How to start a bounce house business: rules, costs and first bookings

To start a bounce house business, check your state's inflatable rules and get insurance quotes before you buy anything, then start with one commercial unit you can anchor, deliver and clean properly. It can begin part-time from a garage, but this is a safety business first: a bounce house can lift in the wind with children inside.

This guide covers what is specific to inflatables. For forming the company, tax registration, tents and tables and the general business side, read our guide to starting a party rental business. We could not find reliable public figures for what bounce house businesses earn, so we give you the sums to run instead of an income claim. Nothing here is legal or insurance advice.

Most costly mistakes come from buying a unit first. Make these calls while your money is still in the bank:

1. Your state's ride regulator. Search your state's department of labor, agriculture or insurance for "amusement ride" or "inflatable", and ask whether inflatables are covered, including backyard rentals.
2. An insurance agent who writes inflatables. Ask for a quote on the exact units you plan to buy. Some policies exclude inflatables, and the price may change which units make sense.
3. Your city and any HOA. Ask about running the business from home and storing a trailer.

No national bounce house license exists. You need the normal business setup for your state and city, and then whatever your state requires for inflatables. That varies a great deal, and it changes:

Those three show the range; your state may differ, so ask directly and write down who told you what and when. Even where no state inspection applies, your insurer, cities and venues can still set their own conditions. Check again each year.

Get this before your first booking, even where your state does not require it. The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimated more than 18,000 bounce house-related injuries treated in emergency departments in 2018 and counted 12 deaths reported from 2003 to 2013 (CPSC). A claim can far exceed what your business owns.

Ask your agent:

• Does the general liability policy name inflatables, including water units and the specific sizes you rent?
• Does it cover setups at private homes and public venues, and any exclusions such as water slides or wind?
• Does it cover your drivers and trailer, or do you need commercial auto?
• Does it cover theft and damage to the units?
• How fast can you issue a certificate naming a venue, and what does it cost?
• Does it require any training, records or attendants on site?

Limits matter in two ways. Regulators may set a floor: Texas sets minimums such as $100,000 bodily injury and $50,000 property damage per occurrence with a $300,000 annual aggregate for its Class A rides (Texas rule). And customers often ask for more: Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center requires vendors to carry at least $1,000,000 per occurrence, with a certificate, inspection certificate and sticker photo ten business days before the event (TTUHSC). Schools, churches and companies are valuable repeat customers, so quote for the limits they will ask for.

Buy for commercial use. Ask the manufacturer in writing whether the unit is built to ASTM F2374, the practice covering the design, manufacture, operation and maintenance of inflatable amusement devices, and check it against your state's rules before paying; Pennsylvania, for one, wants you to confirm a ride is an approved type first. A residential backyard model is not built for repeated rental use, and your insurer may not cover it. Keep the paperwork: the manual, the rider limits and the anchoring instructions go with every setup.

Start with one unit and add a second when the first is turning away bookings. Remember the rest of the kit: blower, stakes, sandbags for hard surfaces, tarp, hand truck, cords, and a vehicle and trailer you can load safely.

Do this sum before you buy, using your own quotes. Take what the unit and kit cost, and divide by what each booking leaves after fuel, cleaning and card fees. Here it is for an example $1,650 unit and kit:

Those are examples, not forecasts, and they leave out insurance, the vehicle, storage, repairs and your time. Prices vary by town, so check what the companies near you charge; our guide to bounce house rental prices shows how. Rain, wind and your season length will decide how many bookings you actually get; a business in a mild climate has far more weekends than one with a short summer.

The CPSC's bulletin for rental companies is the baseline most owners work to, and your unit's manual comes first (CPSC bulletin, updated August 2015). Its key points:

Decide who runs the unit

Decide, and write down, whether your staff stay as operators or the customer takes charge. The bulletin sets minimum operators with a direct line of sight, and it recommends that rental companies give renters operating training, a copy of the manual, training on estimating wind speed, a copy of the bulletin, and a signed statement that they understand the procedures (CPSC). A short walk-through and a signed form on every delivery is a cheap habit that protects children and your business. Ask your insurer what it requires.

Write a wind rule you will actually use

The bulletin says manufacturers recommend maximum wind speeds of 15 to 25 mph depending on the ride, and that above 25 mph, gusts included, it is dangerous to operate any inflatable: unload and deflate at once. Its wind chart gives practical signs: at 13 to 18 mph small branches begin to move and dust and loose paper are raised; at 19 to 24 mph smaller trees sway (CPSC). Use the lower of your manual's limit and that guidance. Check the forecast the day before and the morning of. Put in your contract who can cancel, and what the customer gets back: a refund, credit or new date.

Clean and inspect every time

After every rental, clean with what your manufacturer approves, dry fully before packing to prevent mildew, and check seams, anchor points, the blower and cords. Log it per unit. A dated log is useful to you, your insurer and any inspector. Retire or repair anything damaged before it goes out again.

Parents plan parties on a phone, often with a date in mind, so the path should be short.

• Get on Google first. Set up a Google Business Profile as a service-area business and ask every customer for a review. Our guide to getting found on Google, not just Facebook walks through it.
• Build a simple site. One page per unit with photos, size, power needs, price and the towns you deliver to. Here is what a bounce house website needs.
• Show availability and take a deposit. A date check and deposit online beats a run of messages. Booking software does this; ours is Giga Rental System, a sister company to Gigabit, and there are others, so compare.
• Use local Facebook groups honestly. Answer questions and share real photos, within each group's rules.
• Go after repeat accounts. Schools, churches, daycares and companies book yearly. Have your certificate of insurance ready.

If you want a site that takes bookings from day one, we build them for rental companies, and our free audit checks how you show on Google. Either way, the order above stays the same: rules, insurance, unit, safety, then customers.