Corn Maze Decision Making Tool

Summarize your hours below. Will you be open longer on weekends, open any evenings, closed Sundays? The amount of time you will be open will impact how much labour you need. For the calculation of hours we could have chosen days of the week, but decided on short, medium and long days. Either system would work, but for calculating labour cost later in the "Decision Making Tool", this seemed more efficient.

• I will be open days for hrs per day. (short days)
  
• I will be open days for hrs per day. (medium days)
  
• I will be open days for hrs per day. (long days)
  

• Children age 0 to are free.
• Children ages to will be charged $
• Families larger then 4 people $
• Seniors over over 59 or over 64 will be charged $.
• Adults will be charged $ (all groups not identified will be charged the adult rate)

Expected number of customers you hope to attract over the season:

Other activities that have a separate charge: This could be the pumpkin slingshot, feeding goats, or Make-Your-Own scarecrows, etc. etc. described on page 4 (Charging for Special Activities). Begin with the least expensive activity at #1 and progress to the most expensive activity:

1. Activity (specify) . Cost of the activity: $
2. Activity (specify) . Cost of the activity: $
3. Activity (specify) . Cost of the activity: $
4. Activity (specify) . Cost of the activity: $

The calculator will project income from each of the "other activities" assuming 25% of the visitors will purchase #1, 15% will purchase #2, 10% will purchase #3 and 5% will purchase #4.

• My farm will offer pre-packaged snacks and single serving drinks Yes No
  

If you can think of any other source of income from the enterprise, insert the item in the 1^st space and the expected net profit (as opposed to gross sales) for the season in the 2^nd space:
, Income $

(Example: you plan to sell fire wood for camp fires, and realize a profit of $2000)

Size of corn maze (acres) (The calculator will assume you plant both ways at 30" spacing, or 14" spacing when planting one way)

• Rototiller to work up pathways: (budget $600.00 for walk-behind tiller).
• Fencing for traffic control. Options as to what to fence:
  
  1. the parking lot, and/or
  2. the entrance to the maze, and/or
  3. the activities area.
     I will need feet of fencing to ensure everyone goes through certain check-points and pays.
     (Calculator will budget $ 1.40/ft. using snow fence along with 6' t-posts spaced 15' apart)
     
• First Aid Kit: (number) ($60.00 each)
  
• Walkie-talkies for staff communications (number of pairs needed at $100.00 a pair).

• Need (number) new cash registers. (New $200.00)
  
• Need (number) used registers $100.00 - (Contact register Co for trade-ins)
  (If you have admissions and food sales, you may need 2)
• Need aprons for staff ($10.00 each)

• Portable Washrooms: ($75 - $150/mo. We will budget at $100.00/mo. each)
  
• Hand washing station: ($400.00 each to purchase)
  

• I plan to build a bridge/tower in the maze. Number wanted: at ($4000.00 each)
  
• Cartoon cutouts - number required ($350.00 each). (Hire a college art student to paint them)
  
• Megaphone/Loudhailer to speak to people in the maze: ($100.00) (siren may help to clear maze)
  
• Sound system for tractor & wagon, to talk to people on the wagon: ($100.00 each)
  
• Straw for kids' straw pile: (3 round bails x $30)
  
• Straw mountain: (20 round bails, 2 levels high x $30)
  
• Puzzle or quiz posted on signs in the maze: Yes ($10.00/sign, 2 signs/ac. with clues laminated & put on boards)
  

• Picnic tables: (number) (picnic tables $100.00 each)
  
• Display area / check-in counter / snack food counters: (number of units / counters) (budget for wood cost of $200.00/counter)
  
• Upright used cooler for drinks: ($2000.00 each)
• Used refrigerator for drinks: ($200.00 each)
  (A fridge can work the 1 ^st year. Just have a display showing what is available on the counter. If they can't see it, they won't buy it.)

• Develop a farm website: Yes (prices range from $2000.00 - $5000.00, the calculator will budget $3500.00).
• Media advertising (fliers, arial photograph, newspaper, radio, TV, press releases, postcards, etc)
  Yes: ( The calculator will budget 15% of gross sales for advertising and promotion this 1^st year)
• Plan to hire someone to do your advertising and promotion? If you are choose one of the following options:
  
  1. Estimate their rate/hr: $, estimate the total number of hours to do the job:
  2. Estimate the total cost of of the contract $

I need liability insurance:
(we will budget $ 300.00 for a $2 million "Liability Extension" to your general farm insurance policy for your 1 ^st year.) Check with your insurer for their rates.

• In the box estimate what the average hourly rate is for people (often students) to park cars, supervise activity areas, collect admissions, serve food, etc). A few Alberta on-farm marketers suggested a typical wage might be $12-$15/hr.
  $ per hour
  (We will add 5.5% onto the hourly rate you give, to cover government mandated programs such as Employment Insurance, Workers Compensation, etc.)

Hours of labour will be hired to plant and grow the maze. If family labour is to be used and you only want to budget for hired labour, you may prefer to enter 0 into this field.

• Design maze: I plan to buy a maze design kit but I will cut the maze myself;
  (maze design kit consists of a GPS, Pocket PC, Software for $ 2500.00)
  
• Cut maze and spray pathways:
  If you chose the maze design kit above then the calculator will budget 6 hrs/acre to create the maze using a GPS system
  Otherwise it will budget 20 hrs / acre to create the maze using graph paper & coloured stakes.

I will use the maze design kit with GPS to cut the maze

I will use graph paper and coloured stakes to cut the maze

Indicate the number of paid staff for each of the following jobs. On slow days, you may be able to have one employee cover off more then 1 job. But you should always have a minimum of 2 staff persons on at one time to cover off any unforeseen issues (a child is hurt, staff person has to go to the washroom, get change, customer has keys locked in their car, etc. You can insert half an employee by using 0.5).
When you have long days, you may actually have 2 shifts: one starting at 9:00 am and going to 4:00 pm and another shift starting at noon and going till 7:00 pm. in this way you have 2 staff covering off the peak hours from noon till 3pm. Remember overlapping schedules when calculating your labour needs. If you have 2 shifts 9-4 and 12-7, on long days (which is a 10 hr day), then you really have the equivalent of 1.4 employees covering the hours that you are open. 14 hrs of work covering a 10 hr day. So you would record 1.4 employees as the number required below if you are overlapping schedules like that.

• Short Days
  • Directing traffic in parking area (if the parking layout is well marked, this is optional)
  • Collect admission fees
  • Supervise activities area (can be the same person that supervised the maze when it's slow)
  • Supervise corn maze (may only be required on busy weekends)
  • Sell food and tickets to any special paid activities (as you get busier, these tasks should be divided)
• Med Days
  • Directing traffic in parking area (if the parking layout is well marked, this is optional)
  • Collect admission fees
  • Supervise activities area (can be the same person that supervised the maze when it's slow)
  • Supervise corn maze (may only be required on busy weekends)
  • Sell food and tickets to any special paid activities (as you get busier, these tasks should be divided)
• Long Days
  • Directing traffic in parking area (if the parking layout is well marked, this is optional)
  • Collect admission fees
  • Supervise activities area (can be the same person that supervised the maze when it's slow)
  • Supervise corn maze (may only be required on busy weekends)
  • Sell food and tickets to any special paid activities (as you get busier, these tasks should be divided)

• If you can think of any other capital expenses, insert the item in the 1^st space and the amount in the 2^nd space:
  , Capital Expenses $

• If you can think of any other annual expenses, insert the item in the 1^st space and the amount in the 2^nd space:
  , Annual Expenses $