Off Season Resources

As someone who started a party rental business near Chicago of all places, I know how challenging the off season can be. There are years where you work twice as hard to make half as much (with no help at all), and then there are other years where you may not even make enough to keep up with your bills.


Eventually we made enough during the summer to where we didn't have to work at all during the colder months. The information below is what helped me get there. Most of it is from my research and experience, but some of it is from advice I gathered from those with decades more experience than me.

If you get stuck at all please don't hesitate to text me and I'll help in any way I can.

So with that, I hope that the resources below help you, your family, and your business not only survive, but thrive this off season, and every off season to come.


Your friend,


Tariq Elkhatib

4 Things You Can Do To Survive The Off Season

Off season typically runs October through March (excluding warm states). Mid March / early April is when things pick up for the majority of markets. The first thing every operator should do late August or early September is start to adjust your website and marketing campaigns for the off season.

1- Adjust Your Business For Off Season

  • Promote For Holiday Events: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas


  • Promote Your Holiday Themed Units & Winter Inventory: Heated Tents, etc.


  • Indoor Events: Market that indoor is an option! Some people never even consider doing indoor.


  • Make Sure Everything You Put Away Is Dry: Avoid a moldy surprise when you reopen. Most of us have learned the hard way (at least to some extent) what happens when you roll up a unit when it's wet (even if it's damp!). Mold will grow and potentially cost you thousands of dollars and tens of thousands in lost revenue if you have to wait months and months to replace the unit because of manufacturing and shipping delays.


  • Update Your Site: You should be updating your site at least a month in advance for each holiday (update the graphics on your website and show off your holiday themed units). Don't have holiday themed units? That's ok. Simply mentioning the holiday in a graphic you make yourself or one that you purchase lets people know that you're open and taking orders for the holiday (even if they're not there to order for the holiday it puts that idea in their head). You can create your own graphics using Canva or purchase some of Urban Hippo's awesome graphics and videos (make sure you use your Event Hawk coupon code to get a special price if you're an Event Hawk member).


  • Update Your Ads: You can also try updating your Google Ads to say things like "Thanksgiving Bounce House Rentals" instead of just "Bounce House Rentals" and "Heated Tent Rentals" instead of just "Tent Rentals" (if that's something you offer). If you don't run ads for tables and chairs in the summer, November is a great time to do that as those rentals tend to spike for Thanksgiving.


  • Send Mass Text Messages & Emails: Lastly, don't forget to remind your existing clients and lead list that renting a bounce house is a great idea for the holiday. Sending a well worded mass text through Event Hawk with a holiday special (i.e. 2 or 3 days for the price of 1 during Christmas) has brought home record breaking cash for many operators in warmer states. If you have Event Hawk just text us at (708) 401-6465 and we can help you send a text to all your contacts.

Book a call with us to see how we can help your party rental business!

2- Repurpose Your Existing Inventory

This is an area few have had sustainable success in so ask a lot of questions in the groups before moving forward and tread carefully so you don't end up in the red.

  • Pumpkin Patch: Offer to setup your inflatables at a local pumpkin patch


  • School Fundraisers: Offer to setup your inflatables at a local school and have them sell tickets to the fundraiser.


  • Partner with Indoor Venues, Schools, and Churches, For Holiday & Winter Events: There are directories of Schools & churches in your area.

3- Set Yourself Up For A Record Breaking Year

Learn - Invest In Your Education

“For the best return on your money, pour your purse into your head.” ― Benjamin Franklin


Whether you carry a purse or a wallet you have to admit that quote is gold! The good news is that there are tons of free online resources many of which come from yours truly! But even when you do have to invest in your education, as Howard Gardner put it, “If you think education is expensive, try estimating the cost of ignorance.” But my favorite quote is the one you've probably never heard but hits oh so close to home, “A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.” — Mark Twain. Stop learning through trial and error every year, it's sooo slow and painful and there are better ways to learn. Instead learn from others who've already made those mistakes. Take advantage of the off season to be proactive and plan ahead so you avoid as many common pitfalls as possible.


  • Study your market: What are your competitor's charging? For how long? What units do they have? How are their policies different than yours?


  • Learn About Expanding Your Inventory Before You Actually Do It: Thinking about getting into tent rentals or adding tables & chairs to your inventory? What about Foam Parties, Photo Booths, or Dumpster Rentals? Don't make the mistake of jumping into something just because it's complimentary to what you do or even if you feel like you're missing out on sales because you get calls for it. It's so much more profitable in the end when you specialize rather than generalize (and less stressful). But don't take my word for it, do your research to see how many people in your area are actually searching for these things and compare that to how many people search for bounce houses. Also talk to some people who do what you want to do and decide if the physical and mental strain is worth it. If you're thinking about getting into Tent Rentals, this video is a must watch!



  • Learn The Law: There's a lot to learn here but you should really have an idea of what federal and state laws say about employee rights, payroll, insurance, etc. You don't want the IRS or DOL showing up at your door - take it from someone who's been there it's not fun.


  • Learn Basic Graphic Design: This can be done fairly easily through Canva.



Book a call with us to see how we can help your party rental business!

Improve Your Online Presence

“Education without application is just entertainment.”

— Tim Sanders


This applies to so many of us who watch YouTube videos, spend hours scrolling through Facebook groups, and never implement what we learn...


So let's make this year different and move on up in the online world!


  • 90% of your success in this industry comes from WTF: Website, Traffic, Funnels!


  • Website (the W in WTF): Your website is your cup, always focus on filling your cup. Get a free website from one of the top vendors in the industry here.


  • Google Ads Crash Course (This is how you get Traffic, the T in WTF): This is THE ONE THING you need to fill up your cup. If you follow this step by step course, Google Ads is the fastest, most effective, and most affordable way to get high quality traffic to your website.


  • Event Hawk (This is where you get your Funnels, the F in WTF): This is how you turn those clicks into actual paid bookings. When you use Google Ads to fill up your cup (website), Google data shows that 95% of that traffic (or more) never converts. That means you pay for that click, they visit your website, and then 95% of the time they leave without taking any valuable action (according to Google data across all websites). In other words, your cup is leaking! Event Hawk is the most effective way to patch the leak and help you double or even triple your conversion rate so you get to keep more in your cup. Event Hawk does this with the pop up sales funnel which has been incredibly effective for party rental businesses all across the country.


  • Bookings 101 Course: Learn how to get more bookings without lowballing your competitors (2 hour course)


  • SEO: Off season is the best time to work on SEO because it could take months before you see the results of your work. Work on your SEO now so that it's at full speed when March rolls around.



  • Make A Marketing Calendar


  • Event Hawk System


  • Review Requests


  • Party Rental Marketing Bootcamp


  • Text Message Support From Experienced Bounce House Business Owners All Year Long


  • Private FB Community Access


  • Access To All 4 Of Tariq's Party Rental Business Playbooks

Get In Early With Schools, Churches, and Summer Camps


  • Summer Camps & Day Cares: Offer free bounce house to Summer Camps & Day Cares in exchange for sending flyers home with all the kids.


  • Vacation Bible Schools: Have recently been reported to spend thousands of dollars instead of hundreds.


  • Donate Bounce House To One Teacher For Teacher Appreciation Day: For select schools (the ones you do the most business with), donate a bounce house rental/gift certificate for an admin to raffle. It’s great for branding and being a good person! You could also get exposure on the schools Social Media and PTO pages.. First full week of May is teacher appreciation week throughout the US. Send/bring info to the school 2-3 weeks in advance.


  • Create A Marketing Calendar: Set reminders to send out your school letters in January and your Churches and Summer camp marketing in March. See how it goes and try a different strategy the next year.
  • How to find Schools and Churches: There should be a state or local directory of schools & churches in your area.


Network

  • Take your competitors out to lunch


  • Join your local Chamber of commerce


  • Look into Barter Groups

Do All The Things You've Been Putting Off All Year

  • Start Paying Yourself: Pay yourself like a boss. It's not smart or beneficial to reinvest all of your money into the business and it doesn't make the off season any easier. Follow the strategy in the YouTube video to see how we save enough in the summer to where we really don't have to do much in the winter AND still pay ourselves and grow our inventory.



  • Plan For Branding: Start working on your Trailer Wraps, Magnets, Shirts, Lawn Signs, Business Cards, and anything else you've been putting off for a while.


  • Get Your Paperwork In Order: Read through your rental contract, create an employee handbook, evaluate last year's financials to look for trends and set new goals.


  • Make Sure Your Insurance Is Up To Par: Whether it's worker's comp, Liability, or car insurance, make sure your business and employees have the right coverage (did you know you may not be covered if someone hurts themselves falling off one of your chairs?). Talk to Cossio Insurance by hitting the chat widget on their website - they're a wealth of knowledge to the industry whether you insure with them or not.



  • Get A Booking Software: If you're using a free website like Wix or GoDaddy, off season is the best time to invest in a booking software that specializes in the party rental industry. You can find some great options here. The providers listed in that link will also give you a free website makeover (there is a small monthly fee for support and maintenance) so if you're not happy with your current website now's a good time to look at other options.



Book a call with us to see how we can help your party rental business!

4- Start A Winter Gig

Although I learned the hard way that it's more profitable in the long run to focus on what you're already good at, if you want to try something new in the winter here are some things that others have done:

  • Lights


  • Santa's Workshop


  • Trackless Train With Lights


  • Snow Plowing


  • Linens


  • Throne Chairs


  • Dumpsters


  • Trash Hauling


  • Decor


  • Used Car Dealer


  • Junk Hauling


  • Get A Seasonal Job - For example you could work as a tax preparer from January through April. Many places like Liberty Tax will teach you everything you need to know.

Key Ingredients To Grow Your Bounce House Business FAST!

Still have questions?

Send us a text and we'll get back to you quick 👇!

Event Hawk

Email: Info@EventHawk360.com

Phone: (708) 401-6465