Working From Home, Buying Equipment In Season

Cutting Edge Creations’ 2007 Catalog

96-pages of new 2007 items, trend-setting inflatables, popular I•Bounce bouncers, an A.I.R. Supply Designer Line tailor-made for indoor facilities, an exciting fold-out displaying exclusive digital artwork... and so much more!

Paper and Printing- Is There a Better Way?

By Alan Scott of Katy Bounce House ©2007   

Being relatively new in the inflatable rental business I have to carefully look at all my costs and grow my business based on the profits I make. One thing I have been considering is using technology to help me save a few dollars, solve a few problems and generate some rentals. It's a win, win, win. Before I share with you the idea that may or may not be a new idea to you, I want to ask you a few questions.

• Do you do all your own contract/liability waiver printing?
• Do you mail "thank you" cards to your customers?
• Do you collect your customers e-mail address when they book a rental?
• Do you have a PC/laptop that is used only for your business?
• How much do you spend a year printing contracts, whether it is at Kinko's or you doing it yourself?
• Do you keep copies of all your contracts and if so where are they piling up?

Who Does Your Contract/Liability Waiver Printing?

Ink cartridges for my HP printer are not cheap. I use three contracts per customer: one is a rental agreement, one is a waiver, and the third one are the rules for the inflatable. I also provide the customer with a copy of everything they sign and a wind chart.

If you add this up I print seven documents for every customer. I do print on front and back to save paper costs but it's the ink cost that is killing me. I also have a pile of contracts stacking up that I plan to keep for 3 years. I am confident I have spent in the neighborhood of three hundred dollars on ink and paper for my first year in business. What are your costs?

Collect Your Customers E-mail Addresses

It has been a goal of mine to collect my customers e-mail addresses when they book a rental. This information can be used to send follow up thank you letters, reminders, and copies of contracts, which in my case will eliminate four documents per customer.

When I start the process I will use the e-mail to send out specials and reminders. My hopes are that I can get ahead of the customers thought process on when they want/need an inflatable and suggest it before they even realize they have a party coming up. My customers find me on the web and I never know how many others they called first. If I can assist myself to the top of the list, then I want to.

The Solution

I have thought long and hard about this since the first ink cartridge I had to buy; one week into starting my business. I wanted a way to collect my customers e-mail addresses, cut down on paper and ink and eliminate storage of contracts. My solution is to purchase a Tablet PC. What is a Tablet PC? A Tablet PC for you non-techie people is basically a laptop that allows you to do free hand writing on it.

My intentions are to use the Tablet to have the customers digitally sign copies of the contracts, kind of like when UPS delivers you a signature-confirmation item. These will be paperless copies which can be stored and backed up on hard drives. I will use the e-mail addresses to send them their copies, including the signatures.

I just eliminated having to print seven documents per customer! The Tablet will go everywhere with you so keeping your rental database on it will allow you to take bookings via a cell phone while on the road. Add a wireless card and you have Google and Mapquest at your fingertips in case you need directions. No more printing, no more paper or ink. No more storing paper contracts in boxes!

Long term savings

What are your thoughts?

This is a brainstorming article! Maybe I am over looking something- what do you think? I am sure there will be questions like- is a digital signature legal? Is there even a better way to do this like via a Palm Pilot?

So, do you like or dislike the idea? Would it work for you and would it save you money? I am very interested in hear back from each of you especially if you already do this and how it works for you and any issues you have come across. Please post your thoughts at the AIRCO Forum.

Sweet Greetings- Sweet Profits!

By Scottie Claiborne ©2007   

Busy entrepreneurs are always looking for ways to increase their profits while building on the strengths of their companies. In the inflatable rental business, there's a lot to consider- concessions, games, tables, tents and chairs just for starters.

However most companies overlook a growing industry that overlaps our own party and event oriented business- lawn greetings!

What's a Lawn Greeting?

Lawn greetings are displays placed in yards or in front of businesses to attract attention, celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and graduations and generally inspire a laugh or a smile. There are several different varieties of lawn greetings and they require different types of effort.

While there are midnight surprise displays and new baby signs, the area that is a perfect fit for a moonwalk rental company is kid's birthday announcements.

Birthday Signs Add Profits

These whimsical signs are simple to store and set up, especially if you're used to hauling around 300-600 pounds of vinyl! They store flat in your garage or warehouse and require a minimum of preparation for personalization.

A yard sign is an easy upsell for a child's birthday or party. You can help guests identify the right house, or rent the sign as a standalone on the child's birthday date. Signs are typically rented for a 1-2 day period and are simple to transport and set up.

At This Price, You Can't Lose

The signs shown in this article are just two from a wide variety of corroplast yard signs made and sold by Sweet Greetings Yard Signs. They range from 2'x2' to 4'x4' and have assorted mini signs available for a more impressive display. At just $295 a sign, it won't take you long to recoup your investment. If you've got some time on your hands, you can even order a do-it-yourself version for only $150!

Mention you read about Sweet Greetings on AIRCO and recieve a 10% discount, but only if you order before February 15, 2007!

For more information or to place an order, visit the Sweet Greetings Website

Dear Bouncemaster- Why Insurance?

Dear Bouncemaster-

My state does not inspect inflatables, nor do they require liability insurance. Why should I spend so much on insurance when most people's homeowners' insurance would cover any injuries? It seems like a lot of wasted money and I don't have much money left after buying my inflatables. Instead of insurance, I could buy another combo which could be putting money in my pocket.

Is it OK to go without insurance for my first year or two, until I'm making enough money to be able to afford it?

Thanks-
The Leapin' League

Dear Leapin' League,

NO! It is not ok. If you are serious about having a business, you must treat it as such. Just because your state does not require it does not mean you should take that risk. If anything should ever happen (and hope it never does) whoever does the sueing will sue everyone involved, including you. The homeowners insurance may not even cover injuries from these types of businesses and if they do, they are will turn around and sue you to recoup their losses.

Going into a new business is tough and expensive but it must be done properly. If your funds are tight, you may have to think about waiting to start your operation until you have enough money for insurance and other unexpected expenses or you can finance your premium. I know that most insurance companies now offer financing. It is not a waste a money but rather an investment to protect your assets. A few months or a couple of years down the road you don't want to be selling your house and car to pay off attorney fees and judgements! Good luck and wishing you all the success in your new business.

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Moonwalk Rental Directory Offers Free Listings!

By Scottie Claiborne ©2007

Waaaay back in 2002, I started the Moonwalk Rental Directory as part of my rental operation at Hullaballoo Rentals. Why? The honest truth was... my site was doing too well in the search engines.

I can hear you now... waah, waah, poor thing, you were doing too well! We should all have that problem!

It actually was a problem because (as you may have found out if your site's done well) people can't read! You would think in this day and age, people who can use the Internet can also read but I have proof that they cannot. My phone literally rang off the hook in those days and I'd spend 5 minutes upselling and making friends with the caller only to get to the booking process and have them give me an address from the other side of the country! Then the caller would get mad at ME because I couldn't give them an alternative other than "check the phone book."

To save my own sanity and shortcut the pleading conversations where people begged me to tell them who rented in their area, I started the Moonwalk Rental Directory... just so that I could direct them there and get off the phone!

I literally spent 2 solid weeks adding every company I could find to my listings, although it wasn't easy. Most companies didn't have websites in 2002 (hard to imagine!) I went through online yellow pages and made phone calls and did my best to add at least a few companies to each state. I continued building the directory every time I found another company.

A Directory Was Born

When we started the Hullaballoo Forum shortly after that, I was able to get even more companies listed in the directory as more owners found us. And it was all free of charge. :-)

As things got busier, I couldn't afford to keep up with all the directory listings and changes and updates for free- it was taking too much of my time. We switched to paid listings in 2004 and from the feedback I've recieved, it's still been a great value.

As the directory has grown, I've invested more and more in the backend technology so that my daily work on it is minimal and you have more options to change and update your own listing as often as you like. To be honest, all I have to do is clean out the spam submissions (yuk) and approve the good ones each day.

Offering Free Listings Again!

Now we've come full circle and it's time to offer free listings again! We want to give everyone the opportunity to list their site and be found by searchers.

Paid vs Free

The current paid listings in the directory are Featured Listings. They appear first in the list (randomly so everyone has a fair chance to appear first) and offer additional features- a longer description, detailed equipment listings and delivery areas.

The new option is Standard Listings. They offer a link to your website and a brief description and appear after the Featured Listings. These are also randomly ordered so that no one is last all the time. A Standard free listing requires a link back to the directory, or you can pay a small fee if you choose not to link back.

When the subscription period for current Featured Listings comes up, you'll have the option to downgrade to a free listing or renew at your regular rate.

Get Listed!

Let us send some business your way! 2007 is going to be a great year- get listed before the season kicks in.

Hot Threads at the Forum

Interesting Discussions

Wrap Up

AIRCO Member Meeting- Elections and Issues

It's time for our first annual AIRCO meeting! Join us on February 27 for a member meeting. We'll have an online chat at 9PM EST - 6PM PST to discuss the direction of AIRCO and get your feedback.

We'll also be voting in 2 new members of the Board of Directors. Voting will be open to verified members starting February 21- you'll have a week to get your votes in.

If you are interested in running for the Board of Directors or being a committee head/moderator for the board, please send me an email. We'll be making some big changes at the end of February!

I'll be sending an interim newsletter out with more details about the meeting, committees and the elections, so keep an eye out for it!

As always, if you've got a great idea for an article, send it to us at scottieclaiborne@a-irco.org. Your ideas are more than welcome.

See you next month, or feel free to join us at the AIRCO moonwalk forum anytime, day or night. We'd love to hear from you!