Chris Mance II - Mental Skills Coach

Why does the “Escape the Room” business model net entrepreneurs 60k to 70k a month in revenue? Why do people pay between $25 to $30 per person for a one-hour game that challenges them to escape from a room? What does this have to do with parenting, purpose and life, and why should you care?

These are all questions I am going to answer. Furthermore, this answer will come in explaining simple truths about happiness, satisfaction, and self-motivation.

The “Escape the Room” Business Model

The essence of the Escape the Room business model is pretty simple.

1. Entrepreneur rents a retail space north of 5,000 square feet
2. Builds out the space to support multiple “escape room” themes that they can market to customers.
3. Sells $25 to $30 tickets to groups of 10 to 12 people to play the escape room game for 1 hour.

Obviously, there are more details in this business model that I’m glossing over, but this should be enough for you to get the point. At max capacity entrepreneurs are making $360.00/hour per escape room in their facility. This is now a proven business model, but the question is why does it work?

Why People Pay to Escape the Room

The simplest answer to why people pay to escape the room is because it’s fun. It’s fun because it has all the elements that produce happiness, satisfaction, and self-motivation.

• Happiness: According to the winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in economics, psychologist Daniel Kahneman, happiness is a momentary experience that arises spontaneously. What’s more, happiness is a product of social bonding. Therefore spending time with friends and family is highly effective in making people happy.
• Satisfaction: Satisfaction comes from struggling to overcome difficult obstacles and achieving goals. In addition, feelings of satisfaction are derived from meeting and exceeding the expectations of others.
• Self-Motivation: When a person has the drive to complete an activity for only the satisfaction gained in doing the activity, they have self-motivation. Typically, in order for someone to have self-motivation they must: 1) understand what they need to do, 2) have a “why” for doing it, and 3) feel they have a good chance at succeeding.

Escape the Room events are done with groups of 10 to 12 friends or family members. So bonding socially is built into the experience. There’s your happiness.

Figuring out how to escape from the room is difficult but not impossible. There are moments of struggle in the group dynamics, and there are built in obstacles to overcome. There’s your satisfaction.

Each escape room provides some level of instructions as well as clues on what needs to be done to succeed. The “why” for being in the room is clear, and the “why” for getting out the room is part of the game. In addition, most people know others who have been able to escape a room in the past. Therefore most people know they have a good chance to succeed as well. In addition, the only reward for escaping the room is the reward of escaping the room. There’s your self-motivation.

What This Reveals About Parenting and Life

A life well spent is a life that requires you to face challenges and overcome obstacles. If everything comes easy and there is no adversity, life is boring. What’s more, when you don’t have someone to share you peaks and valleys with, finding happiness becomes the challenge.

As stated by Susan A. Jackson, PhD in the book Flow in Sports:

…research shows that the most memorable and happy moments in people’s lives usually involve a job well done that required skills and concentration or a struggle to overcome a difficult obstacle. People are happy when they have a purpose and are actively involved in trying to reach a challenging goal. When there is nothing to do, no amount of money or expensive possessions makes a person happy.

Jackson’s words ring loudly and profoundly true. This is why Escape the Room is a business model that parents should model as they raise their children and live their life.

1. Define your purpose and help your children find their purpose. Defining a life’s mission, cause, or goal and working at it day after day is the key to a life well spent.
2. Set difficult goals, break them down into achievable steps and actively challenge yourself and your child
3. Don’t be afraid of failure. As a matter of fact, seek out challenges that may lead to failure. Use the lessons from these experiences to drive personal growth.
4. Start or join a community that has a shared purpose. Make sure your child is also part of a community unique to their purpose.

In doing these four things, developing your self-motivation and your child’s self-motivation becomes part of the process. What’s more, you won’t need to escape from a room to find happiness and satisfaction as you journey through life.