Back in 2018, I’d never heard of axe throwing, until a group of workmates invited me to have a go one evening. I thought it was a fun activity that I could really get in to as a hobby, but by 2021, I was setting up my first axe throwing venue, Eat Sleep Axe in Cheltenham, UK.
I thought it would be good to write a post about Eat Sleep Axe. As a record of the kinds of things we have experienced as Professional Nomads, but also as a useful case study for anyone who is interested in the business startup process, especially in regards to an axe throwing business. To that end, I’ve tried to include a lot of detail describing the iterative, experimental process in getting the business up and running.
The Impetus Of The Covid Pandemic
Axe throwing has been rapidly growing in popularity around the world over the last twenty years or so, but it was the impact of the Covid pandemic that pushed me into considering it seriously as a business venture.
Despite moving into a motorhome in late 2020, the first few years of our nomad life were spent trying to re-establish our businesses after Covid. We did travel further afield as much as we could, but a lot of those early years we were working from a campsite a few miles away from our former home in Cheltenham.
Prior to the pandemic we had established a startup escape room business, Laburinthos Ltd, operating under the brand name “Escape Rooms Cheltenham”, Covid brought it to a halt, and, to get it back on its feet, we took the step of moving into new, bigger premises, in early 2021.
We invested heavily into three new escape rooms on the ground floor of a two storey building in the centre of Cheltenham. This left the first floor of the building, roughly 180m2, available for other opportunities.
Setting up an axe throwing range in this first floor space was potentially a good option for Laburinthos. Another entertainment activity was very compatible with the escape rooms, attracting similar customers. Also, the installation of an axe throwing range didn’t require a great deal of change to the building. It would be relatively easy to convert the space to more escape rooms, or other activities, if the axe throwing activity didn’t take.
However, Laburinthos wasn’t really in a position to invest in a new – untried and therefore risky – business.
Initial Axe Throwing Startup (Aug 2021 – Dec 2021)
The solution we decided on was that I would establish a separate, independent axe throwing business on the first floor. This was a low risk option for Laburinthos, allowing it to focus on the existing escape room activity, while receiving a regular supplementary income from ‘rent’ for the first floor space. Any additional profits would be reinvested in to growing the new axe throwing business.
Despite the growth in popularity of axe throwing it was still a novel activity in the UK, in 2021 (it’s still pretty niche today).To reduce the risk of investing heavily into a venture that was not financially viable, the first evolution of the axe throwing business was kept as simple as possible.
I completed the fit-out in a few weeks in August 2021 and the new venture launched in September, with advertising through existing marketing channels we’d developed through the escape room business. The initial focus was on establishing whether the business was sustainable by the end of the year.
Brand Development & Marketing
I created a new distinct brand for the new axe throwing venture. It was called Eat Sleep Axe to emphasise an enthusiastic passion for axe throwing, in a fun way, using the well-worn meme. There is nothing else of importance in life but the basic essentials of eating, sleeping and, of course, throwing axes.
It was important to emphasise that axe throwing was a passion, rather than just another activity tacked on to the escape room business. The separate branding was then reinforced by marketing this eat- sleep-axe ethos.
Eat Sleep Axe expressed the image of a fun, slightly edgy, but very accessible activity for all types of people. I designed a logo to reinforce this, using a graffiti style to tie in with the “urban’ axe throwing, but in a friendly rounded font. I wanted to appeal to the broad customer base that the escape rooms attracted.
This was not simply marketing ‘hype’ though. My intention was to create a business that was attractive to hard-core axe throwing enthusiasts, as well as those new to the sport.
The main focus was creating a great experience that people would tell their friends about. Throwers were encouraged to take photo’s and videos, and were very happy to share them on social media. This proved to be more than sufficient. I didn’t buy any additional paid ads, although I did expend a fair amount of effort on building the Instagram and Google profiles. Consequently, 90% of the budget was spent on building the new business, with less than 10% on marketing.
A key foundation of the marketing approach was the eatsleepaxe.com website, which I designed and built to reduce costs. The website’s look and content emphasised the novelty of axe throwing, and provided multiple links to the booking system. I used appropriate SEO and performance tools to ensure that the website became the first result for anyone searching for axe throwing locally.
I implemented a free booking tool initially, but, as the number of customers increased, we moved to a commercial booking system, which I integrated into the website.
Project Management of the Fit Out
The fit out included building the axe throwing targets and safety fencing. It also involved creating an inviting space for throwers, in line with the overall business strategy. I managed the initial fit and then the ongoing maintenance, cycling over to the venue from our campsite base on the outskirts of town.
The total budget for the start up was £5000, with the bulk of that going on the fit out. It was not an insignificant figure for a speculative venture that could have failed, but not a huge amount for a whole fit.
The space available hadn’t been used for many years and was very ramshackle. I decided to play up the abandoned building look for the new space. This suited the ‘urban’ axe throwing theme well. I paid a local street artist to spray paint a street art style interior. Although this was costly, it did create a ‘wow’ response for customers, and enabled me to spend less money on other decor.
I installed a stud wall to partition off an area of about 70m2 from the escape rooms work area. I stripped out this area back to bare floors, ceiling and walls, making it safe, but still fairly rough. This suited the urban look, which was further enhanced by a caged area of roughly 40m2, which I created from scaffolding poles and deer fencing. This housed three axe throwing lanes, with targets painted onto end-grain wooden boards.
I spent more money where it was necessary. For example, on safety features like the fencing, and also rubber chippings below the boards to reduce the chances of axes bouncing. I bought good mid-range throwing axes to suit more experienced throwers and beginners alike. A large portion of the budget went on the end-grain blocks that made up the targets. End-grain targets are far superior to wooden planks for axe throwing, but more expensive up front (in the long term planks are extremely expensive as they wear much quicker).
Staffing
I recruited two new people with good customer service skills to deliver axe throwing sessions , but with no previous axe throwing experience. They shadowed me as I delivered the axe throwing to customers. With additional coaching as necessary, they were soon able to lead the axe throwing sessions by themselves.
I handled the various administrative tasks (managing bookings, responding to emails, et al), alongside marketing tasks. I was responsible for the financial management, but Lizzie helped with the payroll and bookkeeping.
Investment for Growth (Jan 2022 – June 20222)
Eat Sleep Axe successfully beat the targets I set for the initial startup period, and so I spent the next six months developing it further. My approach was to reinvest any profits back into new ideas. I tested out these new ideas with customers, and kept the best ones.
Investment in Technology
A significant new innovation was the addition of digital targets projected on to the boards. I created a bespoke system using a microcomputer and projector (commercial digital target systems are available, but cost far more than I wanted to spend on an experiment).
The targets consisted of a series of slides projected on to the boards for throwers to hit. Each slide was a different axe throwing game, for example a competition target, noughts and crosses or even a zombie.
I set the projector system up on one lane initially. It proved very popular and I converted all three lanes to the system by the end of January 2022. Apart from installing projectors, this also involved shading the throwing lanes and reducing the light to enable the projected targets to be seen.
A further popular addition was the ability for customers to send in their own targets or messages, eg for birthdays. This was one of the benefits of having our own flexible in-house projection system.
Building Expansion Project Management
A number of changes were made to the axe throwing space to improve it for customers. Some were simple tweaks, eg sun shades to shield the projections. Other changes were more impactful and required a great deal of planning to ensure that the business was able to continue with little loss.
As a result of greater numbers taking part in the axe throwing, more soundproofing was needed to reduce the noise for the escape rooms on the floor below. I also decided to increase the axe throwing space to create a larger reception area, to cater better for large groups.
The amount of change to the building was actually more than the initial fit out (now that the business had proved to be viable). It included dismantling the targets and fencing in order to install a new floor above soundproof insulation, them moving the existing stud wall back two metres, before replacing everything.
The work was completed in about one week (to avoid loss of business), but the main project management task was in the months beforehand, planning the work to fit in the time available. I also spent a lot of this time researching and experimenting with the best options, eg for soundproofing.
Developing More Features (Jul 2022 – Aug 2023)
Although there was some innovation, the strategy for the second year was to develop new features to please customers further (in contrast to the first year’s focus on general growth). This was encouraged by increased, targeted marketing, including some paid advertising.
Developing Group Bookings
A number of changes were introduced to encourage group bookings (building on the back of the enlargement of the axe throwing space). In particular, I targeted work groups and hen/stag parties.
I changed the bookings to a per lane/venue model, rather than per person, as it was initially. This ensured a minimum price for smaller groups, but also gave generous incentives for larger groups. I also discounted for groups and couples in the week, concentrating the larger groups on the weekend, the busiest time.
I also introduced a number of addons for groups over ten people. These included options such as a tournament and refreshments. There was an additional cost for some of them, but most were free for large groups.
Escape Room Collaboration
The escape rooms and axe throwing activities were separate from the start (making it easy to back out if the axe throwing didn’t succeed) However, people often booked both activities. To strengthen this, I created a streamlined booking process for a combined package with both businesses. The two activities were still separate, but I coordinated the bookings so that people doing both activities had a seamless experience.
Event Management & Marketing
Throughout the second year, I organised a series of events to use as a focus for advertising. These were geared around regular calendar events, Christmas, Halloween, Easter etc, and also more ad hoc, eg a Summer AxeFest.
The digital targets could easily be modified to include new games to add particular themes, eg games for Halloween. They could also display appropriate decorations to add to the theme.
Although there were few minor changes to the fabric of the space in the second year, I did experiment with lighting and UV decorations. The space was obviously kept dark for the projecters, and different lighting helped create new moods for different themes, with little effort.
The different events provided plenty of opportunity for advertising locally (generally free). I also gave away prizes for competitions at these events, typically discounts for future booking. These were fun for people to compete for, but also encouraged them to return again.
Handover to Laburinthos (Sep – Dec 2023)
The axe throwing activity was clearly profitable after two years, and I felt it was time to merge the activity into the Laburinthos company, alongside the escape rooms. As the initial risks had been mitigated, it made sense to combine the staff and booking systems.
Axe Coach Training
I had previously recruited and trained separate axe throwing coaches. They were integrated into Laburinthos and provided the core axe coaching going forward.
In addition, I set about providing axe throwing training for the escape room game masters, so that they could also cover both activities. This involved an initial training session and then they shadowed me as I delivered sessions over a few months. I also created axe throwing training material, including videos, for reference and future training, as needed.
Management Handover
We planned it so that the transition was essentially transparent to customers. This included integrating the business systems, eg booking and payroll. I streamlined the processes at the same time, for example creating new session times that aligned with the escape rooms better, to improve the integrated experience or customers.
I also created comprehensive reference documentation for all aspects of the axe throwing business. This included guidance for customer facing activities, such as safety talks, as well as management of background activities, such as target maintenance.
Remote Consultation (2024)
It made good business sense to merge Eat Sleep Axe into Laburinthos, but it was also a good opportunity for Lizzie and I to travel even more.
I had managed Eat Sleep Axe a few times from a distance while we were on extended trips, but it wasn’t a long term solution.
So, on January 1 2024, Lizzie and I left Cheltenham for good (we actually drove south to the coast, and then on to Spain for the rest of the winter). I didn’t just drop the axe throwing though, and stayed ‘on call’ for the rest of the year, to answer any axe throwing queries.
Having amassed a great deal of knowledge of running an axe throwing business, (both by doing it and also all the research I’d undertaken), I also offered consultancy to other axe throwing startups, in the UK and USA.
I also continue to host and provide technical support for the Eat Sleep Axe website, along with the Escape Rooms Cheltenham website (along with a few other websites).That’s fairly easy to do anywhere in the world, so it suits our nomadic lifestyle very well
I still enjoy axe throwing and I’ve kept my hand in by visiting many different axe throwing venues around the world. In 2025, I also started a mobile axe throwing business, Axe Nomads, I’m enjoying combining my two passions of axe throwing and business development, although this is more a sideline really than a business I plan to grow substantially (at the moment at least).
