Beating the Heat!

Beating the Heat- Avoiding Heat-Related Illness

By Scottie Claiborne ©2005

The calendar may say that summer is winding down, but the thermometer says it's still summer with a vengeance! Like you need a thermometer to tell you that...you know exactly how hot it is.

Inflatable rentals are for the most part, an outdoor sport. Not only are you working hard to get the inflatables set up and taken down, your little customers are exerting themselves as well! In these last sweltering days of summer, you need to be aware of how the heat can affect you and your clients.

Heat illness can be a very serious thing, with the highest risk groups being the elderly and the young. Heat can be deadly when it pushes the body beyond its limits. Our bodies deal with heat by producing perspiration, which evaporates and brings down our internal temperature. However on humid days, the perspiration can't evaporate and that's when the needle is in the red zone.

Take the time to properly warn your employees and your clients about the dangers of heat illness and prepare or prevent the possibility by taking a few extra steps:

You and Your Workers

• You and your drivers should have plenty of fluid available, especially water. Don't wait til you are thirsty to drink! Sport drinks are helpful as well. Avoid caffeinated drinks and excessive sugar.
• Bring along spare clothing and change between deliveries. Not only will this remove the dampness from your skin (allowing your skin temperature to self-regulate) but you will be fresh for the next delivery. Appearance does matter!
• Rest often.
• Wear a wide-brimmed hat. It could be a new look for you!
• If there is any shade available in the setup area, set the inflatable up in it to reduce the interior temperature of the bouncer. If you can place the opening in the shade, children waiting to get in will be cooler and your safety ramp won't get as hot to the touch.
• Measure the breezes. If there is any air moving at all, set the inflatable up at an angle where the breezes will blow through it. (This is an important step for inflatables with one or more solid walls.)
• For next year, consider adding a portable misting system to your assortment. It could add an additional revenue source and help prevent heat-related illnesses.

Your Customers

• The hottest part of the day is usually between 2PM and 6PM. Encourage parents to book a morning or evening party to avoid the hottest parts of the day, whenever possible.
• Advise them to have lots of drinks on hand and to encourage children to drink often.
• Encourage adult supervisors to limit bouncing to no more than 5 minutes at a time during the hottest part of the day with at least 5 minutes rest in between. With large parties, this happens automatically but smaller groups may bounce til they are exhausted and sick.

• Heat cramps: Painful spasmodic contraction of muscles, usually abdominal or legs, caused by work in extreme heat.
• Heat syncope: Fainting or sudden loss of strength due to excessive heat gain.
• Heat exhaustion: Heavy perspiration, weakness, skin is cold, pale and clammy. Fainting, vomiting. Normal temperature is possible. Collapse, with or without loss of consciousness, suffered in high heat/humidity, largely resulting from the loss of fluids and electrolyte imbalances (i.e. loss of sodium).
• Heat stroke: Skin is hot, dry, and red (hyperpyrexia). Often proceeded by heat exhaustion and its symptoms. Rapid heartbeat. Confusion. Loss of consciousness. This the final stage in heat exhaustion, when the body is unable to lose heat, body temp above 106F occurs, and death may ensue.

If you suspect heat stroke, get the victim to a hospital immediatly. We are there to bring the fun, but too much fun in the heaviest heat can be dangerous, so make sure everyone is aware and practices preventative measures.

Don't worry, fall will be here soon!

Simple Repairs Made Simple

Tear-Aid to the Rescue

By Mike Reigel

If you rent inflatables, sooner or later you will need to make some repairs to them. For those small rips and punctures there is a product on the market that can save you time and money. Tear-Aid patches are available at www.tear-aid.com.

TEAR-AID® Repair Patches combine some of the most advanced adhesive, pre-applied to a rugged polyurethane backing. These industrial-strength patches are flexible, airtight, watertight, puncture-resistant and have excellent durability against moisture, saltwater, sunlight and temperature.

Tear-Aid makes it easy to make repairs on the spot, simply peel and stick. The patches are see-thru so they will work on any color vinyl. Tear-Aid Patches will conform to irregular surfaces, won't turn gummy in heat and are easily cut with scissors for proper sizing.

TEAR-AID patches are available in two different types, depending on which materials you will be repairing. For repairing vinyl, you would use TYPE B.

TEAR-AID Patches can be purchased in three different sized die cut sheets or by the roll.

For more information or to place an order, please visit www.tear-aid.com.

Covering All The Bases in Chicago

Member Profile- Let the World Know's Sean

By Scottie Claiborne

Sean Gardiner is a jack of all trades. A former schoolteacher, this guy is a one-stop shop for parties in the Chicago area as he is a clown and a DJ as well as renting inflatables, concessions and lawn greetings. How does he keep up with it all? We decided to find out!

AIRCO: Can you tell us about your business? What exactly do you offer?
Sean: I started out DJing 15 years ago, clown and characters for 8 years, yard signs 4-5 years ago and this year I've added inflatables, games and concessions.

AIRCO: How did you end up renting such a variety of items?
Sean: I knew that at some point I needed to grow in order to do this full time, so I added a few pieces here and there as I found new things that seemed to make sense for the business,

AIRCO: What is the most challenging aspect of your business?
Sean: I cry when it rains! It's a lot more to manage than I expected. I stopped in a balloon shop to ask about clowns last week and I missed 8 calls! Everything is taking off like gangbusters.

Right now I have 3 inflatables (with more to follow shortly) and it's getting to the point where I can't deliver everything. It's hard to put your faith in someone else! Training is rough and I'm never fully confident that someone else will do it the way I expect it done.

AIRCO: How does being in a short-season area (Chicago) affect your business?
Sean: Being IN Chicago is great! I get a lot of referrals, and a lot of business because most companies are in the suburbs. I'll tell you, the winter scares me! This is the first year I am depending on my own business for survival. I do have DJing and lawn greetings which are year-round businesses as well as games, tables and concessions.

AIRCO: How do you see your business growing?
Sean: Trusting others! More vehicles, more equipment.

How many inflatables is too many? My lawn greetings business is thriving and people love games and concessions- I may not grow with many more inflatables. Insurance is tough and balancing out my inventory with more "hard" items gives me more flexibility when it comes to insurance- I can get a "rental store" policy as opposed to a high risk "inflatables" policy.

Actually, I'm looking for a chocolate fountain now. Margarita machine, Chocolate fountain, and card tables - a great card party! It's something you can market to individuals, churches, clubs... throw in a bingo set and there's a great winter fund raiser for any group.

AIRCO: What's the message your business sends to customers? What image are you trying to project in your community?
Sean: We want to be part of your family! We want to put out a lawn greeting proposal for you, DJ your wedding reception, put a welcome sign in front of your first house, a stork for your first baby, a moonwalk for the first birthday, and concessions and games for your church and school. For any occasion, we want to be the first company you call.

Thanks Sean, for taking out the time of your very busy schedule to answer our questions. We wish you a fall filled with sunny weekends and dry moonwalks!

Effective Advertising for Your Inflatable Rental Business

By Christopher A. Kinkade ©2005

There are many ways to successfully advertise your inflatable & party rental business. You have The Yellow Pages, business cards and flyers, radio & television, the internet, and so on. Each form of advertising comes with its own set of pro's and con's. You'll need to weigh each one and decide which ones are best suited to your needs and budget.

The Yellow Pages

The Yellow Pages is a great form of advertising. In some cities, you can target only the areas you are willing to service, your printed ad can mimic your trademark or logo to help maintain a professional image, and everyone with a telephone line gets a copy. However, even a modest ad in The Yellow Pages can cost upwards of $100 to more than $1,000 per month. Also, the book only comes out once a year. That means you will have to wait for the next printing to see your ad or, more importantly, to make changes. More information can be found by contacting your local chapter of The Yellow Pages.

Business Cards and Flyers

Business cards and flyers are vital in any business. Many inflatables come with pockets sewn onto them specifically to hold cards and flyers. Manufacturers know that it's very important to let the party guests know exactly where the host got that incredible bouncer. Cards and flyers are reasonable inexpensive to produce but once printed they cannot be changed. Make sure they say exactly what you want them to. Plus, cards and flyers are only seen by the people who are exposed to them. Not like a billboard, which is exposed to everyone. Local printers can develop a business card or flyer. There are also many online companies that specialize in corporate branding, logo design, and small volume printing. They can be inexpensive and offer a quick turn around time.

Broadcast Media

Radio and television markets to a vast audience; probably larger than you can comfortably service. Especially in larger markets like Chicago, Atlanta, or Los Angeles these ads can reach millions of people. That sounds great until you find out how expensive radio and television can cost. This makes it near impossible for the smaller, home-based business to take advantage of. For more information on radio and television advertising, contact your local stations or local cable provider.

Search Marketing

Then there's the internet. A vast majority of inflatable operators and party rental companies maintain a web site. Most consider it a vital part of doing business. With the average cost of building and maintaining an active web site around $500.00 it makes it very easy for a smaller home-based business to utilize this very important advertising tool.

So, you spend the money and have a web site built. How do people know it exists? Sure, you can submit it to various search engines but that can take weeks for them to even know your site exists and up to a year before your site ranks well for anything. In the mean time potential customers are passing your site right on by. You need to get the word out quick and cheap. That is where "Pay-Per-Click" advertising comes in. Google^TM has an advertising tool called Google^TM AdWords. Basically, it produces carefully placed ads in their search engine or in partner sites that can help direct traffic to your site. Unlike banner ads, AdWords will only provide relevant ads and only in the places you want to look for them. AdWords is very simple to utilize. After you are registered with Google^TM a typical ad can be created in as little as 5 minutes. Best part is you can completely control the cost of the ads including how much you will spend every month. More information can be found at www.google.com/ads/ .

In recent polls, web site searches and bookings have accounted for 45% of all bookings followed closely by The Yellow Pages at 35% and referrals through business cards and flyers have accounted for 20% of all bookings. Since internet bookings constitute for almost half of most business, it makes sense to concentrate your marketing tactics in this area.

Also, don't forget that product and corporate branding is a vital part of advertising. It's important for customers to associate a brand logo with the product you are offering. This helps build a positive image in the customers mind and also helps in remembering your company name. By simply adding your corporate name and logo on your web site, clothing, and printed material, it will make your company more recognizable and look more professional. Shirts and hats are also a great way to project a professional image.

Advertising is the most important aspect of marketing your business. Spend some time to create a sound program that can reach as many people in your target area as possible. It can be very easy to spend a ton of money on advertising. How much to spend is decided solely on how much you are willing to spend versus how much you project you will make as a direct return on your marketing plan.

Hot Threads at the Forum

Fall is Coming! Lots of Business and IAAPA too.

Wrap Up

That's it for the August Advisor! Sorry we missed July, but September's issue is right around the corner.

Since our last newsletter, Space Walk and Ninja Jump have joined us as sponsors! We are very pleased to have them on board, and look forward to working with all of our sponsors. If you have Ninja mod house, you may want to check out their buy one get one free discontinued panels sale. Stock up before they are all gone!

Progress has been slow on the AIRCO organization, but hang with us. It's been a busy summer for our board members and everyone is just starting to get back to where they can focus on AIRCO again. If you'd like to be a part of the steering team, please let me know- we'd love to have your input.

As always, if you ve got a great idea for an article, send it to us at scottieclaiborne@a-irco.org. We want to hear from you!

See you next month, or feel free to join us at the forum anytime, day or night. Stay cool!