How She Created a $295,000 Kids Party Rental Side Business - Side Hustle Nation

      Side Hustle Nation is focused on enhancing your personal profitability. To achieve this, we frequently collaborate with businesses that share that goal. If you register or make a purchase through a link from one of our partners, we may receive compensation at no additional cost to you. Learn more. Purchase it once and earn money repeatedly—that’s a business model I truly value. Tayo Lanlehin struggled to find small tables and chairs for her son’s first birthday, so she imported four styles from abroad, stored them in her basement, and launched an Instagram page. Four years later, BayAreaKidsRentals.com is a thriving $295,000 business featuring ball pits, bounce houses, plushie-making stations, two 16-foot trucks, and a 3,500 square foot warehouse—all while she manages a full-time job. Here’s how she made it happen.

      Listen to Episode 755 of the Side Hustle Show to discover:

      - How to secure your first rental clients through cold outreach

      - How to price your rental items so they pay for themselves

      - How to build a team to make the business self-sustaining

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      **How She Started a Kids Rental Business**

      Tayo was organizing her son's first birthday, themed "First Trip Around the Sun." “Kids are very visual,” she explained. “You want to immerse them in the theme you’ve chosen.” However, she could only find standard white plastic chairs, nothing that matched her vision. This led her to consider the idea that often sparks great businesses: What if I offered this in the Bay Area?

      **Starting with a $2,000 Inventory Test**

      She avoided purchasing an entire warehouse of goods and instead ordered chairs—four styles, 20 of each—from overseas at about $2,000. She utilized her empty 1,000 square foot basement for storage. She created an Instagram account and began reaching out to local event planners. The planners responded quickly, asking for packages that included tables, prompting her to buy those as well plus some custom designs.

      **How to Get Your First Rental Clients**

      Tayo didn’t just wait for clients to find her; she took proactive steps:

      1. Naming her business based on her own search queries—leading to the name Bay Area Kids Rentals.

      2. Targeting event planners: She compiled a list of local planners, engaged with them on social media, and sent them images, a price list akin to a menu, and a brief introduction to her business.

      3. Proactively contacting a notable figure, she emailed the wife of an NBA player, noticed her daughter’s upcoming birthday, and shared what she offered. The swift response was: “I’ll connect you with our event planner.” Later, that planner mentioned that Tayo was already on their radar.

      **Why Event Planners Are the Ideal Rental Business Customers**

      In her market, planners manage events ranging from $500 to $80,000 for kids' birthdays. Before Tayo’s service, they faced the challenge of buying these items for their clients and then figuring out how to dispose of them afterward. “We’re so glad you’re here,” one planner mentioned, highlighting the sustainable and varied options her business provided.

      **The Instagram Strategy That Drives Bookings**

      Instagram remains Tayo’s primary source of leads and visibility. Key components of her strategy include:

      - Her first post was an unboxing video declaring, “Look, Bay Area—we now have kids' tables and chairs.”

      - She filmed her first event, capturing the setup and party, which gained significant views.

      - Collaborating on styled shoots with planners and venues resulted in being tagged by vendors with substantial followings, leading to features in magazines.

      As her following grew, the account transformed into more than just a portfolio—Bay Area parents began using it as a source of inspiration and a vendor directory. With nearly 10,000 followers, new arrivals often already see that many peers follow her.

      She developed a content-sharing habit from her previous venture—a travel experience company organizing trips in Africa, where she always had a photographer and videographer on hand. “If there are no photos or videos, did it even happen?” she muses. Additionally, she invested in SEO