When starting an inflatable business you have many things to consider: What stock to purchase and from who? How much money can you put into the business? What do you need to buy? What are the rules and regs? What is public liability insurance and do I need it? Do I need a website? How long until I start making profit?
These are all good questions to ask yourself, but an often over-looked question is about transport.
It’s one of the reasons why your business could fail, and is a very important point.
People have tried using their own car, this is a terrible idea for several reasons:
- Your personal car suspension is almost certainly not up to the task of carrying heavy equipment (whether or not you have an estate); The suspension will suffer, breaking distances will be much higher and the wear and tear will mount up very quickly (scuffs, dents and scratches will be the least of it).
- People say “Never mix business and personal”, the truth is there is nothing more personal than your own business. However, you’ll soon find that taking the family car out of the picture all weekend (and other times) creates a stress and arguments. In this case, it’s best to keep these separate.
- You physically can’t fit more than two bouncy castles with all the required equipment (especially if indoors with sand bags) in a car. Some people will claim that they have managed to fit three bouncy castles will all the mats, blowers and everything else needed in a mark II Ford Fiesta. While they may technically have done this (aside from the obvious overloading issue) it will have taken them an enormous amount of time loading in this way (and also unloading when at the customer’s front door. This will mean extra trips back to the storage and cause you a logistical nightmare!
- When you arrive in a car you have provided the customer an undesirable first impression. It hardly screams professional turning up as a business in your personal car (and there’s only so many times you can say the van broke down).
- The insurance is expensive. You can’t just carry on using your personal policy, you need business insurance; which also comes with limitations.
In short, using your car is a bad idea, and you need to give some serious thought about transport. It’s one of the most important factors in how fast your company can grow, and it’s grossly underestimated in importance when starting up; Lets not even talk about trailers. It just doesn’t work. Oh… And strapping mats to the roof rack isn’t a good look, either.
You need a van. It’s the right tool for the job. It does the job, it looks the part and you can get good mileage. It’s a business vehicle so comes with tax benefits and it will allow you to grow!
Now which van and why?
You have to remember that this entire site is aimed around people starting out in the inflatable industry and is geared towards starting a bouncy castle company. There are reasons why an established company with several vans might strongly support the purchase of a small van. However, for a person starting out, this is a real trap that may seem appealing early on.
It’s easy to see the positives:
- Lower cost; If it doesn’t work out then it’s not like you’ve invested in a big van
- Easier to drive; Most will not be used to driving big vans, so this seems more manageable
- Easier to park; Both at home but also at customers houses and venues
- Less to insure; Every penny counts
However, you really must look past these points. The small van will not have a the load limit you need. It won’t fit that many castles with all the equipment you need in. Imagine 3 hall jobs; All needing sand bags and crash mats. Realistically that’s going to be a tall order for a small van.
If you have more than 3 jobs, you’ll have to come back to base. This can be a real logistical nightmare, cause you more work and cost you more in fuel and turning down work.
That’s only bouncy castles, too! Soft play is essential for winter months (with most offering it all year round), but it’s a van-filler. You may only be able to load a single package job in a small van.
What if the deliveries are fine, but the collections are all strict times and close together? You won’t be able to fit it all in.
You’re also under-estimating how quickly you’ll grow. The bouncy castle industry is an addiction as much as it is a business and you’ll soon have more stock than you planned and be hopelessly in-love with growing your business. If you follow the advice found here on this site, you’ll maximize your chances of success. However, you could well end up regretting not getting a larger van; Stuck turning away work and running around furiously as you try to cope with a vehicle that’s just too small.
There’s lots of schools of thought on which van is best. Extra long wheel base? A box van with a tail-lift even? Is a Transit van still the “back-bone of Britain”? You can certainly get more in a jumbo, but have you driven anything that big before and can it be parked easily? Will your clients be in busy residential areas with parking restrictions or not? Do you go for a high top or not and then do you have it sign-written or not? There are lots of things to consider further about a bouncy castle van; It’s often not given enough thought!
These are things for you to ponder, but you’ll soon get to grips with driving a large van. It becomes second nature very quickly. Here’s an interesting guide though on speed limits with vans. They are often not known and over-looked. It could save you an expensive ticket!
