Lisa Versaci is the owner operator of Cheeky Little Monkeys, the No 1 Soft Play Hire business on the Sunshine Coast and mum of 5 children aged 25, 23, 11, 10 and 7.  Lisa considers her greatest achievements to be her children by far, coming in second is the business that Lisa and her husband have grown over the past 3.5 years from a small soft play backyard party hire business to a business that helps and creates amazing fun, safe play spaces for families to come to and enjoy. 
 

Lisa, tell us about Cheeky Little Monkeys and how this came about?  

Cheeky Little Monkeys is a Sunshine Coast family run business.  We created it 3.5 years ago as a Soft Play Party Hire Business to set up fun safe equipment for children’s birthday.  As my own children were growing up we found it hard to source age appropriate entertainment for them for the birthday’s, so I knew there was a real need for under 5’s entertainment, after researching, we came across soft play equipment and thought this would be a great idea to start.  We started of with 1 set of soft play equipment and did party hire in family homes for about a year, then thought instead of having equipment sitting in the shed mid week, to use it to create Pop Up Play Mornings all over the Coast where families could bring their little ones for a morning of play.  We now have 5 mobile soft play packages we can break into 4 different sets for parties, events, community functions ect.  Pre Covid we were doing up to 4 pop up play mornings all over the Coast as far as Caboolture.  These have slowed but we are hoping most businesses will bring us back once they are back on their own feet.  We are now creating amazing permanent play spaces where families can enjoy all the time.

How do you differentiate from others that are in the same line of business?

Cheeky Little Monkeys is all about family & support.  Each person that comes in contact with us is treated as family and not a number.  We are vigilant on our cleaning of equipment and produce high quality safe fun equipment for little ones.  Our concept of only Under 5 year old play is important, and is a great environment for little ones to learn, grow and have fun while Mum’s, Dad’s, Carers can relax.

You’ve recently expanded and taken on more opportunities… how did this come about and why?

Our expansion just kinda happened.  Three years ago we started holding our Pop Up Play Mornings all over the Coast and participating in local events.  Our Pop Up Play Mornings were always well received and extremely busy.  We were then approached by Stockland Birtinya and Homemaker centre to set up Pop Up Play Morning to help draw traffic to their locations, and from there things just took a massive turn for us, to now having a permanent set up inside Kawana Shoppingworld.  Under 5 play spaces are needed in shopping centres, café’s, ect so Mums, Dads, Carers have somewhere to bring their little ones while they have a little down time, slowly businesses are learning and seeing this first hand.  If you have this set up in your location it will draw traffic.

How important is it to have a plan and a direction?

I never had a plan, I used to just wake up and go with the flow (so to speak).  I knew where and what I wanted from the business, I just didn’t know how to get there.  When I did my first goal mapping with Zoe, I realised then that I had a truly amazing business, I just needed to plan and look forward better.  I have to be honest, with my business I don’t always get to stick to my plan, but it still seems to be going in the right direction.

What do you see as being important traits of a leader?

To me being a considerate, understanding, helpful, setting out good guidelines, making your team understand how you would like them to perform and why, and working as a team.

And what’s next on the agenda for Lisa Versaci?

To continue to grow the business, whether it be Mobile Party Hire, Pop Up Play Mornings, or creating more amazing permanent play centres.  I am looking at franchising our Mobile Party Hire section, and would love to open more permanent play centres nationally.

Favourite movie?

Pretty Women

What do you do in your spare time?

Hanging out with my kids.

Who do you look up to and admire?

Parents with children, in particular mum’s.  Being a parent is hard work, it’s a 24 hour job, 7 days a week, unpaid, sleepless nights, yet they wake up, put their children before their own needs and carry on day in day out.

To find out more about Lisa and Cheeky Little Monkeys head to:

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-versaci-9a2690183/

Facebook
@cheekylittlemonkeysplay
@cheekylittlemonkeysplaycentre