Investors Turned Down My Trampoline Park Idea; It Makes $1 Billion

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Michael Browning Jr., founder and CEO of Unleashed Brands. It has been edited for length and clarity.

When I opened a trampoline park in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2011, it was the 6th trampoline park in the country, to my knowledge. Fourteen years later, it’s led to a business that does more than $1 billion in revenue — but getting there wasn’t without challenges.

Growing up, I had many birthday parties at my local indoor play space: Discovery Zone. I just loved it. So when I saw a trampoline park during a trip to California, I was immediately intrigued.

It wasn’t just that my younger self would have loved to play there. The idea was innovative and scalable: the two things I’m always looking for as an entrepreneur.

Banks and investors turned me down

I approached banks about funding my trampoline park idea, but they quickly denied me for business loans. No investors or landlords were interested. They thought I was going to duct tape some trampolines together. The idea was new, and I was young: only 25.

However, I was determined. My parents were entrepreneurs who owned a laundromat, and my dad later got into building houses. He agreed to help me start the business. We spent about $850,000 — everything we had at the time, including the proceeds from the sale of my first business, which created algorithms.

My dad knew a contractor who was moving to a big warehouse. The guy took a chance on leasing to me purely because of his business relationship with my dad. If it weren’t for that one guy — and my dad — I wouldn’t be where I am today.

We scaled the company through franchising

I believed in my idea more than anyone else around me. When we opened, I worked every role, from overseeing attractions to ticketing at the front desk. The business was a quick success: within eight months, my dad and I had paid back our initial investment.

Like any entrepreneurs, we wanted to do more. So much blood, sweat, and tears had gone into the first location, and I wanted to capitalize on what I had learned. We quickly opened two more locations in greater Dallas-Fort Worth.

I started getting franchising inquiries, but I said no since I knew nothing about franchising. I remember talking with my grandfather at his smoker in the backyard. He said, “You don’t want to regret not looking into that.”

I took his advice and ultimately decided to pursue franchising. I opened our first franchise on my 30th birthday. We then opened 54 franchises in 52 weeks.

A little paranoia has served me well

While my business was growing, more copycats were popping up. Entrepreneurs need a healthy level of paranoia, even when they’re at the top. It keeps you from getting complacent. Just like Netflix replaced Blockbuster or the iPhone replaced the Blackberry, I knew I could be eclipsed.

In 2017, I pivoted our model to an indoor adventure park. We removed 80% of the trampolines and reinvented ourselves. Kids and parents loved it, and we distinguished ourselves within the market.

After the pandemic, I decided to build a portfolio of companies that enrich kids’ lives. I founded Unleashed Brands and started acquiring the companies that impacted my own three kids — like The Little Gym. Today, Unleashed Brands has more than $1 billion in revenue, and we serve more than 20 million kids around the country.

Grit is key to being an entrepreneur, so I’m teaching it to my kids

Growing up, my dad taught me about hard work and grit. I sometimes got up at 4:30 a.m. to smooth concrete foundations with him. I want my three kids — who are 13, 10, and 5 — to learn to work through challenges and not give up.

They’re living a different lifestyle than I had growing up, but I find ways to build grit. Recently, my older daughter forgot her gym bag. She wanted me to deliver it to school, but I felt it was important that she faced the consequence of doing gym in her school clothes. She’ll learn from that mistake, without being harmed by it.

Too many people quit when things get hard. To be a successful entrepreneur you need to keep going through those difficulties, and give your all to your goal.