“My sister and I went over to the boy who was in charge and we asked him about it and he told us he was renting it for twenty-five hundred dollars an hour. My sister turned to me and suggested that we invest in the business…” Davis told the Sunday Stabroek in an interview.
It has been no looking back since, and the two sisters pooled their resources and bought not one but two trampolines, which have not made them millionaires but have provided much needed supplemental funds for their incomes.
The mother of six has a steady job as a security guard and her husband is also employed, but she said there is always need for additional funds and the trampolines have provided the means to do this even though sometimes it could be stressful.
She noted that it would have made no sense to rent the trampoline because one always has to be mindful of making the money to pay the rental before realising any profit on the venture, so they thought it better to invest and purchase as opposed to rent.
“When you do that [purchase] whatever you make is yours so it is better to make the sacrifice and buy and whenever you go out there you don’t have to pay anybody.”
While the money they make at times is “not big money” Davis said that if they had stayed home they would not have made any at all, and so $5,000 or $7,000 earned after spending a few hours on the seawall represents welcome funds.
“But for you to enjoy it and really make money is on Mash and Easter or them big event days.”
Davis revealed that they would charge about $100 per child for a five-minute jump on the trampoline, but many times parents would pay for more time for their children.
The price charged relates to how much they have to pay to set up shop; for example, to secure a spot on Merriman Mall during Mashramani they have to pay the Mayor & City Council.
“It does not make sense to just go and set up like that, and then is somebody spot and they come and you have to move and you lose out because you had to pay taxi to get there,” she said.
“Anywhere kids are we would go once we have the time because the trampoline is for kids to have fun.”
Davis said that they were at the Sophia Exhibition site every night during Guyexpo and they had to pay for their spot there too. She was off of work that weekend, and while she did not reveal how much they made she said it was worth every minute of the time spent there.
While they also rent the trampolines for functions such as children’s birthday parties, Davis said they are always mindful of having someone on the ground to ensure that the items are taken care of.
“Sometimes you send it and people don’t take care of your thing and you lose out, as while you may instruct that only a certain amount of children should be in at one time that does not mean they would follow; and then if the children have size there should be less children in the trampolines.”
The only time they use it on weekdays is if someone has a party or other functions.
“So this is something just on the side because it is not an everyday something that you could sit and depend on. Sometimes you might get two calls a week for parties but then you not sure them calling you until you get that call, and then you still have bills to pay and children to send to school so you can’t depend on that,” she commented.
Most times when she or her sister cannot watch over the trampoline her eldest daughter would do so.
“My daughter fixes up the trampolines in about five minutes; she would just be like mommy pass this and that, and I would pass whatever she wants. Me, I would take like half an hour to fix it up, but she does it so fast.”
The rental for one of the trampolines for a birthday party is between $5,000 and $6,000 and the person also has to provide the taxi fare.
“It is not the person who renting it for the party is making any money from it, so we can’t kill them because they not gaining anything from it; it is just for the children to have a fun time.”
Davis said she is not a woman to sit around, but is always looking for means to make extra money. She told this newspaper that prior to this business venture she and sister were also in the business of selling clothes.
The Rasville, Roxanne Burnham resident said that their business is advertised via word of mouth.
“It is a fun thing you know, because you get fun with the children, they are so happy to jump and jump and their parents have to pay two and three times and they just have the energy to jump. It is not anything hard; the only thing is you does be on you foot but you have to make sacrifice and do what you have to do because bills have to be paid,” she said.
