First-unit playbook
The first-unit playbook
One inflatable can carry a whole season if the basics are locked in from the first booking. Here are the four rules, plus the day-rate math to check before you buy.
4 rules for your first unit
One unit, one calendar
Every hold goes in one calendar the moment you say yes — not a text thread, not a notes app. Two families, one castle, same Saturday is how a first year loses a weekend.
No deposit, no date
The date is not held until money and a signature land. Write it once: 50% to book, balance on delivery day. "I'll confirm Friday" is not a booking.
Price the day, not the hour
One day rate, one delivery radius, one setup window — set once so every quote is the same quote.
Insured and checked before the first party
Liability cover, stakes and sandbags for both surfaces, and the same written setup check every time. Do it before the first booking, not after the first incident.
How much money does a bounce house business make?
Say your day rate is $175 and you book two Saturdays a month — that's $4,200 a year out of one unit, before you own a second. Change the day rate or the Saturdays booked and the math changes with them — these are example numbers, not a promise.
Keep the calendar and the deposit in one place
BounceDay holds the date only once a deposit lands, keeps every booking on one calendar so two families never land on the same Saturday, and gives you one setup check to run every delivery. Free to start, no card.
Save this for the week you buy the first unit. Know someone with a trailer and free Saturdays? Send it to them.