There’s been a ton of inspiration around here, and I’ve been making big moves! In truly pretty passive fashion, we are starting a small business. It’s a service-based business which I never wanted to do. My opinion has always been that there’s too much work involved. If it can’t be automated and serve the whole dang globe then I’m not interested.

I like my money to be made around the clock, not just when I can get away. However, this small business model is almost exclusively on the weekends so I am less worried about overstretching myself. And I am PUMPED about it. I’m also trying to be elusive and am imagining a drumroll before I tell you what it is but this is text soooooooo……. readyyyyyyyy??

bounce houses!

The service-based business that changed my mind on service-based businesses is a bounce house rental.

But not just any bounce house, The Bounce Haus. A modern/trendy WHITE bounce house. It hasn’t arrived yet, but I’m already $2k deep with some PVC on a truck across the country and the website is ready for it!

I want to share some of the details that got us here, so here we go.

Our bounce house experiences

A few years ago, bounce houses started showing up at my daughter’s friend’s parties, as they do. They are timeless fun, and kids friggin’ love them. It’s practically a staple for a kids party.

I promised my baby girl we would get her one for her 4th birthday, but that was 5 months into 2020 and parties were pretty much off limits around that time. So once Halloween came around, we put together a party for THAT (because who doesn’t love a Halloween party?!) and a bounce house was a must.

The kids really went through so much in this pandemic and she wanted and deserved it so bad.

The local bounce house talent is plentiful

There are seriously so many bounce house companies around here, but I picked one and reached out via their webform. I was busy planning a party, handling a newborn, and didn’t hear back but figured there’s a TON of options. No sweat.

😑

So a week before showtime, I started getting nervous about not hearing and called. They never got the form, my bad for not following up sooner, and they were fully booked. I started calling around to the dozens of others, and they were ALL FULLY BOOKED.

I considered buying my own, but they are very expensive. Like $1600 – $10,000. So…. no. Unless, we rented our own!?! Anything to justify the cost.

Clearly there is high demand for these things. But whatever, it wasn’t something we were interested in at that time. Plus, the market is sort of saturated? I don’t want to work super hard to climb into a corner of an existing market. You know?

We managed to find a live one to rent for the Halloween party and rented another one in the spring for her 5th birthday. Always a hit. Totally worth it.

I’m always in the market for business ideas

Since I realized I do not thrive in corporate settings (mentally, family-ly, and financially) and started blogging, my ears always perk up for income opportunities and business ideas. I’ve considered things like building furniture, but housing inventory is an issue here. Also, I’d have to work so much. 

Then my fellow entrepreneurial friend suggested we build backdrops and a champagne wall for weddings and I was like DUH! Rentals! The bounce houses! Instead of recreating something a thousand times, I could buy/make something once and reuse it.

So instead of ripping off her concept, I started thinking what could my thing be? Then one day, I opened tik tok and saw a WHITE BOUNCE HOUSE, it sent me into a frenzy.

I had never seen one, and after all of my hunting I knew we definitely didn’t have one here. The closest one is way across the bridge and my city would eat these up. And so would my kids!! It’s the greatest thing. 

The coolest thing about the white bounce houses is the modern design which is a current trend at weddings now! It’s so perfect, because they really are fun for all ages, but the classic, enclosed, bright blue/red/cartoony houses are not very inviting for adults. Now it’s shameless for everyone lol.

parenting babies and a business baby

Nurturing my kids is my number one priority and current full time job. It’s my why. It spawned this blog and molded me into the opportunity-conscious person that is fueling this endeavor. 

However, growing a business requires nurturing as well and we will be doing our best to divide our time. The most attractive part of this business model is the part-time, primarily weekends, side gig vibe. I’m having a ton of fun getting it going, but I’m hoping to do this part-time eventually.

After we have been at this for a while, I’m going to recant our experience of meshing this family business with the responsibilities of family. There is no doubt we will struggle with that. Parenting in general is a challenge and the learning curve is steep!

But for now, I am grateful to have discovered a business that my kids can enjoy too! I didn’t know it, but that is a must for me.

I recently wrote about my favorite parenting gurus on Instagram because I’ve been deep in that. Throughout my scroll university and a ton of reflection (ie. being bored and stuck on the couch), I’ve gotten really clear on what successful parenting goalposts look to me. Basically, the best mom I can be focuses on creating happy memories for/with them.

Sure, we [hopefully] won’t have access to the houses on the weekends, but we can employ the babies to help us clean and maintain the houses with us during the week. I am very excited for those experiences, the discipline and education they’ll gain from being a part of a family business, and the fact that I can add them to payroll.  😂

Technically baby girl can be credited as an “advisor” because she was the first person I ran the idea by. She wholeheartedly approves.

Also, we’ll have a flippin’ bounce house!

Even if everything fails, we have a bounce house 😉

Check us out & please comment any questions you have for me!

The Bounce Haus