Winter can be a tricky time for bouncy castle hirers! The bulk of hires are done in the warm weather, but in many countries, winter brings in the cold, the wind, the rain and the frost, and effectively eliminates all outdoor hires for months. So how can your business cope with the challenges that the winter brings?
Christmas
For many bounce house companies, Christmas is a key time of the year! There are countless events and activities taking place over the festive period, with events for both children and adults available. There are plenty of Christmas party entertainment products and services your business could offer – perhaps you could buy a Santa Claus costume and appear at events as Father Christmas? You could double-up with a Mrs Claus costume too!
Adults and teenagers might be interested in hiring rodeo reindeer, rodeo Christmas pudding or other festive-themed simulators and wild rides, and parents might be able to find an indoor space for Christmas bouncy castles. A bounce house with images from Walt Disney’s Frozen films might be popular in the warmer months, too!
Marketing
But don’t fall into the trap of thinking “If I buy it, they’ll hire it.” You will need to market your Christmas products, too! See what festive events are taking place and try to wrangle your way into making an appearance and offering your services at them. If you have the resources, you could even host your own event, contact your customers, advertise it on the local radio and in the newspaper, and throw a huge Christmas party.
Think about what businesses and organisations might still want your services over the winter and reach out to them. You could speak with community halls, nurseries, playgroups and even your competition to make sure the inflatable rentals continue in the cold weather.
Discounts
If you have a database of your old customers, you could contact them all to encourage them to do business with you over winter. Perhaps you could offer discount codes to them, or some other kind of exclusive offer? Don’t get too caught up on making sure your discount codes and offers are only used by previous customers – you want them to be sent far and wide, and for people all over your target area to get in touch – so perhaps promote these time-limited discount codes on social media or some other place where everyone can see them, too?
Events
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, of course. The run-up to Christmas might seem like the obvious time to focus on, but there are other events over the winter period too!
Grown-ups love to let their inner child loose on New Years Eve, and there are a wide range of new years’ activities that your business could get involved in. Perhaps a large club night could do with your photo booths, or a raucous pub would enjoy your rodeo bull? Could you keep an adult-friendly bouncy castle clean and damage-free around some drunken partygoers? Think about what you are willing to do over New Years, but be sure to consider risk as well as reward!
Another big winter-time event for party entertainment companies is Valentine’s Day. Find out what events are going on in your area, and consider which products and services you could offer. Child-friendly events might benefit from your bouncy castles, but you might be able to attract adults through services such as facepainting or mascot costumes.
What do you think? Have you any tips that would let start-up bouncy castle hire companies stay busy during the quieter season? Contact us to let us know!