We relish a good party in the UK and learn from a young age that the secret ingredient to a great soiree is a liberal sprinkling of fun. Bouncy castles have been the stalwart of kids’ parties and summer fetes for decades. Inflatables for adults at events have grown in popularity, injecting plenty of light-hearted fun into proceedings. The canny entrepreneur can therefore tap into this large and varied customer base and start a bouncy castle business, hiring out inflatables for private parties and events for all ages.
The British bouncy castle industry
For many of us, a bouncy castle is synonymous with a birthday party. When you’re starting a bouncy castle business in the UK, a standard-sized bouncy castle for a child’s party will become the bread and butter of your business. Unlike seasonal events, kids’ birthdays fall throughout the year, offering a steady stream of weekend hires. What’s more, the hardy Brits don’t let a spot of rain dampen a party, so cancellations are rare. Based on children’s parties alone, there’s a buoyant market for bouncy castles.
From inflatable assault courses to bouncy bungee runs, there are plenty of inflatable options for an older clientele. Bouncy castle businesses can supply larger inflatables for corporate events, weddings, festivals, community events, and private garden parties.
Post-pandemic and as the country navigates difficult financial times, community and social get-togethers have become more important than ever. Bouncy castle hires can serve as a cost-effective form of entertainment and with their wide appeal, from weddings and proms to team bonding days, there is an expansive customer base to mine.
A fun and lucrative enterprise
Starting up a bouncy castle business allows you to become an integral part of a range of fun events – without any of the hassles of organising them! Though you may have to deal with anxious parents and event organisers making last-minute bouncy castle bookings, in general, you or your staff will get the pleasure of seeing happy customers who are delighted with your inflatable installation. Your hires are something your customers look forward to and they’re pleased to see you when you arrive and usually full of praise and gratitude when you come to take the bouncy castle away.
Though some leisure and events businesses are very much tied to seasonal events, bouncy castle hire offers the financial predictability of year-round bookings – with plenty of summer, Halloween, and Christmas events to top up your earnings.
A bouncy castle business often begins as an additional income stream. Because most hires take place at the weekend, it works well alongside a Monday-Friday job. If you start off with a low number of inflatables, dealing with bookings and making your deliveries is manageable alongside your main source of employment.
If you’re setting up a bouncy castle business with lofty ambitions, you’ll find your enterprise is scalable. As you have more funds to grow your portfolio of inflatables and more time to dedicate to marketing, bookings, and deliveries, you can grow your business. Some people decide to hire delivery staff and increase their delivery area, opening the business up to more bookings and a higher income.
Naturally, your initial investment will be in buying good quality inflatables and equipment, but other than fuel, advertising, and wages, there are few ongoing overheads. Delivering and setting up the bouncy castle will become a streamlined operation, and though your inflatable may be in use for many hours, for you, the majority of the hire is completely hands-off.
Running a bouncy castle business safely
You do not need to hold a specific qualification to set up and run a bouncy castle business in the UK. However, you do need to have an in-depth knowledge of the rules and regulations of working with inflatables. Due to the nature of a bouncy castle and its boisterous use, accidents can occur when the inflatable is set up incorrectly or in inappropriate conditions, when play is poorly supervised, or when the inflatable is not maintained to standard. All these issues can be readily mitigated by adhering to the following guidance, but it is still strongly recommended that you take out bouncy castle insurance.
PIPA Compliance
Per the Provision and Use of Play Equipment guidance, and in line with the Health and Safety Act of 1974, each inflatable must be tested annually by a competent individual. An excellent route to follow is to have your inflatables undergo an inspection by a PIPA (Professional Play Inspection Association) registered tester to ensure they meet the requisite safety standards. Once approved, you’ll receive a PIPA certificate and tag that you can show your customers and supply for insurance purposes.
Remember to have your electric equipment PAT (portable appliance testing) tested annually.
Risk Assessments and method statements
As a hirer of inflatables, you need to understand the most common risks associated with the erection and use of a bouncy castle. Assessing these risks is why you take steps such as:
- Only purchasing inflatables built to BS EN 14960 standards.
- Adding a safety mat at the edge of your inflatable.
- Anchoring your inflatable securely using 380 mm by 16 mm steel anchors on grass and adding 163 kg of ballast at each anchor point when installing an inflatable on a hard surface.
- Doing a visual check of the inflatable before each use.
- Doing a visual check of the garden or area of installation before setting up, ensuring there are no obstructions, overhead wires or branches that could cause issues.
- Choosing not to set up bouncy castles outdoors in winds above 24 mph. Even with the correct anchoring, winds above this level could risk the inflatable blowing away – a scenario that could lead to serious injury or even death. Though private gardens may be sheltered, school fetes and community events set on larger green spaces can leave your inflatable exposed to dangerous gusts. Invest in an anemometer and measure wind speeds at your venues for complete peace of mind.
- Providing your customers with a detailed safety sheet, with guidance and instructions for safe use.
Even with your risk assessments and insurance in place, many bouncy castle business owners still prefer to give their customers a waiver to sign.
Though you’ll train your staff members to set up inflatables, a method statement bolsters your safety standards by giving them clear instructions to follow every time they set up.
Insurance
You’ve thought about running your business safely but even when you take all the right steps, sometimes the unexpected happens. From accidents to a stolen castle, you need to be ready to deal with the financial burdens that can befall an inflatables business.
Public liability insurance is the key cover you’ll want for your bouncy castle business. Taking out a minimum of £1 million in cover is standard, but you can increase this figure. Public liability will deal with claims for personal injury or property damage by a third party. This third party could be a child who falls off your bouncy castle and hurts themselves, a passerby at an event who trips and falls on one of your cables, or a customer who claims that your installation process damaged their property. Remember, if you don’t hold public liability cover, you will be left to shoulder any successful claims made against you, along with all your legal costs.
It’s common for bouncy castle businesses to hire help on busy weekends. Even if you only have part time staff, by law, you’ll still need to hold at least £5 million of employer’s liability insurance. If you work alone, you might like to consider taking out personal accident cover, offering a financial cushion should an injury leave you unable to run your inflatables business for a prolonged period.
You invest a lot of money in your inflatables, so why not add cover for theft, loss, or damage to these valuable assets?
Set-up costs
There’s no reason why you can’t start your career in bouncy castle hire by purchasing just one or two standard sized (15 by 11 feet) castles. Two new PIPA-certified castles can be purchased for under £2,000 and with a few months of weekend bookings, you could pay off this investment.
If you’re keen to buy larger inflatables too, the costs increase. The popular disco domes and novelty castles start at around £1500, while inflatable assault courses tend to sit in the £2,000-12,000 range.
In addition to your inflatables, you’ll need:
- Rain covers for the inflatables
- Safety mats, to sit at the entries and exits to the inflatable
- An electric blower for inflating (remember, this stays during the hire and must therefore have its annual PAT inspection)
- Anchor pegs for grass and ballast for hard surfaces (including indoor use)
- An extension cable (usually at least 25 metres)
- A groundsheet to maintain the underside of the inflatable
- An RCD circuit breaker (which is a safety device)
- A sack trolley
- A vehicle and trailer
- A device for taking bookings and managing your website and social media presence
- Instruction and safety sheets and waiver forms for your customers
- Marketing material, such as leaflets and business cards
Though you may already own some of this equipment (such as the device, car, and trailer), as you can see, you may need to budget at least another £1000 for vital equipment and marketing. Having the right equipment is an essential part of starting a bouncy castle business.
Analysing the competition
If you were first inspired to start a bouncy castle business when watching someone drop off and pick up an inflatable at a child’s party – you’re not alone. When you search Google for inflatables hire in your area, you may be greeted with a high number of results. As you browse the websites of well-established businesses with their impressive gallery of available hires, you may feel disheartened. Don’t! When you speak to other companies, you’ll find they often turn down customers looking for standard models, meaning there is space for you to join the industry if you carefully identify where the gaps lie.
If you discover that locals often have to look further afield for standard castles, you should start by focusing on those. If your competitors have many styles of a certain type of inflatable, be it disco domes, sumo wrestling rings, or assault courses, in time you might like to explore that sector, purchasing inflatables that fit the genre but offer something a little different.
It’s a good idea to see the radius served by the other local companies. You may need to stand out by travelling a little further, but this will have to be reflected in your price, as your mileage must be covered.
Finding your customers
Without a doubt, kids’ birthday parties are where you should start earning your money. Parents are also one of your best advertising tools. If they’re happy with your service, they’ll give the all-important word-of-mouth recommendation and leave a good review on your social media. For this reason, as you start out, make customer service your priority, with simple gestures like prompt replies about the booking, a confirmation call the night before, and a card for the birthday boy or girl on the day. Don’t forget to give yourself a catchy name, without any unusual spellings, so people can easily find you online after you’ve been recommended to them.
A website is a must; use keywords in the copy on your site to improve your search ranking on Google. Spend a little more money and you can integrate booking forms and diaries, for a seamless experience for both you and the customer.
Somewhere you don’t need to spend money is on social media platforms. Facebook is the ideal place to post photos and videos of your inflatables and happy customers can leave positive feedback, tagging you in posts if someone is looking for an inflatable.
When you’re ready to spring into action and set up your own bouncy castle business, give the friendly experts at Park Insurance a call. We have over three decades of experience tailoring specialist policies for small business owners, so get in touch to see how we can keep your finances safe.