By BRIAN DIGGELMANN

Think about the necessary steps that go into opening most businesses: finding a location, paying rent, ordering products, managing inventory, hiring and training staff. Add that to the stress of finding financing for all of it and you have a full plate before you even start worrying about customers.

What if there was a franchise opportunity with none of those hassles and a price tag under $200,000? Mobile video game theater franchises offer that and more in a sector that has exploded over the past four years.

The original

If the concept doesn’t ring a bell, you may be more familiar with the name GameTruck. Founded in 2006 by Disney alum and video game creator Scott Novis, GameTruck has become the Xerox of mobile video game theater companies.

“Scott went from ‘I hope people like this’ to ‘everyone is copying me’,” said Mike Watorski, GameTruck’s Senior Vice President of Franchising.

When you consider the business model, it’s easy to see why others were quick to adopt the concept.

Watorski explains that, as a game designer, Novis was intimately familiar with the void in birthday entertainment for boys in the 12 and up age range. They were too old for the bouncy castles and arcades were a tired model, so Novis turned to the success of LAN parties and built a mobile trailer packed video games then brought the venue to the party instead of the other way around.

“He thought if he could bring the LAN party to someone and make it as easy as possible for them to enjoy, it would be a great idea,” says Watorski. “Even better, moms could facilitate an awesome event where everyone was happy but didn’t have to lift a finger or worry about the house.

With startup costs between $100,000 and $150,000, GameTruck quickly caught on with entrepreneurs and the brand added about 20 franchises a year despite launching in one of the worst economic climates of all time.

“Revenue continued to grow because even in tough economic times, people still want to give their child a momentous occasion,” says Watorski.

Much of that revenue was reinvested into the company to strengthen systems and add on marketing and PR firms.

“In our fifth year, we resemble a franchise that’s been around for 20 years with our back office support,” says Watorski.

Beyond the birthday

Other than rising gas prices, the biggest problem the mobile video game theater sector faces is generating business during the week.

“A lot of what we do and the justification for a franchise is the support that comes with it, because after the birthday party, what do you have?” says Watorski. “If you’re only doing five parties a month, at some point it becomes irrelevant.”

To help their franchisees find revenue on weekdays, Watorski says GameTruck has partnered with the NASA Education Resource Center and Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration to develop an education panel. Now, GameTruck franchisees are able to bring a mobile education center to schools covering topics like science, technology and engineering.

“Schools aren’t doing field trips like they used to, so we bring on-site field trips to the schools,” he says. “GameTrucks act as a station where kids get to participate in this experiential process where they’re having fun and learning at the same time. If we can capture some excitement about science or technology, that is going to drive them to continue to learn.”

As video games continue to develop both in mainstream popularity and technological achievement, it will be interesting to see what new heights these franchises can achieve.

Mobile video game theater raises money through ‘Month of Giving’ in July

 

(Tempe, Ariz.)—GameTruck Licensing, LLC will donate $15,010 to Make-A-Wish  as a result of their “Month of Giving” in July. Throughout the month of July, GameTruck celebrated their Month of Giving by donating $15 for every event booked, with a $350 donation cap for each participating franchise owner and/or trailer.

“Aligning with Make-A-Wish earlier this year was an exciting step for our organization, and we are happy to say our first system-wide fundraising effort was a huge success,” said Scott Novis, founder and CEO of GameTruck. “The results for our first Month of Giving exceeded our expectations and we hope to increase our donation each year as we repeat the Month of Giving.”

GameTruck named Make-A-Wish their charity of choice earlier this year and is now a proud sponsor of Make-A-Wish and its mission to enrich the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions through its wish-granting work. GameTruck—a patented mobile video game theater concept featuring flat-screen HDTVs, comfortable seating, a high-quality sound system and the latest video game consoles—and its franchise owners will participate in more than 500 Make-A-Wish chapter events throughout the year.

GameTruck offers a premier party experience for both children and adults in an interactive, multiplayer environment that accommodates 16 or more players. Self-powered, climate-controlled GameTruck trailers are outfitted with comfortable seating, four to as many as eight flat-screen HDTVs, enhanced sound systems, more than three dozen of the latest multiplayer video games and all the major video game consoles (XBOX360®, Nintendo Wii™ and Playstation®3). A GameCoach manages each event, promoting fair, interactive play. Since it was founded in 2006, GameTruck has grown to 60 franchisees operating 80 GameTruck rigs in 150 territories across 23 states and Lagos, Nigeria. GameTruck expects to add 30 new franchisees and 60 new territories in 2012 alone, with long-range projections for 200 to 250 units covering the U.S. and Canada. GameTruck is the owner of U.S. Pat. No. 8,029,368 issued October 4, 2011

About Make-A-Wish

Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. According to a 2011 U.S. study of wish impact, most health professionals surveyed believe a wish-come-true can have positive impacts on the health of children. Kids say wishes give them renewed strength to fight their illnesses, and their parents say these experiences help strengthen the entire family. Based in Phoenix, Make-A-Wish is one of the world’s leading children’s charities, serving children in every community in the United States and its territories. With the help of generous donors and more than 25,000 volunteers, Make-A-Wish grants a wish somewhere in the country every 38 minutes. It has granted more than 212,000 wishes since its inception in 1980; nearly 14,000 in 2011 alone. Visit Make-A-Wish at wish.org and discover how you can share the power of a wish^®.