Answers4

SPOTLIGHT ON AN INFLATABLE HIRE COMPANY – MrBounce.com
>
> YOUR NAME?
>
> Anthony McLellan
>
>
> NAME OF YOUR INFLATABLE HIRE COMPANY?
>
> Mr Bounce – www.mrbounce.com
>
>
> YOUR LOCATION?
>
> London
>
>
> WHAT DID YOU DO BEFORE YOU STARTED HIRING OUT INFLATABLES?
>
> I was a manager for Social Services for 15 years.
>
>
> WHAT MADE YOU START AN INFLATABLE HIRE BUSINESS?
>
> I was at my nephew’s birthday party and a bouncy castle was hired for
> £120. I thought that was easy and I could do this, and went into the
> business.
>
> I haven’t looked back since!
>
> I also read the free BIHA report on how to start and run a profitable
> bouncy castle hire business and realised that it was a business that I
> could run.
>
>
> WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE MOVIE?
>
> The Matrix Trilogy
>
> The Rocky Movies
>
> Marvel movies – Iron Man, Batman, etc.
>
>
> WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE MEAL?
>
> Nandos.
>
>
> WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE UK HOLIDAY DESTINATION?
>
> Banbury Castle, Northumberland.
>
>
> WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE HOLIDAY DESTINATION ABROAD?
>
> Rhodes, Greek Island.
>
> Spain
>
>
> WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE WEBSITE?
>
> www.WorldPay.com This is my virtual terminal where my customers pay
> me!! – LOL
>
>
> WHAT DO YOU MOST ENJOY ABOUT THE INFLATABLE HIRE BUSINESS?
>
> Meeting new people, and seeing overjoyed kids when the inflatables are
> delivered.
>
>
> WHAT DO YOU LEAST ENJOY ABOUT THE INFLATABLE HIRE BUSINESS?
>
> Grumpy customers who don’t give a dam and don’t respect my equipment
> and my Code of Conduct.
>
> Arriving to collect the castle and seeing 30 kids sitting on top of
> the walls.
>
> The other thing I don’t like is arriving at a customer’s house and
> finding the garden covered in dog poo.
>
>
> IF YOU COULD WAVE A MAGIC WAND WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT THE
> INDUSTRY?
>
> I would get rid of all the cowboys, and introduce more regulations and
> legislation for reputable inflatable hire companies, in order to force
> the cowboys out of the industry.
>
> Also, I would like the industry to have more of a community aspect
> with companies working together more to increase their profits (The
> BIHA helps with this to an extent)
>
> I would also like inflatable hire companies to have more legal
> responsibility to ensure that all their equipment is safe.
>
>
> HAVE YOU EVER HAD A HIRING FROM HELL?
>
> Yes! One evening I had a call from a new customer who wanted to hire
> my 16ft x 18ft adult castle from me at very short notice.
> I quoted him £200 and he agreed immediately.
>
> The following morning I arrived, drove through his security gates, and
> noticed on his driveway there was a Ferraii, a
> Bentley, and an Aston Martin. However to my dismay, I saw that
> he was having an extension built, and I realised that my only access
> to his back-garden via a side passage was blocked by pallets of
> bricks, cement mixers, plasterboard, heavy duty power
> tools, etc.
>
> I estimated that it would take my assistant and me at least 45 minutes
> to move all this stuff so I could get the adult castle through.
>
> I voiced my concerns to the customer telling him that moving his stuff
> was not only very time consuming but would be dangerous as well.
>
> His EXACT words to me were……
>
> “If you want your money, you move all my building equipment, and then
> you move it back again – right!”
>
> I was appalled as he was treating me like rubbish, so I beckoned my
> assistant over, and we both agreed to not continue with the booking on
> health and safety grounds.
>
> As we were about to drive off – the customer shouted at us that we had
> ruined his party!
>
> Had the customer treated us with more respect then we would have
> worked out a solution to his problem of blocked access, but as he had
> a really bad attitude, we decided to just leave him to it.
>
>
> DO YOU HAVE ANY USEFUL TIPS OR IDEAS THAT YOU COULD SHARE WITH THE
> OTHER BIHA MEMBERS.
>
> Yes, I have two tips to share….
>
> 1) All inflatable hire companies should be part of the BIHA.
> If they have any issues or problems, they can always go the forum at
> www.BouncyCastleOwner.com for help.
>
> 2) Always be polite, fair and helpful with customers, but don’t let
> them take the mick out of you.
>
>
> HOW HAS THE BIHA HELPED YOU IN YOUR INFLATABLE HIRE BUSINESS?
>
> When I was starting up my hire business the info from the BIHA was
> absolutely essential in helping me learn how to run the business.
>
> Since then, I visit the forum (www.BouncyCastleOwner.com) which is
> amazing by the way! And I feel I have something in common with the
> other members and enjoy reading the various posts.
>
>
> —————————————————————–
> ————————————————-
>
> Thank you Anthony for taking time out of your hire business to answer
> these questions – it’s greatly appreciated.