Party Rental Business Update
I’ve been in business for a little over a year now and wow! what a year it’s been. It’s definitely time for an update. I have so much to update you guys on. In this post I’ll go over how the business has been doing, what I’ve changed and Items that have made the most money. For those of you that are new, I started a party rental business Blossom Bounce, over a year ago. since then I’ve been sharing my experience with getting started, things I would do differently and what I would buy if I were to start over.
If you go back to my first post on when I first started, you would know that I have ADHD and I am very passionate about a lot of things! haha I have started at least five business since I turned eighteen. What I’ve realized with this type of business is that it helps me scratch that creative itch that I get every couple of weeks without switching my entire business. Every party set up has the same baseline canvas (bounce house, soft play, etc) and then you get to add a creative sparkle to it, balloons, vinyl, colors etc.
Business is doing better than ever.
Just this month I have made over a $1500 in one weekend. No, business has not always been this great but I finally feel like everything I worked for in this last year is paying off and is only going to get better. We have had two repeat clients, Several customer referrals, and even organic search clients now. Out of all of the platforms we use to get clients, our number one place to get customers is Facebook Marketplace. We update our Marketplace listing every week and get multiple people that reach out to us daily.
When I think back to when we first started, I was so discouraged about getting customers. I didn’t know where to start and I kept comparing myself to bigger companies that have been in business for years whose packages are $600+ a set up with a whole team of employees. I quickly realized I had to stop doing that! When I did and started focusing on what I could offer, everything changed. The clients per month and the amount each customer is paying per party is steadily trending upward. Going from 1-2 parties per month costing 300-350 each party to now 4-6 parties per month ranging from 350-950 each party. I’m very confident that we will grow to 6-10 parties per month and I will hire my first employee by next year.
Want to start your own party rental business?
I put together all the steps I took and all the equipment I used just for you!
Since starting, I changed a few things.
When I first started, I changed three main things that I believed helped me grow to where I am today. Prices, Process and Mindset.
The first thing I decided to change were my prices. My first couple of months, my packages started out at 200-300 per party. It was drastically low compared to other companies but I thought that if I made my prices low enough I could get more people. Then I did a few parties and quickly realized that it was not worth the amount of work I was doing. prepping, driving cleaning, loading, setting up, It’s a lot of work. Plus I had to pay for insurance which I was barely making enough to do that. So I decided to test the waters and raise my prices and see what happens. I raised them just enough so that if I got one party every month I would be able to make my overhead cost. Guess what? I started booking more parties and was able to cover all of my expenses. Here are the prices I changed.
Prices
Bounce Houses
Starting price vs ending price
10x10 White bounce house
$100-$300
8x8 White bounce house
$150-$200
15x15
$250-$400
Soft Play Foam pieces
Starting price vs ending price
Mini Soft Play
$200-$300
Little Soft Play
$250-$350
Big Soft Play
$280-$380
Ball Pits
Extra Large Ball Pit
$400-$600
My next step is going to be figuring out how much money I want to make after all my expenses are paid. I plan on raising each package by at least $100. Another thing I did with pricing is I made sure to stick to the prices listed. NO MATTER WHAT. Every now and then you will get someone interested in booking a set up and will try to negotiate your packages. I did not change the prices for anyone. The way I viewed it was, If I were an employee working for a large company, I couldn’t just change the prices whenever I wanted. When I hire someone they will not be able to change and negotiate the prices. Instead I offered Military discounts, occasionally run deals and made my customer service my top priority. Which brings me to my next point, The Process
Process
When people are planning parties, there are a lot of moving parts. Before they book, They usually have at least three different types of vendor categories they are looking for and are talking to multiple companies within that category about booking. It looks something like this
The two things I wanted with the process was accessibility and simplicity. I wanted to make sure the process was as simple as possible when people go to book and that they could do it on their own time without making another phone call or emailing back and forth. The last thing a busy parent wants to do is use extra brain cells when trying to book. Of course, I’m available at any moment when they want to hop on a call but it’s not mandatory to book. They can seamlessly book, edit and change things on their own time without calling me.
Mindset
I truly believe changing my mindset was the key ingredient in growing. It might sound a little woo woo to some of you but when I stopped thinking about everything I didn't have and instead started thinking about how far I have come, that’s when I started to see change. I started telling myself that it’s all happening and really tried to start feeling that feeling of accomplishment. By doing that, everything started to work out. Even on the weekends where I didn’t have a party I looked at it as an opportunity to spend it with my family instead of focusing on how I didn’t get booked. Those little changes made me feel more at ease and not on edge. So even if you are just getting started or haven’t started yet, Tell yourself now that you are already there and every step you make you are making, no matter how small, is progress towards your dream. I know for me if I had six parties in the first month of starting I would have panicked. I would have been so stressed out and I would not have been ready for that. Now, I’m ready. It took that time to learn the skills and to get my process down.
My most profitable set ups.
By far, the two most popular set ups are the combo bounce house, which makes a great option for parents with older and younger children and our little soft play that has a little bit of everything and still fits in most San Diego backyards.. The Combo bouncer has made $4,417 and the Little Soft Play area has made $4,493 this year.
This is no longer scary to me.
I still have stressful moments from time to time. Like when my Cricut machine isn't working when i’m making a vinyl or I forget a bin of balls but I’m no longer scared. With every problem there is a solution so it’s become a lot easier for me to get back to baseline. It’s also not that serious when you step back and think about it. Sure, it seems a lot bigger to you because it’s yours but to everyone else it’s not that big. When you feel yourself getting
Make sure to check out my next fews post’s where I will be talking about my set up process, Equipment I will be adding and Goals I’m setting for myself!
