Fun For Tots: Imaginative Play and Parties in Clermont
Indoor Playground Started and Growing with Assistance from Florida SBDC at UCF – Lake County
February 17, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Hal Thayer, Communications Director, FSBDC at UCF, 407.420.4850 or HThayer@ucf.edu
Jose Molfino, Area Manager/Consultant, FSBDC at UCF – Lake County, 407.385.0420 or jose.molfino@ucf.edu
Orlando, FL – Starting a new business can be daunting, but Janselis Maldonado wasn’t intimidated by the thought in the least. She knew she wanted to start her own company, and she knew she needed funding to do it. What she didn’t know was how or where to begin this entrepreneurial journey, and so she turned to the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) in Lake County for assistance. By taking advantage of the FSBDC’s no-cost, expert consulting, business training, and market research resources, today Maldonado is the proud owner of Fun For Tots, an indoor playground in Clermont, FL that is profitably making children and their caregivers happy at birthday parties, open play hours, and special events.
Indoor playgrounds are a fantastic way to support the holistic development of young children while ensuring that they have fun and stay active. Fun For Tots caters to ages 7 years old and younger and offers an open play area with learning toys and multiple themed playhouses including a nursery, a veterinarian’s office, a grocery store (with real groceries!), and even a ball pit just to name a few. “What makes us special is that we focus on imaginative play and pretend play,” explains Maldonado, “allowing the child to explore and expand their imaginations through play.” The emphasis is on providing a safe, sanitary, and fun space for children as well as a relaxing and comfortable environment for their waiting caregivers.
Fun For Tots is off to a great start, but it took work to get it started. Maldonado was smart and didn’t try to do it alone. “As a young entrepreneur and new business owner, I was looking for help and seeking guidance on how to start a business,” she recalls. “That is why I found the FSBDC, and they helped me a lot, and helped make my dream come true.”
Maldonado began by attending a How to Start Your Business training class, then scheduled a meeting with FSBDC Lake County Area Manager and consultant Jose Molfino. “I set up a consult so they could guide me on the right way to find funding to start my business and then be able to make the business come true,” she shares. “The SBDC was the easiest part of creating my business. There were no complications. They meet with you and give you all the information and orientation that you need. They guide you in the right way, without you losing any time.”
Working with the FSBDC really paid off for Maldonado. With Molfino’s help, she secured the funding she needed and navigated some hiccups in the permitting process. “The FSBDC helped me to find the startup capital I needed and guide me in the right direction to find the right bank to work with. If I had to use one word to describe the FSBDC, it is “supportive” because they have given me all the help I needed from the very beginning. I have to say that the FSBDC is the best thing because they are available for you, guide you in the right way and make things as easy as possible.”
For information about Fun For Tots, please visit https://funfortotsplay.com/.
— FSBDC —
About the FSBDC at UCF
Hosted by the University of Central Florida (UCF), and with its main office in the National Entrepreneur Center located at the Fashion Square Mall in Orlando, the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) is part of part of UCF’s Office of the President and the Florida SBDC Network.
The Florida SBDC at UCF provides aspiring and existing small businesses with no-cost consulting, low-cost training, and access to business data and research resources. In addition to its core service offering, the Florida SBDC at UCF also offers specialized services to qualifying companies, including capital access, market growth, government contracting, international trade, business continuation, cybersecurity, disaster planning and recovery, and more. The FSBDC at UCF serves an eight-county area that includes Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia counties and maintains 9 service centers across Central Florida.
In 2023, the FSBDC at UCF served more than 2,800 entrepreneurs in Central Florida with consulting services, resulting in more than 10,100 jobs created, retained or saved; $743.5 million in sales growth; $59.2 million in capital formation; $122.5 million in government contract awards; and 164 new businesses started. For more information, please visit www.sbdcorlando.com .
About the Florida SBDC Network
For more than 45 years, the Florida SBDC Network, the state’s principal provider of business assistance [Fl. Stat. 288.001], has nourished a statewide partnership between higher education and economic development to provide existing and emerging small and medium-sized business owners with management and knowledge resources that enable overall growth, increased profitability, and economic prosperity for Florida’s economy.
In 2023, the Florida SBDC Network delivered 111,720 hours of consulting to 14,808 small business clients – resulting in business owners securing $346 million in capital, $576 million in government contracting, impacting 19,263 jobs, increasing sales by over $3.9 billion, and creating 1,058 businesses.
With over 40 offices statewide, the Florida SBDC is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Department of Defense, State of Florida and other private and public partners. The Florida SBDC Network, headquartered at the University of West Florida, is nationally accredited by the Association of SBDCs and is a recipient of the President’s E Award for Export Service. Florida SBDC services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Language assistance services are available for individuals with limited English proficiency. For more information, please visit www.FloridaSBDC.org.
FSBDC at UCF | 3201 E. Colonial Drive | Orlando, FL 32801 | p 407.420.4850 | f 407.420.4862
sbdc@ucf.edu | www.sbdcorlando.com
