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| Airco Member Spotlight JUMP and SLIDE 4/2009 |
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| Written by Blake Hemric | |
| Tuesday, 31 March 2009 | |
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A-irco Member Spotlight Tom and Donna D’Anna Jump and Slide This month we are featuring Tom and Donna D’Anna, who have owned and operated Jump and Slide in Atlanta, Georgia for the past 11 years. They originally bought an existing jump company with 25 moonwalks in 1999. Today they have grown into one of the southeast’s largest inflatable rental companies, with over 250 pieces of equipment which includes, inflatables, games, concessions, and more. Their market is within 50 miles of Atlanta, and the company now has 5 full-time employees and annual revenues of $1 million dollars, while operating out of a 7000 square foot facility. Tom’s previous career was in the medical rental business for 18 yrs, which kept him traveling, but now he is glad to be home every night.... We asked Tom several questions about his business and the inflatable rental industry as a whole. He stated his favorite manufacturers are Ninja Jump, Elite Inflatables, and Cutting Edge Creations. The items that make Jump and Slide the most money are combos and 22’ slides, and if money were no object Tom said he would like a large CEC Obstacle Course or two. In talking with him about the things he likes least and most about running his business, working weekends was the least favorite part of the business, and being able to stay local, plus having the possibility of greater earnings potential were the favorites. Tom said his vision for Jump and Slide in the next 5 to 10 years, was to have 2-3 satellite offices in the Atlanta market and grow revenue. Georgia has no regulations regarding inflatables at this time and Tom does not really see a need for government regulations, but does admit that training people and personnel on the installation and equally important, the safe operation of the inflatable is key to running a safe operation. Some of the positive changes Tom sees in the industry is the cost of inflatables dropping, but the rental price staying the same, therefore increasing his return on investment. One of the trends he notices in the industry is more companies allowing customer pickups of moonwalks, especially with the downturn in the economy. He has some concerns about the industry too. One of those concerns are, folks being adequately educated on the safe operation of the inflatable, and second, installation of an inflatable being more important than the operation of one. He sees both as foundations to a safe inflatable rental. He gave this advice to new companies starting out. Grow slow and steady, and try to get into events, starting their second year, as they can be a great source of profits. I want to thank Tom for his time in answering our questions and wish Jump and Slide a prosperous 2009. Hopefully A-irco will have a new member spotlight each month. If you would like to be considered for the next spotlight contact us at the email address below. Of course you must be a member of A-irco to be considered. Blake Hemric A-irco Prez and Member This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 31 March 2009 ) |
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