If you're short of a good idea

An experience-based business idea set me thinking on my travels in 2012. I visited Infinity in Surfers Paradise and imagined how something similar might work in Denmark.

An experience-based business idea with mirrors and lights

You paid to walk through dark rooms with different effects. We got white gloves and shoe covers that glowed in the surroundings.

Mirrors made the floor look deep, while light and sound could make a room seem far bigger than it was. There were also effects that surprised you along the way.

My son thought it was fun. My daughter got frightened and wanted to leave. So it wasn’t the same experience for everyone in the family.

I saw possibilities in an ordinary space

What interested me was that much of it seemed built with walls, mirrors, LEDs and imagination. I didn’t know the attraction’s actual construction costs or accounts.

I began imagining an experience business in empty retail premises somewhere lots of people passed. There was a queue when I looked, and I thought the concept could have something to offer.

My expectations for Denmark in 2012

In the video, I talked about shop closures, cheaper premises and a need for entertainment during the crisis. Those were my expectations and rough assessments back then.

I hadn’t investigated exactly what a Danish version would require or cost. The inspiration was to look at an experience using fairly simple techniques and ask whether you could develop your own idea from it.

So if you want to start a business and need the idea, here it is:

What makes this experience-based business idea exciting

It’s been a long time since I made a video, but come along now. Infinity is one of the cleverest concepts I’ve seen. Perhaps things like it exist all over the world. I just haven’t encountered it before. I’m in Surfers Paradise on Australia’s Gold Coast in January 2012, thinking it’s an idea an entrepreneur back in Denmark could take inspiration from.

My rough estimate is that the experience itself could fit in around 150 square metres. You pay to walk through a series of rooms where darkness, mirrors, light and sound trick your senses. The white gloves and shoe covers glow when light shines on them. It looks fancy, but the techniques are also simple.

A suspension bridge, a computer room and the feeling of being high up

In one room, there are mirrors in the floor. It feels like you’re 100 metres above the ground. Another has computer sounds, little LEDs and mirrors. You feel you’re inside a computer, with everything repeated thousands of times.

Each dark room has its own activity that tricks you. There are blinding strobe lights and things sticking out from the wall that can startle you. Some are just foam, but in the darkness they become something completely different.

At one point, you cross a suspension bridge. Mirrors below make it look like you’re several hundred metres in the air. The mirrors repeat the image up and down. Those optical illusions turn a limited space into a big experience.

It reminds me of a funhouse in an amusement park. I also compare the idea with experience concepts such as Ripley’s Believe It or Not and Guinness. What’s interesting isn’t needing a huge machine. It’s using your imagination with effects that work on people.

My family reacted differently

I was inside with my wife and children the day before. My eight-year-old daughter got really frightened and wanted to leave. That was a bit of a shame, of course. My son, on the other hand, thought it was the most fun ever, and my wife and I thought it was really good too.

In the video, I mention the place getting around four out of five on TripAdvisor and people seeming happy with the concept. That’s the rating I describe back then. The precise number of reviews is unclear in the recording, so I won’t put a figure on it here.

Ticket prices and a queue even though the beach is full

I describe a price of 70 dollars for a family of four, which I converted then to just over DKK 400. I also mention 16 dollars for a child and 25 for an adult. Those are the prices I describe in 2012.

When I’m filming, it’s around 25 degrees and the beach is full of people. Yet there’s a queue at the attraction on a small street that isn’t even the high street. The queue continues into the building. I estimate around ten metres of queue and 15–20 people ready to pay.

My immediate reaction is that they’re raking it in. I see a queue and an attractive concept. I don’t have their accounts, so that’s my enthusiasm for what I’m seeing, not a calculation of their profit.

Empty retail premises and lots of imagination

Back in Denmark, I’m thinking of shop closures and large empty spaces on main shopping streets. My expectation then is that they’ll get cheaper over the coming years while people need more entertainment during the crisis.

Imagine a rainy day in Copenhagen. People wander around bored. Then they see a video screen outside a space where the experience looks exciting. There could be a business in getting them through the door.

My rough list of what you’d need is a space of 100, 200 or 300 square metres, preferably where people pass. Then a till, lots of mirrors, LEDs, some cheap lasers, plasterboard walls, white gloves, shoe covers and good ideas.

Nothing I saw looked to me like it required big computers or expensive materials. I imagine you could build a version in a month or two, then expand and improve it. That’s my rough estimate, not a finished building plan or a contractor’s quote.

If you’re in Denmark needing an entrepreneurial idea, I think this fits the times: Entertainment during a crisis, simple techniques and premises I expect to become cheaper. Research Infinity and other optical experiences, and use your imagination on your own version. That’s my free tip from Surfers Paradise. I discuss my own experiences of developing business ideas in Iværksætter til jeg dør.

Best wishes, Martin. PS: Skagen Design has been sold; see my great interview with Skagen Design co-founder Charlotte Jorst