Business financial model file
Escape Room Financial Model
Budget a two-room escape venue and its hosts, then test paid group sessions rather than treating every player visit as a new room booking.
Opening investment and working cash
The original whole-venue case assumes five players paying$32 each per session. Room sets, premises and controls are separate investments; the lease deposit and reset stock are working cash. This is a different scope from the retained one-room weekday-discount illustration below.
| Cash use | $ |
|---|---|
| CAPEX: Two room-set investments | 50,000 |
| CAPEX: Premises fit-out | 40,000 |
| CAPEX: Puzzle/controls hardware | 30,000 |
| CAPEX: Selected access, cameras and POS equipment | 10,000 |
| Pre-opening: Concept, rights/plans and professional setup | 10,000 |
| Pre-opening: Host training, trials and launch | 8,000 |
| Refundable deposit / tied-up cash | 9,000 |
| Opening stock / initial working inputs | 1,500 |
| Reserve: 2 selected fixed-cost months | 40,396 |
| Selected opening cash total | 198,896 |
CAPEX totals $130,000, pre-opening expense $18,000 and working cash $50,896. The deposit and opening stock tie up cash; they are not added again as monthly rent or consumed inputs. The reserve is a chosen fixed-cost buffer, not proof of full funding. Obtain actual installed/tax-inclusive quotes and dated opening payments.
Monthly fixed and variable OPEX
Two hosts are budgeted at 160 hours each at $22/hour plus 20% employer costs; front desk/management is 120 hours at $25 plus 20%. Session supplies do not deduct host wages a second time. A second concurrent room requires actual host coverage, not only another physical room.
| Commitment | $ per month |
|---|---|
| Two hosts: loaded 160-hour rosters | 8,448 |
| Front desk/manager: loaded 120-hour roster | 3,600 |
| Lease/common charges | 4,500 |
| Utilities | 650 |
| Insurance | 500 |
| Booking software | 250 |
| Puzzle maintenance | 500 |
| Marketing | 1,000 |
| Cleaning | 500 |
| Admin | 250 |
| Total selected fixed cash | 20,198 |
| Item | $ per unit |
|---|---|
| Net collected selling value | 160 |
| Player consumables:5 players ×$2 | 10 |
| Session/reset consumables | 8 |
| Percentage-only fee allocation (3%) | 4.8 |
| Contribution before scheduled payroll/fixed OPEX | 137.2 |
The percentage fee is an aggregate allocation, with no fixed per-payment charge assumed. Unit contribution is not owner income: the full listed monthly roster and overhead still need coverage.
Capacity, break-even and a lower-sales case
Two rooms with four complete 90-minute cycles over 24 days offer 192 theoretical sessions, but the selected staffed calendar permits 168. The 156-session plan consumes 234 host person-hours, within 320 paid host hours, leaving 86 for other selected work. Confirm actual briefing/play/reset overlap and care/safety requirements before using the ceiling.
For this fixed mix and commitment, whole-unit cash break-even is 148 completed paid group sessions per month: ($20,198) ÷ $137.2, rounded up. The aggregate capacity is 168 units; it does not establish customer demand or a workable daily sequence.
| Paid units | Net sales $ | Selected result $ |
|---|---|---|
| 120 | 19,200 | -3,734 |
| 148 | 23,680 | 107.60 |
| 156 (planned) | 24,960 | 1,205.20 |
| 168 | 26,880 | 2,851.60 |
At 120 sessions, the two-room lease and host roster remain. The prior one-room small-group example below illustrates a different weekday window and must not be combined as though its price or staff budget were this whole-venue plan.
Practical KPI definitions
Track paid sessions/actually offered staffed sessions, players/paid group and net group value. A five-player group uses one room session; unused player places do not become a second booking. Record resets, no-shows and discount displacement by slot.
No owner distributions, finance, income tax or future room replacement is modeled. Advance bookings/refunds and room-set payment dates need their own cash calendar.
Method context: SBA business planning. All case prices, wages, cost ratios, reserve and capacity inputs above are original planning assumptions.
What the model covers
The official FinModelsLab listing describes an editable five-year model; its advertised example runs from 2026 through 2030. Ticket revenue uses visits multiplied by the average ticket price for Open Play, Private Events, Corporate Teams and School Groups, with ancillary income added. Monthly revenue rolls into annual results.
The listing identifies dated payroll and fixed costs, card fees, marketing and capital spending, alongside profit and loss summaries, cash flow projections, dashboard KPIs and operating break-even analysis.
Match visits to bookable room sessions
Our separate weekday illustration assumes four players paying $24 each, 3% card fees, $2 per player and $8 per session in consumables. Contribution is $77.12 per booking before hosting. Two bookings leave $10.24 after $144 for a scheduled six-hour host window, before venue overhead.
The listing does not specify a room-slot capacity limit or project financing terms. Reconcile complete briefing, play and reset cycles with forecast visits, and date build-out payments separately from operating contribution.
Planning guide