Franchisor Stories
After years of internal growth and operational refinement, a Mainland franchise assessment gave this party rental franchise a disciplined roadmap for its 2026 growth targets and beyond.
Busy Bee Jumpers, the full-service inflatable and party rental franchise with 13 corporate territories and three franchise units, has built its reputation on delivering memorable experiences. From bounce houses and obstacle courses to full-scale party rentals, the brand has built a foundation and infrastructure exceeding $5 million in corporate sales by becoming a trusted name for family celebrations and community events. As demand has grown, so has an interest in franchising. But leadership knew expansion needed to be done carefully.
With a goal of capturing a larger share of the $4 billion bounce house rental market and opening five new locations in 2026, Busy Bee Jumpers partnered with 1851 Franchise and its sister company, Mainland*, to complete a franchise assessment designed to evaluate its readiness, alignment and scalability.
The assessment quickly translated into forward progress for Busy Bee with four more territories already set for 2026, bringing the brand to a total of eight in the US.
For Sal Longo, who took ownership of Busy Bee Jumpers in 2022 after joining the company in 2002 as a delivery driver, the change has been immediately noticeable.
“Mainland has played a huge role in helping us generate strong leads early on,” Longo said. “And because of that momentum and the quality of candidates coming in, we’re now confidently working on developing our fourth and fifth units as well.”
As a marketing and PR leader in the franchising industry with over 35 years of experience, Mainland has worked with hundreds of franchise brands (including Paris Baguette*, Jollibee, Sola Salons, Woodhouse Spas and more). Mainland offers forward-thinking brands like Busy Bee Jumpers a chance to view the bigger business picture through the lens of a franchise assessment. The assessment, consisting of a 60- to 100-page deck, offers a comprehensive account of recommendations based on current research and proven best practices that, when paired with a plan for action, helps brands achieve or exceed their goals for long-term growth.
“A franchise assessment isn’t about telling a brand whether it can franchise,” said Chad Cohen, senior vice president at Mainland. “It’s a viability study that questions what they want and aligns tactics for how we are going to do it.”
The assessment covers every aspect of franchise development. It’s designed to recommend franchise marketing strategies, lead-generation initiatives and sales processes that can help a brand both reach and exceed its development goals. The assessments and recommendations are broken down by subject category and are covered during in-person interviews between the brand’s leadership and senior franchising experts at Mainland.
By combining these insights with proven best practices, the Mainland franchise assessment creates a clear roadmap for brands looking to align strategy, execution and resources for successful expansion.
Since 2020, franchise development has changed rapidly, rendering it increasingly difficult to connect with candidates or existing franchisees using traditional franchise sales methods. Only a small percentage of franchise brands actually reach 100 locations today. And the reason for that is simple: lack of validation mixed with poor positioning, inconsistent messaging and limited resources. Mainland also cites a continual general failure to effectively illuminate the strengths of a given business via storytelling.
For brands interested in franchising, and established franchises too, a franchise assessment is an opportunity to put a business on the right path using insights from the experienced franchising experts at Mainland. Rather than pushing expansion for expansion’s sake, this more explorative, contemplative and collaborative assessment process helps franchisors understand their business, their goals and what drumbeat is necessary to signal success.
“With Busy Bee Jumpers, like any assessment, we stepped back and looked at the business holistically: the model, the economics, the ideal franchisee, the brand story and the internal support needed to grow,” Cohen said. “What really stood out was that the foundation was already there.”
For Busy Bee Jumpers, the assessment was a validating moment for the new franchisor that helped align expectations across marketing, franchise development and operations while clarifying how the brand should position itself. The assessment made clear who the ideal candidate the brand should focus on really is. For Busy Bee Jumpers, the ideal franchisee is someone capable of being trained with a family-oriented mindset who cares deeply about the idea of terrific hospitality. Key segments examined in the assessment include the common reasons for a drop-off within the sales funnel, while highlighting recommended opportunities for multi-unit franchisee growth.
According to Cohen, the power of the franchise assessment lies in the clarity delivered.
“The assessment helped validate what had been built while identifying where investment would have the greatest impact. It also creates a clear, disciplined two-year roadmap for growth,” Cohen said. “That clarity made their next step in franchising feel less like a leap of faith and more like an intentional move.”
For Longo, the process provided confirmation that the success of Busy Bee Jumpers was built upon a model that could be replicated with the right structure in place.
“A big win for us was the clarity we gained around our brand and our franchise model,” he said. “This process has helped validate what we’ve built and sharpen how we present it to future franchisees.”
Partnering with Mainland on the franchise assessment has helped Busy Bee Jumpers gain traction without sacrificing quality.
“Working with 1851/Mainland has been a huge eye-opener for us. The franchise assessment has really helped us take a step back to look at the business from a much more strategic perspective,” Longo said. “It has allowed us to get clear on our systems, our model and what actually makes Busy Bee Jumpers scalable. It’s given us confidence that franchising wasn’t just a good idea but that it was the right next step. And one we could do the right way.”
As the brand continues to grow, the forward momentum gained from Busy Bee’s franchise assessment and Mainland’s support in PR and marketing loom large while remaining central to its overall strategy in terms of further scaling via franchising.
“Our experience with 1851/Mainland has been extremely positive. It feels like a real partnership, not a sales process,” Longo said. “We appreciate how honest, hands-on and straightforward Mainland has been throughout. And we’d absolutely recommend them to any brand that wants to franchise the right way.”
Growing and selling franchises is difficult. Want to learn more about how 1851 helps franchisors grow their franchises with confidence? Visit www.1851growthclub.com and see what we can do for you.
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