Tips For Making a Business Plan for a Bounce House Rental Business
Putting Together a Business Plan for a Bounce House Rental Business
Your bounce house rental business should start off by first putting a business plan in place. The old saying rings true, "Plan your work and then work your plan." It can be an intimidating task, but it really does not have to be. After all, all you are doing is thinking through your finances, income and expense projections.
Here is a basic outline to assist you with the task. Keep in mind that as your business grows you will out grow your plan so be flexible and make adjustments along the way.
Give Thought to Your Target Market
When you are entering the business of renting bounce house inflatables, the best markets to start with will be birthday parties and pre-school events. This is why inflatable rentals are such a good fit for a mom looking for a business that keeps her at home. Your target market is other moms and you probably already know a good portion of your potential clients.
Your plan begins here, so write down the details of your market. For example: Moms that live less than 50 miles away who have children under the age of 12. They will have a combined family income of at least $50,000 annually.
Know Your Competition
This will take some research, but this is vital to your success. You must get a firm handle on those you will be competing with. You will want to look out side of your area as well as inside your area. If you are willing to deliver a bounce house 50 miles away then perhaps there is a business that is willing to come into your neighborhood from 50 miles away too.
The Internet and yellow pages will assist you in finding your competition however you will want to also know what type of inventory your competition carries and what they charge. Write out the full analyses of your findings and include them in your written plan.
Calculate Your Pricing
Once you have a good understanding of your competition, you can start to develop a pricing guide. Some of the items that you will want to consider are, hourly and all-day pricing, attended or unattended pricing, weekend vs. weekday pricing. You will also want to decide if you will include pick-up and delivery charges, or if you will charge extra. Do not over look how far you will go out of your driving range and for what fee.
Figure Out Your Start-Up Cost
You will need to have very realistic cost analyses for what it will take to start your business. Your costs will include insurance, transportation, marketing, accounting fees, business licenses and your inflatables. You can store your inflatables in your garage, but if you do not have the space, then you will also require storage space, which is also a cost.
You can easily start out with one bounce house inflatable, and grow from there, but if your budget allows it is recommended that you start out with three. Buy having three, you offer a choice and you can then stand up to any competition.
Determine Your Monthly Costs
Once you have your start-up cost figured out, now move into a look of what it will cost you to operate the business on a monthly bases. Take into consideration, your vehicle, your phone, insurance, storage, marketing, Internet advertising, extra help, and anything that you will be paying for on a monthly basis.
Figure Out Your Yearly Amount of Rentals
You will need to take a few things into consideration here. The first thing you want to look at is your available weeks within the year. This might be different for people who live in more seasonal climates. For example, if you live in Florida, you can rent in the winters were as if you live in Maine that might not be possible.
You may be able to rent out to more than one party at a time depending on personnel and inflatable inventory.
Plot it out month to month as to how you see your business growing based on realistic efforts. Always plan on the conservative side.
Figure Out Your Break Even Point and Your Return on Investment (ROI)
You will reach your break-even point when you have received enough money that covers all of your initial expenses as well as your monthly expenses up to that point. After you have covered those costs with what you have made then you will move into profits.
In order to determine your return on investment, ROI, you will need to compare the cost of marketing and daily operations to the amount of rentals required to pay for all of that in full.
Fine Tune Your Plan
When you have outlined all of the above points, go through your plan and make any necessary adjustments. Make sure the price you are charging fits your objectives and at the same time has a relationship to your competition. Ask yourself if you looking to compete on price or are you looking to compete by offering more unique bounce house inflatables or a higher level of customer service? How would your plan be affected if you charged $10.00 more of if you charged $10.00 less?
There are some very good software programs that you can buy that will assist you with putting your bounce house business plan together, however you should now have a good idea on what you need to get started.
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Bouncers Bounce House Inflatables offer commercial bounce house inflatables at greatly reduced prices and offer sound business advice for the person who is just starting out. Their website http://www.BounceHouseInflatablesStore.com also offers a wide selection of residential bounce house units with discounted pricing and free shipping.