We were lucky to catch up with Kelsey Payton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kelsey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

So, here’s the deal–I like to party. At the time of starting this business, I was a mom of a teenage daughter and toddler son working full time and wanting to throw birthday parties for them that would be memorable and would capture the season they were in. I also loved hosting wedding showers and baby showers for my friends so I had accumulated plenty of party decor over the years. Over time, people kept asking me if they could borrow my things for money… Then it hit me–“Wait… is this a business? I wonder what else people would want to borrow from me for money… I think I just created a rental business.” So I did some research to find out that there were ZERO party rental businesses in my tri-city area. The closest one was 3 cities away and charged an arm and a leg for just a few hours. Meaning, there were no party rental businesses in my county–Saline county. So for search engine optimization, I named my rental company “Saline Party Rentals.”

I changed up my business model to accommodate MY life–not just my clients’ lives. Instead of charging by the hour, we charge by the event. And Most of our clients pickup from us the day before their event and return to us the day after their event for no additional charge for the extra time. But we have additional services like delivery and setup based on mileage. I wanted to create a party rental business where the hosts of the parties can actually sit back and ENJOY their parties without having the hourly rental vultures hovering over the party at the 2-hour mark. I also knew that the party rental businesses three cities away were extremely overcharging just because they had the monopoly. So my prices are lower, you keep them for longer, and you’re talking to a real person and not just sent through the technology ringer.

Kelsey, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Not everyone is a Kardashian who is willing or able to spend a billion dollars on a party planner and a party. (If you are, hit me up and let me take care of your celebration!) People WANT to celebrate their loved ones and they WILL celebrate their loved ones whether I’m involved or not. So I had to start thinking about how they would allow me to be involved in their celebrations. My inventory had to be relevant, cost effective, and convenient. Once I got the Saline Party Rentals name out there, I started paying attention to what callers and clients would ask if I had. In my area, the majority of my clients wanted inflatables for their kids parties, or flower walls and marquee light up letters and numbers for wedding showers/baby showers/proposals/anniversaries/weddings. So I started carrying those items. I had to remind myself that if I wanted money, I had to stop thinking about what I wanted to offer clients and start thinking about what clients wanted me to offer. We started carrying just a couple bounce houses and now we offer a WIDE variety of party elements so we could become the “one-stop shop” for party hosts & hostesses to make their lives easier! We are still growing our inventory but now in addition to inflatables, we currently offer things like flower walls, shimmer backdrops, neon signs, 360Booth, Selfie Kiosks, greenery walls, lightup marquee numbers and letters, candy walls, champagne walls, balloon decor services, candy carts, children’s tables and chairs, softplay playgrounds, throne chairs, peacock chairs and more! And we are JUST getting started so, buckle up, world!

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I started Saline Party Rentals as a side hustle while I was a secretary at a wealth management firm full time. When the wealth management firm did mass layoffs of all of their secretaries nationwide, my side hustle was FORCED to be my full time business while I filled out applications for other jobs in my area. I had no choice but to throw everything I had into this rental company. Some key milestones were being contacted by a few inflatable businesses asking for me to acquire their business and clientelle and one of them ended up being an amazing fit for me. So I had my first business acquisition within 4 months of being open. My next milestone was no longer being able to keep up with the 25-30 orders per weekend by myself and I had to hire an assistant and start researching software that could automate some of my manual processes. After that, my inventory no longer fit in my garage and I had to find a larger space. Luckily, there were warehouses being built in a hot spot in town that I could afford and that clients could locate easily. Now, Saline Party Rentals is my full time business and career and I work part time for a local children’s hospital just for fun.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective strategy we’ve had for growing our clientele is humanity. When compassion comes first and clients feel that I really care about what’s important to them–they’re more likely to trust me for their future parties, tell their friends about me, and leave a positive review on our socials and Google profile. Where companies around me have failed the clients in my neighborhood (my county) is they put the dollar before the person. They don’t care how clients experience their product or service because the company has a monopoly in Central Arkansas. But now, clients have a choice to go with the long-established party rental place in another county that treats clients like trash, or to take a risk on a business that is only 2 years old but has better prices, competitive inventory quality, and their friends recommend. Every week, I email a feedback survey to the clients who used us the week prior because I want to know what we did right, what we can improve on, any noteworthy recommendations and any products they want us to start carrying. We are only 2 years into the business and we have had 1,500 new in the last 6 months. We are honored to serve our friends in Saline county and families all over our state.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.salinepartyrentals.com
• Instagram: @SalinePartyRentals