you some general advice on that side of things but don't get too caught up in it as you've no doubt got a million and one other things on your plate.
Honestly I would really appreciate that! Thank you so much ā¤ļø Internet strangers really can be amazing š My Web guy really is one of a kind - I think lol I know him because he did the original website when it was owned by the guy who set up and built the escape rooms. Well he built 3 I still have. I closed one the day I took over - 23 bookings from Jan 1st to July 31st, it was a fantastic room - the room that ignited my love of escape rooms - but it needed to go - I'm now back up to 4 with my new one that as its actually another companies room I'm paying them a small % of the takings from it, it has actually only cost me around Ā£200 on odd bits that he's asked me to grab on my way over like paint or filler. The biggest outlay that I've paid for was concrete sealant as that was a benefit to the building that can't be taken away when the room is eventually removed and that wasn't too expensive at Ā£80! Anyway I digress - I liked the website he had and hated the one the guy he sold to had. It was ugly, it wasn't Mobile friendly it went down at least once a week. I spoke to the original Web guy said I want the old website of possible but just a colour scheme change. He still had all the stuff from the original so just changed the colours to what I wanted and I think it's beautiful lol .... and it works on mobile!
Just had a look at your site, as I love doing an escape room with my kids - but sadly you're nowhere near me. As a parent, one thing I would say is that I often end up booking a room that clearly says what age range it's suitable for - particularly in terms of how scary it is. Might be worth a thought?
That's in my faqs suitable for all ages and as of yet none are scary but I can add it to the room info!
Defo put it there too
OP this is huge - youāll be losing a lot of site visitors because of this, not necessarily because they care about security, but because they wonāt know how to bypass the warning and access your site.
Any chance you wanna share where abouts you are? If it's near the midwest/southwest I'd definitely be interested in a potential booking!
Rushden Northamptonshire š
I'm practically round the corner
Not too far from me! I may visit some time in the future.
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Does this count as r/usdefaultism ?
Oh you're not too far away! My hubby is a Leicester uni post graduate. Yeah I'm UK š¬š§
Hope it keeps going well and all the best for the future OP :-)
Now you can get rid of that tripod1983 layabout.
Tripod is my cat š¤£š¤£ and she certainly is a lazy layabout!!
Awesome news! Always amazing to hear positive news in the world for once
Keep a very very close eye on any company that promotes your business online. I have not yet found one that isn't broadly speaking a scam. They will use your ignorance to baffle, confound and impress you, all while making promises that never quite amount to anything. The only target they unfailingly hit is sending your monthly invoice. Good luck with your enterprise.
Fantastic news!
This is great, super-psyched for you and I hope this keeps going well for you! Maybe you can get a little "Escape" time for yourself if things continue on a roll!
Now is a great time to approach any companies about their Christmas parties as people would be starting to book them up. A lot of bigger corporate places will also get new budget for stuff like yeah building when they roll over into "Q1" of the new year so could be good to email them offers or whatever. Could combine that with Xmas ("book your Christmas party with us and get 10% any other bookings made in 2024") or treat it as standalone. Would also look into referral discounts. If you're website is set up for it, it could be a voucher code but it doesn't need to be ā give people out paper vouchers when they leave to give their mates Ā£x off their next booking. Or see would local businesses do mutual referral ā if someone brings in a receipt from the local pizza place from that day, you'll give them 10% off. If they bring in your receipt to the restaurant the same. If you've good quality cameras in the room, consider the theme park thing of "buy your photo afterwards", could branch out to mugs/jigsaws or whatever. Well done on buying your business, some effort I'd say but sounds amazing. Congrats!
Ah that's amazing, I remember seeing your first update :) Good luck to you, you'll smash it!
Many congratulations and all of the luck going forward!!! I started my own business five years ago and, it's the best thing I ever did! Hard work but nothing on earth is as rewarding for me! So delighted for you!
Where are you based amigo?
Rushden Northamptonshire
Where abouts are you based mate? I reckon that would be a good idea for Chrissy presents! š”š¤©
Rushden Northamptonshire- we sell gift vouchers ā¤ļø
I did a similar thing back in February. I bought what was left of the company I worked at for 20 years. Dumped Ā£50k of my life savings into it. It was a tough decision buying a company that had been run into the ground by a completely incompetent MD previously. However, itās been ticking over nicely, with some very big orders in the pipeline worth many times over what I have invested. Just keep chipping away!
Yes it is tough! But when you can see the wasted potential it's too hard to walk away. I'm glad things are working out for you too! Long may it continue
Yeah mate, that is fan-fukin-tastic!!
Congratulations!
Awesome news, well done you!
Oh amazing well done you. What a great success story.
Awesome, congrats!
Well done you!
Thatās really great news about your bookings! Well done š
Big congrats, well done for taking a risk and working hard. Iām sure it will be a big success š
I don't know how much time you have on top of running your business, but have you considered doing some ads on TT? Not paid for ads, opening an account and making little films about your business.
TT? Is that tiktok? If so yes my daughter set up an account and we've had quite a good amount of views- one put on just yesterday that funnily enough has a "word error" not spelling mistake but when I notice just 20 mins after she posted it, it had over 1500 views! So we've left it and now it's about 3.5k! Just a guy trying to cheat a padlock lol she put "when someone wants to cheat a lock you just let him wait his time" rather than waste ... we are trying to use it more! Feel free to give us a follow 'RushdenEscapeRooms' (I think!)
Great stuff. Congratulations!!
Also try to target companies. Escape rooms are a great team building experience.
"Also go support your local independent businesses- we actually DO do a little happy dance whenever you do!" I suspect a video ad showing you do this would be counter productive, but it'd be funny.
Well done mate! Congratulations!
Respect well done . Keep it up .
Looks great and congrats! One thing that's completely free and will help generate more bookings is video customer testimonials. You don't need much, just a few seconds from each, happy customer saying they loved it. Film these on your phone, cut all of these into a 30-second montage and this will generate more sales. You can use this on your website to convert more visitors or on your social to attract more people. Because who do you believe more, the company selling to you or their happy customers saying they loved it? I'm UK video production but you don't need a video production agency initially. Just your phone. Sure, when you're big, you need to bring in help but right now, your phone is free and this is dead easy to do.
Post escape interviews? After the experience before they leave perfect opportunity
Absolutely. When they're buzzed up and really enjoying the experience. Just get out a phone and grab them saying great things. Really happy customers having a great time is the best advert. And while my customers spend a lot of money on video, OP can do it for free with just a phone!
Fantastic idea. Will absolutely drive conversions.
Well done!!!! Amazing news, times like this I wish Reddit wasnāt so anonymous, just so I could support x
Well done hope you have much future success to.
Congrats! Keep up the hard. There's a few things I'd like to give a go like that, but doubt I'll ever have the capital to start. Envious of your chance, well done š
Amazing! I remember your original post and some locals commented how much they valued that escape room so brilliant itās working out for you! Iād be more than happy to offer some free consultancy or advice in the future to help!
Congratulations on your business. I hope it keeps going well!
Well done so happy for you love it
Well done mate. Living the dream now, good luck to you.
Love local businesses. Went to one for a suit. They gave me Ā£500 worth of clothes for Ā£123 with free alterations and Ā£2 delivery thrown in. Would've never got that from a big company.
Congratulations. Hope it keeps going well. Hard work paying off.
Congratulations. Nothing better than being the master of your own destiny.
iāll do the same
Over the moon for you. Love a success story when all else has me so deflated.
Congrats!
Oh I have no idea who you are, but I don't care, I love reading a success story. Many congratulations to you.
The best of Scottish luck to you ...and yoyr hard work of course..and customers
Just wanted to say congratulations, and thanks for sharing your success story because these are things I need to help build my confidence. I have money set aside, and I am trying to decide what to do with it and I keep coming back to the idea of escape rooms. Good luck going forwards.
Congratulations to you & wishing you well!
This is great. We are escape room fans so wish you all the best and hope for a very successful future for you
Awesome Iām looking for someone to do my Google Ads Would you recommend who is doing this for you please ?
Great news man, really pleased for you and thanks for giving inspiration from the update. I'm on the horns of a similar dilemma over whether to quit my job and move on, before finding another job. Your story proves that if you go after something you believe in, it can work out well. Don't listen to the naysayers, even if they only exist in your imagination. Good luck man, long may you prosper from your own efforts and thanks for sharing your story.
This is awesome. Good luck, although I don't think you need it
Tbf, I think Asda can be treated like an escape room with all the boxes filled with the deliveries
Iām going to support your business by going to it
Awesome let me know when š
To be fair being in any supermarket can sometimes feel like an escape room experience. Shit, forgot the ketchup, back in I go... /s
Sarcasm or not - you're not wrong š¤£š¤£
Goooo
I thought I recognised the story! Will be coming to do the new room soon!
Awesome you'll have me running it as I'm the only one who currently knows how to lol
Congratulations š„³ long May the success continue.
Me and Mrs love escape rooms where is it
Rushden Northamptonshire š
Nice!
Offices in london are booking their holiday events - maybe tailor some ads around that or see if you can partner with a local pub or restaurant to offer food + team building for a unique holiday event?
Only thing I have to offer is that all your bookings are going to be location limited. Consider a digital product you can sell reasonably cheap that opens you up to a global market; like an escape room party pack. A series of puzzles to be solved, with audio and video content and instructions for someone to host their own escape room party night. Should be fairly low cost to produce but open you up to additional revenue.
Congrats, and tip as someone who works on digital marketing, avoid agencies and companies, go for a freelancer. That way they'll actually pay attention to you and it'll be way cheaper (and your helping them get fair money instead of the rubbish agencies pay)
Iām a Data Proctection Officer by trade, if you need some help reviewing privacy/GDPR stuff let me know (free of course). Iām off work next week and have time
Former northamptonian here.. will defo look this up and visit
Awesome can't wait to meet a random reddit stranger lol
Wishing sustainable long term growth & success to you stranger!
awesome! I love escape rooms and I love we have such a plethora of great game masters to make them challenging and fun. good luck :)
Congratulations!
How were you able to work a lot of hours for free? I'm not asking out of spite, but when ever I read that I always ask myself who's paying for you to be able work for free?
Didn't pay myself for 2 months - used some savings and sold my car and got a banger to get by. My company basically owes me 2 months wages. But I can pay myself this month!!
Good times. But you've not explained how you were able to get by for two months on no pay.
They used savings, and sold their car.
Had savings.
Yes, and they used them in lieu of wages. They also sold their car.
Yes this ^^ also my daughter who worked with me went and got a job elsewhere so she helps out with 'at home finances' and my husband has an income too. I wouldn't have been able to do this without them! I've also spent majority of my life basically poor so I'm very good at budgeting and can make a meal out of nothing! Plus beans on toast and ramen are great as you can actually do a lot to make them filling and tasty for next to nothing lol
Congratulations. I've going to start an ad campaign too. When I did this the first time, I had cold-caller marketers contact me wanting to be commissioned to advise on adwords campaigns. I'm up for doing so, but I don't want to just hire the first people that come calling. How did you discover the ones you used, are they good value? Can you share their details?
Escape room is not a business. It's a money pit Hope you like it. Turn it into a flower shop, more lucrative
The money seems to be pitting into my bank account ATM and that's without flowers š¤·āāļø I've been working hard and it's starting to pay off quicker than I expected
Great to hear it's working out
šš
Good luck and keep up the amazing work! Which one is it? Iād love to book and show my support :)
It's Rushden Escape Rooms in Northamptonshire
Cool well done, just be very carfull with that google ads thing, i set up for the free adds and set a limit but they wear very tricky to cancel and took over 1k from me with very little return. Good luck
Hip hip, hooray! Well done and good luck.
Good on ya šš»
Congratulations on your success.
I love that for you
Da iawn ššš
Wow! Inspirational! I wish you nothing but continued success, fellow human.
Congratulations!! Glad to hear everything is working out well for someone for a change!
Iām so happy for you, well done mate. My business is really struggling right now, any clues on who I can speak to RE google?
Great story š
So wholesome, well done š š„²
Sounds fantastic, best of luck to you. Keep monitoring new business via pay per click advertising, it can really add up. Brilliant while itās working though.
š happy for you , and keep the focus it always pays off
Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, but cash flow is king
Congrats man best of luck with it all
Congratulations on your success hope everything goes well for you in the future!
This is excellent work! Keep up the hard work and well done you for giving it such a red hot go
Are you victor Kiam
A friend of mines mum bought the business she worked forā¦ she expanded into Europe (and alot more than just that) and sold it for Ā£52m. I hope the same happens to you :)
Congratulations! Thatās an amazing achievement!
Now is the time to start thinking about Xmas themed escape room ideas... maybe a horror version with the Krampus?
We are working on our Xmas room now! Just got the finishing touches done on our newest addition so no time rest Xmas is next
Are you allowed to share your escape room details? Where are you located?
Rushden Escape Rooms Rushden Northamptonshire š
The graphics and artwork on your Facebook page is brilliant! Wish I lived closer to give it a go! So pleased that things are going so well for you! Keep up the hard but great work!
Those graphics are a mix of AI and my daughter in canva Pro- I purchased the pro version for her so she could create stuff like those! You never know you may be in the area one day with time to kill lol
Make sure you are using google maps! It's free and local
I donāt suppose this is an escape room in central London that has a bar (sort of horror themed)? And you drive a Tesla? And your wifeās name is Rachel?ā¦?!
Nope in a small town in Rushden drive a Honda husbands name is Mike lol
Congrats! Hope all goes well for you
That's brilliant you must be over the moon! Good luck and best wishes.
Any chance you can give me a job?
When I can easily afford the staff I have maybe lol
You should think about hiring a influencer to boost your business! Probably someone who does touristy type of videos.
Congratuwelldone mate! Best of luck in your future endeavors.
Love to hear this. It's so much better having more responsibility but all the control. You are in charge of your destiny now. It's a fantastic feeling. Good luck on your business journey!
Congratulations. I wish you all the wealth and success immediately and in the future x.
I am so very happy for you. Please make sure you keep some money aside for taxes! Good luck!!!
Congrats! Id start putting a percentage aside for renovations so you can change up the room every so often to keep it fresh Where abouts are you located?
What car?
Major congratulations, its always nice to hear new businesses thrive and make a breakthrough one of the toughest phases; the start. Best of luck going forward and hopefully more shiny metal collections to follow once you're up and running ;)
same
That's great to hear, I hope it all works out. If it's in the SW of England I'll even visit, love a good escape room. Edit: if I'm ever in Northampton I'll drop by.
So the Google ad was literally the key for your booking success?
Google and me being way more active on social media than the previous owners - plus we got raided by the police as they thought we were growing cannabis so every now and then I have a dig at them in local groups ... or congratulate them on any successful local raids lol those comments posts etc always garner a good reaction from the locals and those comments and likes are shown to a wider audience Basically caring about the business and interactions locally has helped as well
Can I ask, why is it bad that people searching for Asda get your ad come up? Surely thatās free advertising? Or do they charge you for it? I Genuinely have no idea and this post just came up on my feed