We know that many of our commercial bounce house customers are starting their own rental businesses. So we decided to speak with some business owners from around the country who are running successful inflatable businesses.

Here are a few pearls of wisdom we received that we thought could help you.

Invest in People

One of the hardest things to do for any business is to find quality employees that you can rely on. If you are beginning to expand your bounce house rental business beyond just yourself, this is something to consider carefully.

Many of the business owners we spoke with cited this as their most important piece of advice for growth. 

Anyone who works for you is a reflection of your business. Bad news, unfortunately, travels a lot faster than good news. If a customer has a negative experience with your company they are probably going to tell other people in the community, and worse, post disparaging reviews online.

Positive word of mouth is how you grow a localized business, and having employees you can rely on is one way to make sure that happens.

Many of the rental owners we spoke to said that paying higher salaries for key managers was one strategy that worked for them. On top of that, finding high school or college students who were involved in athletics and other school activities that required responsibility and have worked underneath managers yielded good results.

For the employees that weren't performing well, rental owners said cutting bait with them as soon as possible rather than waiting for things to turn around was the way to go.

Simply put, you want to find reliable employees who take pride in their work and embrace leadership roles. Once you do, paying extra for them is worth it in the long run.

Conquer Search

What do most people do when looking for a local bounce house rental business? They take out their phones and type "bounce house rental businesses in my town" in Google.

If you are not showing up in those results then your competition will most likely get the phone call rather than you.

Almost every rental business owner we spoke with was investing in pay per click campaigns and search engine optimization services. This is by far and away one of the best investments you can make in your business to make sure potential customers are finding you at the exact moment they are interested in booking a rental.

Stay in Touch

Your existing customer base is also one of your best sales tools. Staying in touch with clients is a great way to encourage new bookings and referrals. 

Maybe that mother of four will book your business for another one of her children's birthday parties? Or perhaps the manager of the company that hired you for a corporate event will refer you to a friend.

None of these events usually happen if you are not reminding people that you are still around.

Almost every successful bounce house rental business we spoke with had a strong email list. They were staying in touch with their customers with offers and company news. 

Additionally, using social networks like Facebook proved to be a very effective tool for connecting with customers. 

Have a Vision

Inflatable businesses can scale to many different sizes. You could be happy keeping your rental business as a side hustle and maintaining a smaller inventory of only 3-5 bounce houses.

Or you could have goals of building a large business that services multiple markets.

One of the best pieces of advice we received from a very successful owner who had over 100 inflatables and multiple employees, was that he had a very clear vision of the kind of business he wanted to build. Every morning he woke up with that singular goal in mind and it made him focus on achieving the small tasks that it took to get there every day. 

Think long and hard about the kind of rental business you want to build. It might sound cliched, but having a clear outline of goals you want to achieve can make sure you organize yourself daily to get there.