Dan Juneau started Ashlee’s events 14 years, ago with a desire to create unforgettable experiences for people across the community.
Juneau, who had worked at various restaurants including McDonald’s, Kelsey’s, and King’s Buffet (since closed), became intrigued with the idea of renting out bouncy castles as a potential business when family members needed one.
“My mother-in-law, who was running a daycare, wanted to rent one of these, and I told her to consider just buying one, using it, and renting it out after. I thought about that idea and shared it with Ashley (who became my wife), that I was thinking of buying one, which was around $2,000 at the time [and] was basically all of the money I had. We went ahead and got a bouncy castle and started renting it out. I then convinced Ashley that we should name the company ‘Ashlee’s Bouncy Castles’ (eventually becoming ‘Ashlee’s Events), because it would be listed at the top of the phone book. So that’s how old the business is…we were still using Yellow Pages,” he said. “At the time, there was another company similar to ours [and] I noticed their prices were extremely high, so I developed a niche…where I became the $100 bouncy castle guy…but, really, I didn’t know anything about the business at that point. I was just excited to get things going and get the business. I soon realized that [expenses were growing] and I had to revise pricing…which I still made as reasonable as possible for customers.”
While the business has been growing steadily, there were some challenges Juneau encountered.
“This was my first business and I had no education on how to properly run things or knowledge of the industry. So, it was a lot of trial and error…[and] figuring out what works and what doesn’t work. Another obstacle was, of course, money. I was just working minimum wage in a restaurant, so buying new equipment and everything was definitely a challenge for me,” he said “At the time when I was just starting, there was an online forum called the Moonwalk Forum which predated Facebook. I went through every single post [dealing with inflatables and party rental information] on that forum, and I researched and figured out what worked best for my company. I became addicted to learning as much as I could about the business and industry.”
However, Juneau started with one bouncy castle and quickly expanded to more inventory.
“For the next season, I went up to three bouncy castles, and then the following season, and went up to seven bouncy castles. By the fifth year, I got into doing public events [and once you] leave the backyard area, you need to have a special certification which I got. After that, I started trying new things…then I went through another stage where I wanted to expand and be the biggest company of its kind in the area and we tried all different services like laser tag. We were first to the market for mobile laser tag [and] once we got that equipment. I soon noticed that all of our competitors started to get it as well,” he noted. “We’ve also tried foam cannons, dunk tanks and even incorporating contractors like face painters. But in the end, what really rented well is bouncy castles and the obstacle courses…and what I have tried to do is make the business into something manageable and less stressful [for myself] with products that people enjoy.”
Nevertheless, the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) certification is essential for Juneau’s business to ensure compliance and safety for everyone involved including customers.
“This certification is required for bouncy castles…so once these units leave the customer’s backyard, you need to have these units certified as well as getting your business certified. Also, you need to have an inflatable mechanic, either on contract or as an employee, and then you need to get the actual units inspected annually and get an engineer to write up a dossier to make sure you know that it passes the flame test and it’s safe for public use,” he stated. “It’s a very expensive one too [and the] only way to get the certification is that you need to have somebody that already has their inflatable mechanic certification [who] is willing to train you for 240 hours. And not everybody wants to train their competitors…so you need to go further out.”
Being in business for close to 15 years, Juneau has learned a great deal.
“I have learned a lot over the years as a small business owner… managing employees has been a very big one for me as well as establishing policies and setting boundaries like staying relatively local…within a 30-kilometer radius which means I don’t drive out far distances. When I first started the business, I would drive all over the place. I’d be out till 1 am picking up bounce castles, and then starting the next day at 6am…so, I don’t do that anymore as the business has become established,” he said. “But I definitely enjoy the aspect of being my own boss…if I work harder…I know I’ll be rewarded for that effort. Whereas in other situations…no matter how hard I worked….I would still get relatively the same amount. I also love being a part of the community…doing [local] events and bringing joy and creating memories. I’ve been doing this for so long that some of my customers’ kids have worked for me…I went from setting up events for these kids to where they are now helping me out and setting up for events.”
Juneau has done many events throughout the years, but one especially sticks out in his mind.
“One of my all-time favorite events was a back-to-school event. The organization was called Jacob’s Ministries, which I don’t think exists anymore. But over a five-year span…we’d go to different neighborhoods which were mostly lower income areas and we’d set up bouncy castles, and all the kids would come out free of charge…they’d also get backpacks and haircuts…[and I would] supervise the event. That one definitely is a memorable one for me,” he said.
However, one of the key elements to Juneau’s success is keeping the business at a manageable size.
“It’s definitely a balancing act for me. I’ve tried on both ends….being extremely busy and trying to be as big as possible, and then at the other end, selling off too much equipment and going too small. But looking to the future, I might want to buy more event pieces like obstacle courses [to] take on big rushes like school end events, so I’d like to expand more into that type of equipment.”
