Want to Become a Bouncy Castle Hirer? What do You Need to Consider?

What to Consider When Becoming a Bouncy Castle Hirer

If your looking for a new way to make an income or an additional income then bouncy castle and inflatable hire is ideal – you can run it alongside your current commitments but it can also be built up to a full time income if desired. Bouncy Castle Hire is a good business idea as childrens parties are never going to stop and with kids party venues/play centres getting more and more costly back garden parties with a bouncy castle are always a suitable option. Like any other business you need to consider lots of different factors so see the below points to help get you started.

• How much time are you going to dedicate to this?

Most people start in this business part time usually juggling another job and/or family commitments. However, some people do choose to go straight into it full time or grow the business to get to full time. If you are choosing to start this on a part time basis you need to make sure you have things set up for when customers contact you to know how long to await a response so setting up automated responses to messages and a voicemail asking to allow 12-24 hours to await a response will help manage customer expectations. If you are looking at a full time option we would recommend at least 10-15 Inflatables to have ready to hire out so this will need a higher starter investment.

• Do your Market Research for you Area

You will need to look at:-

1. What are your competitors offering to customers
2. What are their prices – don’t aim to be the cheapest as you need to consider all costs for each hire such as initial investment, insurance, annual testing, fuel costs, any advertising costs, your time and profit you wish to make.
3. What Area are you going to cover / distance you are willing to travel
4. Delivery charges you want to apply
5. What products do you want to start with

• Consider how you want to grow and plan your future products you may wish to expand into. For example if you have started with just childrens bouncy castles you could look into Adults Bouncy Castles, Soft Play, Inflatable Games, Pastel Bouncy Castles etc. Are you looking to get large event hires? If so then you would definitely want to consider items like large obstacle courses, Mega Slides and Inflatable Games as these are always a big hit for large hires/events. You need to have a goal in mind so you can plan how you are going to operate your business and how you are going to get to that goal as well as how you are going to market your business etc so its always worthwhile creating a business plan so you can see what your start up costs are and your potential reinvestment costs are each year.

• How are you going to deliver the Inflatables to your customers

Do you have a big enough vehicle to use to deliver the bouncy castles in? or do you need to look at getting a trailer or a van to deliver to your customers. You will also want to consider a travel charge and working it off distance away from you. Most hirers will give a 10 mile radius as a free delivery charge but thereafter you have to consider how much it will cost to travel to.

• What Insurance will you need?

At a minimum you will need public liability insurance to cover your inflatables but other things to consider (especially as you grow) is do you need employees insurance – van insurance – do you wish to cover yourself for loss or damage of goods? Please see in this guide some insurance companies to contact to discuss your needs.

• You want to invest in to high quality bouncy castles and inflatables that are going to meet the required safety standards and come from a reputable manufacturer like ourselves, knowing that you are covered under warranty. We are always on hand to answer any questions to help and guide you as well as providing all health and safety information in our user manuals etc to give you all the guidance and reassurance you need to help get you started (and further if you have any more questions). You will want to consider what size castle(s) you will want to start with taking into account factors like how are you transporting it, how big are the gardens in your local area as you will want to accommodate as many people as possible so having a large bouncy castle in an area that predominantly has small gardens would restrict your income and keeping the themes neutral/unisex if you are just starting out with one or two bouncy castles/inflatables so it appeals to more children.

• What should you be buying?

As per the above points you need to consider your size and budget but the most popular bouncy castle sizes for back garden hire is 10x12ft, 15x11ft, 12x12ft or 15x12ft these are ideal sizes for starter companies too as the can easily fit in the back of a standard sized car when rolled up. Our most popular themes, especially if you are just starting, are themes like Party, Jungle, Disco or Under the Sea keeping it neutral and appealing to both boys and girls.  All of our bouncy castles and inflatables come with pegs, storage bag and safety certificate however other accessories needed are fan, mats, extension lead, sandbags (for indoor hires), Manometer, Anemometer and a sack truck.

You may also wish to consider add on items such as matching soft play sets to your bouncy castles which are a great way of boosting your hire amount by having package options.

• Make sure your customer service is excellent

Having a polite and professional manor with customers, whilst also being prompt to customer enquiries will go a long way to getting repeat business, as well as having clean and presentable bouncy castles. Give customers a promotional discount for a repeat booking to help build up your business too

Its always a great idea to ask customers for any feedback when your are collecting the castle and encouraging them to leave a review as reviews go a long way for future business.

• Don’t forget the extras

You need to consider that your not just going to be working when you are doing the hires you will also likely need to dedicate time to customer service, answering enquiries, taking bookings and also maintaining/cleaning your bouncy castles and this time needs to be costed into your hire price. Make sure you keep a diary or an online booking system to keep on top of all bookings.

PLEASE REMEMBER WE ARE AVAILABLE ON THE PHONE OR VIA EMAIL 7 DAYS A WEEK AND THEREFORE IF YOU ARE UNCERTAIN ON ANY POINTS OR WISH TO DISCUSS ANYTHING PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO CONTACT US.

Posted by premierinflate.co.uk

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