Inflatable Slides and Bounce Houses Makes Mom Millions

One day in 1999, Brenda Dronkers walked into a church function that was being held in a huge warehouse in her hometown in northern California. As she walked in she noticed two huge inflatable bounce houses. Her 4 year old was so excited about them that he immediately ran to get in line. Because there were so many kids waiting to get on, she and her son ended up standing in line for an hour.

During that time, she looked around and realized what a great business idea it would be to have inflatables in a big warehouse where parents could bring their kids, for birthday parties or just to play.

As her idea developed, she realized this would be a place that kids of all ages could enjoy at the same time. There was nothing that her 4 year old and 11 year old would ever agree on, but both of them loved the inflatables business idea! Having the inflatables inside a warehouse also solved the weather and safety issues that come up when parents rent inflatables for their backyard birthday parties.

She immediately got to work on her idea and called real estate brokers to start looking for warehouse space.

With no college education and little money she opened her first PUMP IT UP, The Inflatable Party Zone in January 2000….just 10 weeks after she started! Her facility offered inflatable bounce houses, slides, obstacle courses and more.

In her first month she booked 90 parties. Her business idea was a winner!

Eventually, she took on a partner and in 2003 began to franchise her Pump It Up business and it now has over 225 franchisees in 38 states, with business earning more than $70 million dollars.

Brenda, an entrepreneur at heart, has now turned Pump It Up over to an investment firm so she could focus on new ventures. She has a consulting firm, Dronkers Consulting Group, and has also started a T-shirt business called Thriving Ink.

Here is a video advertisement from a Pump It Up franchise in Glenview, IL