Help Us Save Just for Fun
Just For Fun (JFF) is a family owned Family Entertainment Complex in Toronto’s East end owned by two momentrepreneurs Fran and Sanna. Our 13,000 square feet is a spacious facility that is equipped with several play zones, party rooms and a variety of entertainment activities catering to all ages. A one stop shop for all your entertainment needs. Fran and Sanna took over JFF in August 2019, and just as they had started to see the business peak, the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to shut their doors in March 2020. When they purchased the business, they took out a $275,000 business loan from the Business Development Bank of Canada that is backed by a personal guarantee. Since the start of the pandemic, they have not been able to make any payments towards the loan and are accumulating interest on it every day! On top of that, they have taken on a large amount of personal debt as they tap into every possible source of funding to try and keep Just For Fun alive.
A company that once shined lights in numerous people’s lives, is caught in a difficult time. We had to let ALL of the employees go and couldn’t even afford to pay their last few wages, which made it difficult for JFF family to provide to their loved ones. Fran has two children and Sanna has a 5 month old daughter. They have both been working tirelessly to keep JFF afloat while trying to care for their families during this difficult time but each day their window of hope closes a little bit more. After trying everything possible, we are now asking you for help. Please HELP US SAVE JUST FOR FUN. With so many businesses forced to close their doors forever there will not be much left for families to do once COVID is over and people’s livelihood is restored. We want to be able to still be there to serve our community. We want to be there so that kids can have a place to go to and have FUN once again… but we are not able to do this without your help.
Our total overhead costs not including employee wages amount to over $28,000 with rent since we have such a large facility. Even when we were able to open our doors back up in September for a few weeks, the reduced capacity limits and the public’s general hesitation to come out to a public playground did not help us much. We really miss the sound of kids playing in the playground. It was what made us want to come to work every day. Our business model is dependent on volume of people and the playground being packed with children. Sadly, there have been barely any children in the playground in the past 9 months.
Despite all this, we continue to brainstorm ways to offer our services to the community and to keep our heads above water. We offer contactless helium balloons, cake and party supply deliveries for virtual celebrations to allow customers to enjoy experiences and moments within the safety of their homes. We also offer lawn setups, custom balloon arrangements and custom gifts and are working on setting up our facility as a child care centre to help the families in our community with their child care needs. Unfortunately, the revenue generated from all these additional streams not nearly enough to cover our overhead costs. We are trying hard to survive and in hopes that we will make it to the other side of COVID but this gets harder as each day passes with no end of COVID in sight. Even with the government support, we are struggling to survive and drowning in debt.
The pandemic has challenged our business in ways we could not have imagined, and our future seems more and more uncertain as each day passes but we strive to keep ourselves afloat.
We need your support. We will be using the funds towards our debt payments and overhead costs.
Please help us keep our business alive. The company that once added a glimpse of happiness into your life, needs your help! #Shoplocal #Supportlocal #Supportsmallbusiness
Every bit counts!
Sanna and Fran
