There is room for fun-based businesses in Medicine Hat

As entrepreneurs, we tend to jump from one business idea to business next. When we start something – and it turns out to be successful – the next step is to start something new. The question for those of us looking to break into business becomes, where do we go for ideas?

One tried and true method is to take an entrepreneurial field trip. In other words, travel. As entrepreneurs, when we travel with open eyes, we can’t help but notice new ideas.

Speaking from experience, I’ve been on the road a lot lately and couldn’t help but observe all of the funbased businesses popping up on the prairies. Coming home to Medicine Hat, it makes me wonder.

Why isn’t there an independent toy and candy store downtown, a curated space to experience the joy of childhood? They have one in Maple Creek, so surely it would work here in the Hat.

Where is the games café, a community hub where you can try-before-you-buy the latest Germanmade board games such as Ticket to Ride or Agricola? I hear that the games café in Lethbridge is doing well.

Will axe throwing — darts, but with axes — make its way to an underutilized warehouse space, next door to a craft brewery perhaps? My brother-inlaw tells me that Saskatoon’s newly opened lumberjack club is managing a brisk trade.

Curious, I did some secondary market research and discovered that ownership is out and experiences are in. Apparently, millennials value meaningful experiences over meaningless manufactured goods. Or so goes the meme. Whatever the case, people are always up for a good time.

Already, Medicine Hat is home to great events and experience-based businesses. The Medicine Hat Massacre adventure race is coming up soon. As is Conquer the Coulee, Medicine Hat’s very own Tough Mudder. Bowling, movies, and escape rooms round out the offering.

The competition may be stiff, but based on my entrepreneurial field trips of late, I’m confident there is room for more fun-based businesses in and around Medicine Hat.

It might not be a toy store, a games café, or an axe throwing club that wins the day. But one thing is certain. In our increasingly digitized world, people crave connection. And entrepreneurs who build community through shared experience stand to profit.

Who knows? Maybe there is even a travel-based business or two just waiting to be started here in Canada’s sunniest city.