HOTSEAT NICK THISTLETON
Educating people about what we do is a challenge. We’re essentially creating a market. People have been doing karaoke for a while but we’re trying to sell it in a different way
What’s your long term ambition? Initially our aim was to open a karaoke bar and see how it went. Now it’s to try to be the power behind every high quality singing experience in the world.
Are you planning to build more bars? We have no immediate plans, although I’d never say never. That’s a part of the business that has been necessar- ily hit by the recession. Our original plan was for quite aggressive expan- sion, but that hit the skids when banks stopped lending money. We were fortu- nate that we were able to diversify. We discovered other parts of the business that feel inherently more scaleable. Now we’re interested in scale, not just from a business perfor- mance point of view, but also in terms of spreading the experience globally. Our big focus is on the licensing side of things, because it’s a fantastic way for operators to use space which is perhaps not generating much rev- enue. As a model, it works very well because you charge people to use the few square feet they are standing on, and you also charge them for their drinks, which they tend to drink rather faster than they might normally.
What are your plans for the next 12 months? We’re looking at all the territories around the world, trying to understand demand and looking potentially at dis- tribution deals. If we find people in a
44
Customers get the use of wireless mics and can order drinks via the ‘thirsty’ button
territory who are better placed to sell and communicate the product than we are, we’d be open to that. One of the key things we want to achieve is ena- bling international distribution. We’ve got a string of clients in the pipeline. We’ve also recently launched a dedi- cated B2B website. We’ll also be actively targeting differ- ent sectors – we’re looking at holiday complexes and cruise ships. That could take us to a huge number of countries, even if we were just looking to service the UK market.
What’s been the biggest challenge? Educating people about what we do is an ongoing challenge. We’re essen- tially creating a market – people have been doing karaoke for a while, but we’re trying to sell it in a different way. It’s not like we’re servicing something that people perceive as an existing need. We’re having to persuade our customers that they will enjoy it and our B2B clients that it will make a dif- ference to their operation.
Read Leisure Management online
leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital
On top of that, trading through the recession has been pretty tough.We have got some real momentum at the moment, though.
How is the company performing? We’re still quite small. We turn over about £3m, and have profits of about half a million. Our profits are grow- ing, and we anticipate getting quite a bit bigger. The online karaoke and B2B side are really growing, and that’s where we’re investing at the moment.
What’s been your high point? We take what we do very seriously, but I love the fact that we’re dealing in fun. Our mission statement is spread- ing happiness through unforgettable singing experiences. Our staff don’t all join the company being nuts about karaoke – far from it – but they all get excited about what we’re doing – which is inspiring people to sing more, because it makes them smile, and I think there’s something really lovely about that. l
ISSUE 3 2013 © cybertrek 2013
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84