Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Franchising proven Fun Fieldz concept will be next step for local entrepreneurs
EAST NORRITON » In 2013, the year that uniquely American invention Wiffle Ball turned 60, a few enterprising local guys transformed the homespun game into a backyard phenomenon they christened Fun Fieldz.
It all started as a way of getting their own kids off the couch, co-owner Jonathan Retano noted at the time, adding, “It’s the physical act of play, but more importantly, it’s that you’re playing with your children and that you’re part of game. There are other companies out there doing birthday parties for kids, but while the kids are together, adults are on their phones talking. We really believe the core of the value we bring is bringing the children and adults playing together.”
As funfieldz.com explains, the men “bring the ball game to you,” with a range of miniature, authentic sports fields at your location to replicate a big league experience for birthday parties, corporate events and fundraisers.
The novel idea of setting up mobile, attractive and wind-resistant equipment so families could grab a little exercise together in the fresh air and sunshine away from the electronics moved inside two years later.
“It’s all part of the Fun Fieldz umbrella, which is delivering fun to children and adults,” said Retano, who along with his partner Aaron Keller, has found a new way to deliver the fun, via the franchise route.
“Even when we first started people kept mentioning to us that we should franchise it,” Retano recalled. “And then we went to the Philadelphia Franchise Expo in Oaks and met Steve Beagleman from SMB Franchise Advisors and we’ve been talking about it for the last four years. Finally, last summer Aaron and I decided that after thinking about it forever and forever we would move forward and offer Fun Fieldz as a seasonal/part time income opportunity to own your own business.”
The first step was obtaining an all-important “franchise disclosure” prepared by a law firm, Retano explained.
“We got that going last month and have been working with the SMB group and looking for our first franchisee in the Fun Fieldz concept,” said the East Norriton resident, whose confidence in the franchise idea was continually confirmed by the experts. “The SMB group wouldn’t take anybody on if they didn’t think the concept was valid. They took us through the initial process and they’ve been with us every
step of the way.”
According to its website, smbfranchising.com, the Doylestown-based SMB Franchise Advisors company has helped more than 100 business concepts become franchises since 2009.
“We are excited to be
working with the team at Fun Fieldz,” said Beagleman. “They have a really cool concept that reminds us a lot of the days when we were kids. It is important to still get kids to play and have fun outside and Fun Fieldz does that.”
Keller said that potential franchisees would be taking advantage of the brand recognition that he and Retano have built over the last several
years.
“For someone coming in to a new business they worry about getting customers. We have repeat customers so we can basically hand someone over these repeat customers and they can basically be on autopilot,” he said. The partners would then have more time to promote the brand, Retano said.
“That would also free up Aaron and I to support the
franchisees effectively, both in the Pennsylvania suburbs and hopefully getting into New Jersey as well. The message of everybody getting out and having fun is a message we would like to take across the nation. Ideally it would be nice to find the right people to take over the flagship, and with us being local it would be a smooth transition because we’re around and we can help. Once we start marketing
nationally the whole thing could take off to another level. We spent a lot of time researching the best products and learning how to assemble the products. ” Retano noted. “People say to us all the time, ‘I can’t believe nobody thought of this already.’ We knew we had to get it out there because we didn’t want anybody doing anything similar.”
The product the men are
offering to franchisees is a refined version of the 2013 original, Keller noted.
“We’re perfecting our operation every time we go out. And that’s why we’re looking to franchise now because others won’t have to go through all the trials that we did,” he said.