Brendan Hoffman and his partner were walking through the downtown core of a neighboring community when he discovered his first escape room. He didn't quite know what it was, but he was curious and with just one try he was hooked. Now he has escaped from dozens of rooms throughout the Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver, but it wasn't until he visited an escape room that was poorly done that he thought 'I can do a better job than this'. With a taste for math, science and a love of puzzles it was an opportunity to be an entrepreneur and start a business based on an activity he is passionate about. The idea of starting his own business took hold when he was in downtown Mission and saw the vacant building that would become the future home of Decode Escape Rooms. Brendan contacted the realtor with the listing and started to put together his business plan.
The building leased by Decode has multiple rooms so each escape is a labyrinth of doors that need to be solved. They opened with three escape experiences and have just completed a fourth - Grandma's Attic. "Community Futures was a great help in improving the business plan. We took the plan to our Credit Union and they were willing to do part of the financing for the business if Community Futures would do the rest," said Brendan.
