Wednesday, May 2, 2012
New Website bouncycastlebusiness.com
It's been a long time since we updated this blog but we have just set up a website http://bouncycastlebusiness.com were we will update the site all the time and it will give you lots of help on setting up a bouncy castle business
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Bouncy Castle Delivery Vehicle
We started out with a small Rascal van, we could just about fit our three Bouncy Castles in together but we found that we quickly outgrew the van when we expanded and bought extra Bouncy Castles. The Rascal cost us £500 but after we expanded we bought a much larger LDV van, this was an ex post office van and cost us £1,650.
We strongly suggest when looking for a van, if you have the funds, go for larger early on. The last thing that you want to do is have to deliver three Bouncy Castles and then return home to pick up your next three deliveries. A van with a side door is preferable.
The LDV van is pretty good for us, we can fit about eight Bouncy Castles on board unless these included Bouncy Boxing which has the gloves as well or ball ponds which obviously have several bags of balls to go in as well. On most days we can fit everything on but on occasion do have to go back for a couple.
If your budget will stretch to it something around the size of a Mercedes Sprinter would be great but you cannot sacrifice buying the Bouncy Castles. You may have to do what we did and upgrade your van as you purchase extra Bouncy Castles and party games.
If you are going to move into marquees to keep you going over the winter you are going to need a much bigger vehicle as you will have chairs, tables and other equipment.
We strongly suggest when looking for a van, if you have the funds, go for larger early on. The last thing that you want to do is have to deliver three Bouncy Castles and then return home to pick up your next three deliveries. A van with a side door is preferable.
The LDV van is pretty good for us, we can fit about eight Bouncy Castles on board unless these included Bouncy Boxing which has the gloves as well or ball ponds which obviously have several bags of balls to go in as well. On most days we can fit everything on but on occasion do have to go back for a couple.
If your budget will stretch to it something around the size of a Mercedes Sprinter would be great but you cannot sacrifice buying the Bouncy Castles. You may have to do what we did and upgrade your van as you purchase extra Bouncy Castles and party games.
If you are going to move into marquees to keep you going over the winter you are going to need a much bigger vehicle as you will have chairs, tables and other equipment.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Bouncy Castle Extra Equipment
As well as the Bouncy Castles there are some other important purchases to make:
Blowers: These are usually supplied by the manufacturer with the Bouncy Castle purchase.
Tarpaulins: It is very important to put tarps down under your Bouncy Castles to protect the bottoms from loose stones and gravel etc. Also if there is dog mess, which you should ask the hirer to clear, that you have missed or it rains and gets very muddy it is a lot easier and quicker cleaning tarps than the Bouncy Castle.
Traffic Cones: These are very useful to put two or three around the blower behind the Bouncy Castle to warn children to stay away from the equipment. This reinforces our safety advice to hirers.
Mats: If you have a Fun Run or Slides or equipment such as this it is a good idea to use gym mats at the bottom of the slides for protection for the users – especially if you hire the equipment to halls. We don’t generally use mats on normal Bouncy Castles unless we are supplying them to a hall because they all have safety steps attached.
Pegs: It is a good idea to have several pegs to secure the Castles, as they usually do not come with pegs supplied. It is important that the Bouncy Castle doesn’t move around too much, as if it does and ends against a wall or fence or tree stump it will damage the Bouncy Castle very quickly. Don’t forget that you will need a hammer to knock the pegs in.
Sandbags: When hiring in a hall you will obviously not be able to secure the Bouncy Castle with pegs. We made our own sandbags with pillowcases containing bags of sand from a landscape garden centre.
Straps: These are required to wrap around the Bouncy Castle in order to handle it.
Sack Barrow: We have two, both with inflatable tyres. You will need one to transport Bouncy Castles from your van to the erection site. The reason we have two is that we have suffered from punctures on a couple of occasions, so the spare has been useful.
Rope: You will find rope useful for several things, from securing the sandbags on the Bouncy Castles to securing rain covers.
Extension Leads: You will need several good outdoor extension leads. We have several 25 metre leads and some 30 metre leads. We always attempt not to piggy-back extension leads as this can be dangerous.
RCD’s: You should have these attached to the extension leads to plug the blowers in to. It doesn’t matter where on the power supply you attach the RCD and it will protect the customers’ house from any power surge or power problem.
Rain Covers: Castles usually come with rain covers supplied but do check when ordering.
Cockpit Shine: This can be very useful if you have any slides either on their own or attached to castle. Slides normally come with an added cover and spraying with Cockpit Shine can prevent them marking and keep them looking good. Cans of this product are difficult to find but some D.I.Y. stores do carry them..
Card Index: Keep a card with details of every hirer. This can be very useful when sending out details of any new stock to existing customers or simply to remind you are still in business.
Diary: You will need to keep a record of your bookings.
TIP: It is helpful when coming to sell a unit to have a record showing the number of hires as prospective buyers may ask for this information.
Blowers: These are usually supplied by the manufacturer with the Bouncy Castle purchase.
Tarpaulins: It is very important to put tarps down under your Bouncy Castles to protect the bottoms from loose stones and gravel etc. Also if there is dog mess, which you should ask the hirer to clear, that you have missed or it rains and gets very muddy it is a lot easier and quicker cleaning tarps than the Bouncy Castle.
Traffic Cones: These are very useful to put two or three around the blower behind the Bouncy Castle to warn children to stay away from the equipment. This reinforces our safety advice to hirers.
Mats: If you have a Fun Run or Slides or equipment such as this it is a good idea to use gym mats at the bottom of the slides for protection for the users – especially if you hire the equipment to halls. We don’t generally use mats on normal Bouncy Castles unless we are supplying them to a hall because they all have safety steps attached.
Pegs: It is a good idea to have several pegs to secure the Castles, as they usually do not come with pegs supplied. It is important that the Bouncy Castle doesn’t move around too much, as if it does and ends against a wall or fence or tree stump it will damage the Bouncy Castle very quickly. Don’t forget that you will need a hammer to knock the pegs in.
Sandbags: When hiring in a hall you will obviously not be able to secure the Bouncy Castle with pegs. We made our own sandbags with pillowcases containing bags of sand from a landscape garden centre.
Straps: These are required to wrap around the Bouncy Castle in order to handle it.
Sack Barrow: We have two, both with inflatable tyres. You will need one to transport Bouncy Castles from your van to the erection site. The reason we have two is that we have suffered from punctures on a couple of occasions, so the spare has been useful.
Rope: You will find rope useful for several things, from securing the sandbags on the Bouncy Castles to securing rain covers.
Extension Leads: You will need several good outdoor extension leads. We have several 25 metre leads and some 30 metre leads. We always attempt not to piggy-back extension leads as this can be dangerous.
RCD’s: You should have these attached to the extension leads to plug the blowers in to. It doesn’t matter where on the power supply you attach the RCD and it will protect the customers’ house from any power surge or power problem.
Rain Covers: Castles usually come with rain covers supplied but do check when ordering.
Cockpit Shine: This can be very useful if you have any slides either on their own or attached to castle. Slides normally come with an added cover and spraying with Cockpit Shine can prevent them marking and keep them looking good. Cans of this product are difficult to find but some D.I.Y. stores do carry them..
Card Index: Keep a card with details of every hirer. This can be very useful when sending out details of any new stock to existing customers or simply to remind you are still in business.
Diary: You will need to keep a record of your bookings.
TIP: It is helpful when coming to sell a unit to have a record showing the number of hires as prospective buyers may ask for this information.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Buying your Bouncy Castles
We looked at many different companies when buying our Bouncy Castles and you will find that there is a great price variation between companies. Like most things in life it is very true with Bouncy Castles, that you get what you pay for.
Some companies are very cheap and we would advise you be very wary of the quality of these Bouncy Castles, they are probably single stitched and may require repairing more often than better Bouncy Castles. Remember that you need something that is going to last well and last you for enough hires to recoup your investment, make a profit and also keep a decent resale value at the end. If you can, if the company is local, go along to see the Bouncy Castles before you buy. We normally work on 20 hires to clear the purchase cost. This may be different according to the type of castle you buy.
Some companies are very expensive, you will find that these will probably be very good quality, triple stitched everywhere and made to a very high standard. This is brilliant as they will obviously stand up to a lot more punishment and will last you longer. The only disadvantage of buying this type of quality is that you will find the Bouncy Castles heavier and larger when you wrap them which means you will fit fewer on your van and will find them more awkward to handle and store.
When setting up your business we would suggest that you go for something between these two, if you buy mid range you want to look for something still of good quality that will last for at least three or four seasons of hire. These will generally be good quality and double stitched. Something that is priced between the two will hopefully bring in enough money to allow you to expand, buy more units and maybe later on look at the top end of the range when established.
We were restricted in funding when starting up the business and started with two bouncy Castles, a 12’ by 15’ bouncy castle and 15’ by 18’ Adult Bouncy Castle. This cost us a total of £1500.00 approximately. This range allowed us to cater for toddlers, children up to 14 years, and adults.
If you want an adult range to the Bouncy Castles we would suggest either Sumo Wrestling Suits or a Gladiator Ring with Pujil sticks (although make sure these do not have a metal bar in).
TIP: If you do buy a ball pond you can obviously hire it out as a ball pond or a Bouncy Castle. If you hire it out as a Ball Pond charge an extra £20 in cash above the hire price of the castle, £10 of which you will refund if all of the balls are back in the bags when you collect the Ball Pond. The reason behind this is that on a day with many deliveries you can’t really afford the extra 20 minutes it will take to collect together all of the balls. The customer shouldn’t mind as towards the end of the party they can make a game of having the children collect the balls together and put them back in bags. It is also worth noting that the balls take up a lot of space on the van but only give a small financial return.
When selecting what Bouncy Castles to buy aim to have a varied range that covers all age groups, but don’t worry too much about what will be popular. You will find over time that they will all pull in roughly the same revenue. The children’s Bouncy Castles will be a lot more popular but with specialist equipment like Sumo Suits, Gladiator Rings, Fun Runs and Bouncy Boxing you will find that they will not be hired out as often but you can charge more for hire.
Six months after our initial purchase we were able to purchase a second hand Bouncy Castle from a playgroup for £200, shortly followed by a 26’ long Fun Run and a 12’ by 14’ Bouncy Castle with a 6’ slide on the side for £3,102. The last two were new. Please note that buying second hand Bouncy Castles is a risky business and you should inspect them very closely.
Six months later we added a second hand 10’ by 10’ for £600 and new Sumo Wrestling Suits for £700. The main advantage of the Sumo Wrestling Suits is that they are very easy to deliver and collect, as they do not require inflating but can still be hired at a good rate. These can be delivered by car or collected by the hirer.
Shortly after this we added a range of party games to our stock. This included Giant 10, Pin Bowling, Giant Jenga, Giant Snakes and Ladders, Garden Darts and Giant Connect 4. Some of these you can buy from DIY stores or major supermarkets. If you add this range we suggest that you stay away from the Garden Darts as these are only for adults and could be dangerous around children. They are not as popular as the other games. The main advantage of the party games is that you will mainly hire these with a Bouncy Castle, which will increase the price of the hire but still only be one delivery and collection. We hire individual games out only with the hire of a castle however we do hire out the games as a complete package in our local area.
You should make sure that you keep enough money in your business to allow you to expand every six months or at least every year. You will also need to replace certain part of your stock every now and again and must have the money set aside to do this.
The company that we use to purchase equipment was Andy J Leisure. Andy J Leisure is based in Liverpool.
Don’t worry about purchasing your Bouncy Castles from different areas of the country, as it is reasonably cheap to have them couriered. The prices I quoted above for the inflatables that we purchased included delivery.
Next Blog
Extra Bouncy Castle Equipment
Some companies are very cheap and we would advise you be very wary of the quality of these Bouncy Castles, they are probably single stitched and may require repairing more often than better Bouncy Castles. Remember that you need something that is going to last well and last you for enough hires to recoup your investment, make a profit and also keep a decent resale value at the end. If you can, if the company is local, go along to see the Bouncy Castles before you buy. We normally work on 20 hires to clear the purchase cost. This may be different according to the type of castle you buy.
Some companies are very expensive, you will find that these will probably be very good quality, triple stitched everywhere and made to a very high standard. This is brilliant as they will obviously stand up to a lot more punishment and will last you longer. The only disadvantage of buying this type of quality is that you will find the Bouncy Castles heavier and larger when you wrap them which means you will fit fewer on your van and will find them more awkward to handle and store.
When setting up your business we would suggest that you go for something between these two, if you buy mid range you want to look for something still of good quality that will last for at least three or four seasons of hire. These will generally be good quality and double stitched. Something that is priced between the two will hopefully bring in enough money to allow you to expand, buy more units and maybe later on look at the top end of the range when established.
We were restricted in funding when starting up the business and started with two bouncy Castles, a 12’ by 15’ bouncy castle and 15’ by 18’ Adult Bouncy Castle. This cost us a total of £1500.00 approximately. This range allowed us to cater for toddlers, children up to 14 years, and adults.
If you want an adult range to the Bouncy Castles we would suggest either Sumo Wrestling Suits or a Gladiator Ring with Pujil sticks (although make sure these do not have a metal bar in).
TIP: If you do buy a ball pond you can obviously hire it out as a ball pond or a Bouncy Castle. If you hire it out as a Ball Pond charge an extra £20 in cash above the hire price of the castle, £10 of which you will refund if all of the balls are back in the bags when you collect the Ball Pond. The reason behind this is that on a day with many deliveries you can’t really afford the extra 20 minutes it will take to collect together all of the balls. The customer shouldn’t mind as towards the end of the party they can make a game of having the children collect the balls together and put them back in bags. It is also worth noting that the balls take up a lot of space on the van but only give a small financial return.
When selecting what Bouncy Castles to buy aim to have a varied range that covers all age groups, but don’t worry too much about what will be popular. You will find over time that they will all pull in roughly the same revenue. The children’s Bouncy Castles will be a lot more popular but with specialist equipment like Sumo Suits, Gladiator Rings, Fun Runs and Bouncy Boxing you will find that they will not be hired out as often but you can charge more for hire.
Six months after our initial purchase we were able to purchase a second hand Bouncy Castle from a playgroup for £200, shortly followed by a 26’ long Fun Run and a 12’ by 14’ Bouncy Castle with a 6’ slide on the side for £3,102. The last two were new. Please note that buying second hand Bouncy Castles is a risky business and you should inspect them very closely.
Six months later we added a second hand 10’ by 10’ for £600 and new Sumo Wrestling Suits for £700. The main advantage of the Sumo Wrestling Suits is that they are very easy to deliver and collect, as they do not require inflating but can still be hired at a good rate. These can be delivered by car or collected by the hirer.
Shortly after this we added a range of party games to our stock. This included Giant 10, Pin Bowling, Giant Jenga, Giant Snakes and Ladders, Garden Darts and Giant Connect 4. Some of these you can buy from DIY stores or major supermarkets. If you add this range we suggest that you stay away from the Garden Darts as these are only for adults and could be dangerous around children. They are not as popular as the other games. The main advantage of the party games is that you will mainly hire these with a Bouncy Castle, which will increase the price of the hire but still only be one delivery and collection. We hire individual games out only with the hire of a castle however we do hire out the games as a complete package in our local area.
You should make sure that you keep enough money in your business to allow you to expand every six months or at least every year. You will also need to replace certain part of your stock every now and again and must have the money set aside to do this.
The company that we use to purchase equipment was Andy J Leisure. Andy J Leisure is based in Liverpool.
Don’t worry about purchasing your Bouncy Castles from different areas of the country, as it is reasonably cheap to have them couriered. The prices I quoted above for the inflatables that we purchased included delivery.
Next Blog
Extra Bouncy Castle Equipment
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Bouncy Castle Business - Introduction
We hope very much that you find this guide useful in starting your own Bouncy Castle business.
We have been running our business for many years now. In the couple of months prior to forming the business we spent a lot of time and effort researching many areas of this industry. Hopefully, this guide will save you this time and effort and allow you to set up your business much quicker.
Still, before starting to read this guide through there are a few areas that we need to cover.
First of all you need to decide whether you are going to run your business as a full or part time business. Below we have highlighted the issues with each:
Part time: It is possible to run your business as a part time business if you work elsewhere during the week as obviously the main bulk of your business is on the weekends. If you do this you will need to have some way of taking bookings as these mainly come during normal working hours (you will also find that you will pick up a lot of bookings at the last minute due to people watching the weather). The best way of doing this is to have somebody who is able to take phone calls during the week as this will be the main core of your business. You will find that you will lose bookings if you rely solely on on-line bookings or returning phone calls from an answering machine as customers will phone the next one in the Yellow Pages if they don’t get an answer. It may also be worth having someone who can handle your deliveries during the week; this isn’t normally a problem apart from during the summer holidays from school when you will be asked to do mid-week bookings.
Full time: If you run the business full time you would need to invest more money at the outset as you will obviously not be able to reinvest as much towards expansion of the business. We would suggest that you would need to start with at least 6-8 Bouncy Castles and a range of party games. The other area that you will need to think about is the winter. When out of season you will only pick up the odd hall bookings which will not be enough to earn a living, so you will need to either have a part time job during this time or have another side to the business which would logically be marquees. We can’t give advice on the marquee side as we haven’t moved into this area but we would suggest that the investment on this side would be quite large. To compete in this market you would need to supply chairs, tables, heaters etc and you would need higher staffing levels.
Once you have decided at what level you want to move into the industry you will need to work out your budget. Over the next several blog posts you will find details of all your initial outlays and what purchases you need to make and what you could maybe get away with leaving until your business is better established.
Next
Buying your Bouncy Castles
We have been running our business for many years now. In the couple of months prior to forming the business we spent a lot of time and effort researching many areas of this industry. Hopefully, this guide will save you this time and effort and allow you to set up your business much quicker.
Still, before starting to read this guide through there are a few areas that we need to cover.
First of all you need to decide whether you are going to run your business as a full or part time business. Below we have highlighted the issues with each:
Part time: It is possible to run your business as a part time business if you work elsewhere during the week as obviously the main bulk of your business is on the weekends. If you do this you will need to have some way of taking bookings as these mainly come during normal working hours (you will also find that you will pick up a lot of bookings at the last minute due to people watching the weather). The best way of doing this is to have somebody who is able to take phone calls during the week as this will be the main core of your business. You will find that you will lose bookings if you rely solely on on-line bookings or returning phone calls from an answering machine as customers will phone the next one in the Yellow Pages if they don’t get an answer. It may also be worth having someone who can handle your deliveries during the week; this isn’t normally a problem apart from during the summer holidays from school when you will be asked to do mid-week bookings.
Full time: If you run the business full time you would need to invest more money at the outset as you will obviously not be able to reinvest as much towards expansion of the business. We would suggest that you would need to start with at least 6-8 Bouncy Castles and a range of party games. The other area that you will need to think about is the winter. When out of season you will only pick up the odd hall bookings which will not be enough to earn a living, so you will need to either have a part time job during this time or have another side to the business which would logically be marquees. We can’t give advice on the marquee side as we haven’t moved into this area but we would suggest that the investment on this side would be quite large. To compete in this market you would need to supply chairs, tables, heaters etc and you would need higher staffing levels.
Once you have decided at what level you want to move into the industry you will need to work out your budget. Over the next several blog posts you will find details of all your initial outlays and what purchases you need to make and what you could maybe get away with leaving until your business is better established.
Next
Buying your Bouncy Castles
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