Bouncy House Rentals

Starting an inflatable bounce house business can be a great way to build a scalable business that can generate you a good income, especially if you know a lot of people that have kids. In this section we will go over where to get the things you will need, how to market this business and how to scale it to multiple employees so that you can focus on growth and marketing.

The first thing you will want to do is buy a bounce house from a site like cuttingedgecreations.com. Prices these will start at around $1800 for something basic and go up to over $10,000. You can always start with a basic bounce house and buy more when you start seeing profit so keep this in mind. If you want to buy a used one for cheaper you can also check out Facebook Marketplace and eBay to check for inflatables on there. Make sure that you are keeping costs low but buying a reliable product by researching the brand when you are buying something used. You should also research how easy it is to buy parts to fix it if it ever breaks. Make sure that your bounce is made by a reliable company so that it does not break in a couple months! Also, make sure your payment is protected with PayPal, so you do not lose your money if it is damaged.

After you have purchased your first bounce house, you will also want to get some other small things so that you are ready to rent it out. You will need 100 foot extension cords, Tarps to put down under your bounce houses so that it does not have to sit on the ground, stakes to hold town these tarps, cleaning supplies to clean your bounce house, kids will be doing who knows what in your bounce house so you will need to clean it after it is rented, a dolly to help move the bounce house, and a TRUCK AND A TRAILER. Keep in mind that if you do not have a truck already, this will cost you a lot of money. I honestly believe that there are more profitable options if you do not have at least a truck already. However, you can still find one used on Facebook marketplace or Offerup that you can haggle on and find a good price. If you are in the market for a truck anyway then it may be worth the jump.

The next thing you will need to do is set up an LLC and a business bank out which you can learn how to do in our section on how to start a business. You will also want to obtain a general business license in your state so you can legally run the business. You will also need to get limited liability insurance for your bounce house which will cost between $100-$300 per month.

Now that you have everything set up for your bounce house business it is time to start marketing to get your first customers. You should first start by simply making a long post about starting your company with a picture of your bounce house inflated on all of your social media. Let them know that if anyone is having a party for their kid you would be happy to help. You should also post about your business frequently on here so that people remember you and they think of you when the time comes. This tactic alone can be enough to grow your bounce house business if you have a big enough network that has kids.

You should also be creating a Facebook business page for your business and start running targeted ads to people with kids in your area. You can check out our marketing section to learn how to make effective ads and they tend to convert well for this type of business! You can also post it on Craigslist once a week to keep your listing at the top. Also, you can join all the community and neighborhood pages in your area and start by adding value to other posts and making a name for yourself in these groups before posting about your business. If you post about your new business once people have gotten to know you in these groups, you will be amazed at the support they will show.

Another way you can market your bounce house business is by making TikToks and reels for Facebook. This should not be your main focus for marketing this type of business but if things get slow it can be effective. You just want to make sure you tag your location and hashtag it so that more people in your area will see your videos. You can check out our section on how to make effective video ads to learn more.

The most important way that you will want to take advantage of in this business is by referrals and marketing in your community. You can put up signs around the neighborhoods in your area. You can host a free event for kids in your neighborhood that you post all over Facebooks in neighborhood groups. You can volunteer to let schools use your bouncy house or big events to get free advertising. You can show up at these events if there are parents there and hand out business cards and introduce yourself. Get creative and get in front of some parents! This is the best way to get business in this industry. You should also be giving parents your card when you go to pickup your bounce house and offer them something if they ever get you new business. It can be half off the next time they use your service or even a gift card. Just take advantage of the fact that parents typically have other parent friends that would love to rent from you.

Listing your bouncy house service on platforms like Facebook marketplace, and Offerup can also be a great way to get eyes on it. You should post your service on these places frequently, so you keep yourself on the just posted list and get as many customers as possible.’

You will also want to do research on the pricing of your area so that you can be sure that you are not over or underpricing your services. You can call around to other inflatable rental places to see what they charge by acting like a potential customer. You should do this to a few places to get a good idea of what you should be charging in your market. Typically, what you will find is that companies are charging around $100 for 2 hours or $300 for the full day but be sure to check because you may be able to charge more depending on where you are and the area you target. You should also ask companies what they charge for delivery because you should always be charging a delivery fee if you are dropping off your inflatable.

One thing you will also want to keep in mind when starting a bounce house business is that most of your rentals will take place on the weekends. You need to focus on filling these weekends up every week to make sure you are not wasting any time during your most profitable days. The good thing about this though is that it can allow you to make great money part time and you can use your week to also focus on other business you want to start. If you have a truck already you will only need about $2,000 to get set up and you can make this back in a few weekends, so keep these things in mind when deciding if you want to start this type of business.