Inflatable Play Ground

[EKSR]

A couple of weeks ago, I took my son (4 year old) to a place called "PumpItUp" for a birthday party. It looks like all the kids like this place very much. I'm thinking maybe it's a good idea to start a business like this.

Basically, you need to buy some big inflatable paly structures and rent 1 or 2 big rooms. This place (PumpItUp) we visited only offers private party, but I'm thinking to do both. The advantage of PumpItUp is that you can rent rooms anywhere (actually the place we went to is just a big office/warehouse space in a business park).

Anyway, what do you guys think about this business model? Thanks.

Tom

[mkniazy]

Tom,

In my part of the world it is a good business. But like many people say "Location, location, location" is the primary concern. Renting a space in business park might not be the best location, I think.

[Charlie Sellew]

Hi Tom,

In my personal view , Inflatable items is a great itme can attract children's eyes . Perherps you can rent some inflatable items in park for children playing . I once saw a inflatable game in children park ,so many crowed children to use it . Beside inflatable items ,I am thinking of other items such as pop up items such as tent ,playground ,mat. All those are very popular with kids ,if you can print some lovely cartoon images on it ,for example Diesney cartoon , then it will be much more popular than other items .

Michael

[f3adventure]

Those play-on inflatable are a competitive business. It's hard to get good sites and the location is VERY important. A business park will not be suitable.

Alternatively, there's good money in making the inflatables, designs are out there if you can't do one yourself in 3D software like Solidworks or Alibre. Doing the designs aren't that tough to do.

Buying the inflatables from manufacturers and renting them to operators has been a good income for some.

You might even think about trading in them. Buying and selling used inflatables. There's loads of people out there who believe they'll make serious money out of them and buy into the business only to find that getting good locations is tough to do, so they sell out of them again - cheaply.

[EKSR]

Thanks guys for all the replies. I agree the location might be the most important thing and it's not easy to find a good one. But this is true only if you want it to be open to public.

The place we went to last time is only for private parties. So the location is not that important. As you can see from their web site (www.pumpitupparty.com), it has hundreds of sites all over the States now.

I could copy their business model (only for private parties), but I always believe there needs to be somthing different than others to make yourself succeed. What do you guys think?

All the best,

Tom

[eclivia]

I love the idea, I say go for it, get some employees who are currently in school learning to be pre school teachers and you manage the books and marketing of the place.

As I sure another people have said, find a great location and it could be a cash cow.

[eunhyeyoon]

Hi Tom,

I've been in the event entertainment business for a few years now. In all of the markets that I work in Chicago, Detroit, and LA the inflatable entertainment market is saturated and there are always price wars.

Do your research before you get into it.

Brian

[EKSR]

bbalfour,

Thank you very much for the input. Do you mean the outdoor rental market or the indoor playground market? Or both saturated?

I live in Portland, Oregon. And I don't see many inflatable indoor playground near me. Maybe I missed some?

As you may know, there will be 5 to 6 months raining days every year in Oregon, so I don't think outdoor rental business is gonna work. I'm planning on an indoor playground.

Thanks again for the information. Any other input is welcome!

All the best,

Tom

Originally Posted by bbalfour

Hi Tom,

I've been in the event entertainment business for a few years now. In all of the markets that I work in Chicago, Detroit, and LA the inflatable entertainment market is saturated and there are always price wars.

Do your research before you get into it.

Brian

[eunhyeyoon]

Originally Posted by tomx

bbalfour,

Thank you very much for the input. Do you mean the outdoor rental market or the indoor playground market? Or both saturated?

I live in Portland, Oregon. And I don't see many inflatable indoor playground near me. Maybe I missed some?

Both are, but the outdoor more then the indoor. However the rainy season might help. During the warm good weather seasons you may be even able to get into the private event market by taking some of your inflatables from indoors and setting them up. There is a lot of money there as well and you could leverage your indoor business to gain clients.

I should have been more clear before...its a profitable business, but just do your research and make sure there isn't a ton of competition. Look for "event entertainment" companies.

good luck, and pm me if you want to hear more about my experiences in the industry.

We have one of these indoor inflatable party centers in our town, (Peachtree City, Georgia) called Jump 2 It. You can check out their website here: http://www.jump2itptc.com They do all sorts of stuff, and are very reasonably priced. They have the largest indoor inflatable area around, and offer the most variety of equipment for the kids to play on. There are other places, but for our dollar, we only take the kids to Jump 2 It. I think that they even do a teen night or something like that for the teenagers in the area. Sounds crazy, but I think the kids really love it. Good luck with your venture, I wish you the best.