The business model seems to be to deliver AM and pick up PM or charge an extra fee for overnight.
There seems to be far more money in operating it at fêtes, fares, shows etc. than hiring it out to people who will only abuse it.
If you google around, you'll see some ludicrously cheap prices for rentals.
I've never really looked into the fetes part of the research yet. Thank you for directing me there!
This business is hard work and you don't have the returns you think.
You will have to have your castles checked every year, can't remember who by, but you do need them checked for safety. You will also need public liability which to cover you for accidents etc.
They are extremely heavy to move especially if large and may require two of you to move in to a van. They need cleaning off when you return home ready for the next use.
Often you have early starts to get them set up and late finishes. If they need to manned you will need people to supervise each castle. If they are unmanned you need to cover every angle to protect yourself from a claim. People will abuse your equipment especially if you are not there to supervise.
Remember too that out of your fee you have to pay for the checking every year, your insurance, petrol to events, tax, national insurance, staff, advertising and any other costs that might arise.
Good luck if you go ahead, but be prepared for long hours and hard manual graft.
The reason I chose this type of business was because it's probably the most 'cheapest' desirable business career I'd like to move on to.
The Public Liability Insurance was around £150 a year (only looked at one company) and I'd mostly use social networking sites, word of mouth, literature advertisements (business cards, leaflets spread around schools ect) along with local news paper advertisements.
I won't be hiring any staff, if anything I'd have my dad to help me out so it's sort of a family business if you could say that.
I've not looked up the National Insurance or how to go about 'registering' my business, to which I may need some help on.
My husband used to run a bouncy castle business several years ago and I'd very much echo the above.
This [[/URL] may be helpful.
I'd certainly check out the price of insurance.
Thank you for the website, I read the whole thing and it was helpful.
Could a 17 year old even get PLI?
Well I presume if a 17 year old can insure his own car, then a 17 year old can get PLI.
These are the people to arrange testing with [u
While I dont think its a legal requirement, it will help you be taken seriously and stand out from the hobbyists.
You can get a lot of help and advice here [/url]
Dont forget at 17 vehicle insurance will be astronomical if using it for business. I would get some quotes now before going any further. (my 18 year old daughter's cheapest quote on a lwb transit was just over 5k with one years licence)
For the castle hire I would get insurance, unsupervised by you castles, bbq's, kids, adults and alcohol are just a disaster waiting to happen. Oh if you only have one or two castles dont expect riches, fetes and things are better paid if you can get them, many are arranged months and years in advance, and is 99% of the time a case of who rather than what you know.
I did it for a couple of years before selling the castles and using the vans for removals which worked out much better for us at the time.
Good luck if you go for it.
It's not a legal requirement, and I've already come across this. This company that sells Bouncy Castles that I have been looking at say they come with 'certificates', so I'm not sure if that'd be related to PIPA or not however I'll have to do a bit more research on PIPA since I'm not sure whether it's big, where itd be darted around the country or it's small and I'd have to travel far to go have tests on it.
The insurance that I was quoted for was around £3,000 which my family said they would help me pay for it. If this does come a problem, I have family that can help out however I would not see this coming up as a problem (unless the castles are too big to fit inside my car, which is when we have a problem.)
Supervision seems to be a problem however I'd have Public Liability Insurance seeing as I was quoted a cheap price (as I said above). Hopefully, it goes all to plan when I actually get to it.
I don't expect riches at all. I've always wanted to run my own business (for the aspect of actually 'owning' something that makes money.) - As long as I hit break even point, I am totally fine with it.
Thanks for the advice.
I had this idea a year or so ago (i'm also 17).
This website: [uurl] was very helpful- they answered my questions via email and have lots of information about bouncy castles too.
The thing that put me off was as other people said, i'd need a vehicle + insurance which would mean I started off with large costs.
Oh and also the fact that the weather in the UK wasn't great for bouncy castles- there would probably only be a few weeks in summer where you would be fully booked.
I've already seen the website on my journey of research and it's proved to be really useful.
I have my own car already, the insurance may be tricky but my parents are helping me out. The weather also put me off slightly. I am trying to look into 'pointed' castles where a rain cover could be suited (so the rain runs off, instead of building up on the top)
Thanks for the advice.
We too looked at running a bouncy castle business alongside our existing business.
Sadly the numbers for the hours involved didn't stack up - current business pulls between £100 and £400 on average per day for 3-5 hours work ( no stock , service based )
Its a shame though as I could imagine good cross sales to existing customers.
It's quite a cheap business opportunity to invest in, if you are making around £400 a day.
Where are you based?
My friend is selling a couple of bouncy castles and a website, I can put you in touch if you decide to go ahead with it.
I agree with the points above though, it's a challenging business that will probably require some assistance for heavy lifting. It is also generally quite unsociable hours and last minute bookings.
I live in East Anglia, Norfolk (the bum of England as people say).
It's a challenging business that I am going to try out. If it becomes a fail, I'll learn from my mistakes however it isn't a great loss considering the mass amounts of cash that'd be used is probably around £2,000.
That'd be nice if we could get in touch. I've been told on multiple websites not to go with second hand trades however it'd still be a good idea to check out. Thank you.
As you have no experience in anything have you thought about setting yourself up as a Business Consultant?
Dan
ugh.
I currently study Business Management BTEC Diploma Level 3 in College however that obviously doesn't give me the sufficient life experience.
I've had a lot of online experience and I currently work in retail. It's a business that I'd like to start out in as my first official business and even if it doesn't succeed, I can learn from my mistakes for the future.
Not sure if a Business Consultant would help, but I'll look into it. Thanks.
