Today, the business associated with the rental of certain types of goods is relevant, since not all citizens have the opportunity to purchase expensive things, but there is a desire to own them. Today, a rental-based business is popular in both small towns and metropolitan areas.
What do they temporarily use?
Rent provides: cars, bicycles, yachts, children's cars and toys, power tools, clothes, accessories and other things. People are not ready to spend money on goods that they will need for a short time. Wedding dress or car for the newlyweds. This is the success of the rental business. It is cheaper to rent a baby cradle if you need it for a short time.
Rental points are common - they rent evening clothes and a limousine, a boat with fishing accessories. The business is already full, and getting into it will be difficult. For example, in the case of a limousine, large material investments are needed. What is needed for temporary use? Products for children and newborns: strollers, cribs, playpens, high chairs, children's bicycles and toys.
Rent new and popular toys. It is more convenient to pay 200 rubles for renting a toy than to buy it for 2,000.
No need to try to cover all types of goods that can be rented. With a large number of clothing categories, it will not be easy to update and maintain their range, appearance, technical condition.
Instructions for starting a business
Mandatory conditions:
- paperwork;
- cash for start-up capital;
- computer skills and access to the Internet;
- room;
- advertising;
- staff.
How to start a rental business
- Acquisition of premises. It can be a warehouse, a rented garage, or an owned pavilion that is quite spacious with a comfortable reception area. potential clients. The premises should be located in a place with high traffic of potential buyers and be easily accessible.
- Select the item you would like to rent. Cars, household appliances, gardening tools, sports and leisure equipment, clothes, children's things. It is advisable to choose one type of product.
- Purchase. They buy new or used things and equipment, but well preserved. They are presented on the Internet.
- Choose products for business with basic properties and easy to use.
- It is necessary to think over the cost of things, find out the prices for similar products in other rentals, and also lay the risk of loss or damage to property for depreciation and maintenance.
- Business documentation: a rental agreement with the terms of providing the thing, returning it in the proper form, paying for damages in case of damage or loss. Forms of acts of acceptance and transfer and other permits are required.
Bicycles for rent
Today, business rental of bicycle equipment is very popular, as well as sports. The main advantage is small start-up capital. Profit will appear from the first days, and even hours of work. Having received a bicycle, you can go to the park, nature or the stadium. Such rentals are popular at the resort. Potential clients can borrow them for several hours. Sometimes bikes are rented for the whole day or even several days.
They start a business by registering a legal entity. Then they acquire the required amount of bicycle equipment, preferably used and of the same brand. You can buy some of the teenage and children's bikes. Spare parts and repair tools should always be kept in reserve.
You need to think about the location of the rental. Usually live areas are chosen. A leisure park, embankment, city square or tourist base will do. The premises for such a business can be modest in size, the main thing is that bicycles fit and it is convenient to receive customers.
Bicycle equipment is issued on the security of a passport, driver's license or Money. The amount of the deposit is equal to the value of the goods.
Doing all the work alone is difficult, you need to think about the staff. One employee must be at the rental point, the other must answer calls and provide necessary information about the product. You need a bike repair specialist.
Before you open a rental, you need to notify people about this. There is advertising for this: on the radio, in newspapers, on the Internet or on banners. To alert potential customers, you can create and promote a group on social networks.
The bike rental business does not require large material investments. To get started, it is enough to purchase eight or ten high-quality and modern bicycles. In addition, by renting, you can open an additional type of business. It can be a bicycle repair shop or rental of cycling accessories: helmets, suits, shoes.
This business is profitable. If you approach him, considering important details and observing the necessary conditions, everything will certainly turn out well.
In the last issue, among other things, we talked about unusual idea of a Swiss farmer to rent cows to tourists - in this issue you will find out what else you can rent for profit, and, believe me, some of the ideas will simply stun you.
However, according to tradition, let's start with quite logical ideas of the rental business. For example, rental of textbooks.
The idea to create such a business came to Rodz after the end of the first year, when he managed to sell his textbooks, which cost $560 for only $18. Then Rodz decided to come up with an alternative to buying expensive textbooks that are needed only for one course of study.
On his website, MyBookBorrow.com, students can apply for any textbook and, if the rental price suits them, they can rent it for a year.
But not only students and schoolchildren quickly "grow" out of their textbooks. It turns out that educational games for kids can also be rented.
Two former teachers set up SmartyRents, a children's video game rental service. Their database contains a huge number of games for children (starting from 9 months of age), which parents can order online and receive in an envelope by mail (after the rental period, they are also obliged to return these games by mail).
But the next idea of the rental business is more of a PR move than a full-fledged business, which, however, does not detract from the originality of the solution. The manufacturer of professional guitars, in order to increase the sales of their far from cheap instruments, offered potential buyers test guitars before buying. Of course, not free.
Now any client can rent a guitar for up to 1 week, paying first membership fee(50 dollars), and then the cost of the rental itself (75 dollars a day or 300 a week). Moreover, not only guitars themselves are rented out, but also accessories for them (headphones, straps, cables, covers, etc.).
But, of course, the most variations on the theme of rental are connected with the rental of clothes. It turns out that it is profitable to specialize not only in the rental of wedding dresses and masquerade costumes, but also in designer clothes. As does the New York company Rent the Runway, which has the latest collections from leading fashion designers.
The technology of work is simple - customers choose a suitable dress from the assortment presented on the site, place an order, pay the rental cost, which is approximately 10% of the cost of the dress (ranging from 50 to 200 dollars), and receive their dress in a special case by the postal service.
At the end of the rental period, which ranges from 4 to 8 days, the client returns the dress again through the services of the New York Post.
Transitional Sizes has gone the same way, although their services are aimed at women who are losing weight, which means they are not ready to buy new clothes until they lose weight completely (at least they naively believe in this).
Be that as it may, on this pseudo-rationality of women who are keen on diets, the company earns good money by offering ladies to rent clothes of the right size for up to one month, paying for it only from 3 to 25 dollars, and at the end of the term, return it clean and in good condition .
But this is not all the options associated with the rental of clothes. Until recently, the niche of pregnant women who wanted to look fashionable in an “interesting” position remained uncovered.
An American housewife, Marcel Costello, faced this problem firsthand and without hesitation organized her own company, Rentmaternitywear, to rent dresses for pregnant women.
At the same time, Mrs. Costello not only rents dresses, but also sews them herself, which increases her profit by an order of magnitude.
The cost of renting dresses for pregnant women varies from $35 to $70, depending on the length and quality of the dress. $35 is renting a dress for a week, $50 for two weeks, $60 is renting a new dress for a month.
The selected dress is delivered to your home by the specified date by FedEx courier service.
At the end of the rental period, the dress is returned to the Rentmaternitywear store, without pre-washing, cleaning, etc.
Well, now it is time to talk about ideas whose rationality is less obvious.
So in the Japanese city of Yakohama, a Candy pet store was opened, which can be rented. Buyers are allowed to take pets on short-term rentals before they decide to buy one. First of all, we are talking about dogs of all stripes and sizes.
The point of this business idea is that buyers, once taking a cute funny puppy home, are unlikely to want to give it back.
But if the owners of a Japanese rental store hope to find a permanent family for their pets in this way, FLEXPETS specializes in rental, training dogs in such a way that owners and tenants can be sure of their good behavior and obedience. In the range of dogs of all sizes, shapes, colors and temperaments.
In addition, the dog is brought to you with his food and favorite toy so that the animal does not feel discomfort. AT without fail the dog is equipped with a collar with a GPS sensor and a temperature sensor in order to provide her with a comfortable stay ( temperature regime, safety). The entrepreneurs do not seem to care about the stress experienced by animals that have managed to become attached to their temporary owners.
And in conclusion - the apotheosis of the absurd.
Chinese businesswoman Xu Lisha has opened a rental agency for... bridesmaids.
The idea of arranging such a mildly strange rental came to Xu after she herself was offered to become a bridesmaid for a fee. Seeing the potential in this idea and promising niche for business, she decided to take a chance and make this type of business the main source of income.
The Chinese businesswoman is looking for her performers for the role of bridesmaids among university students.
Primary requirements: Beautiful face, good figure, well-groomed, stylish hairstyle and good manners.
But the Japanese have established a business of renting entire ... families.
Company Hagemashi Tai offers to rent a variety of relatives from the farthest to the closest - spouses and parents. Distant relatives are played by actors for a moderate fee. Most often, their role is to be present at funerals, weddings, and for additional fee they will also make a congratulatory or condolence speech there. By the way, you can also rent a spouse for a while. Moreover, services for renting a husband are offered in two options - the first husband is rented for a single mother with children in order to do some housework, and the second option - a trial marriage - for brides who want to experience the feelings and sensations of a wedding and marriage before a real marriage.
As you can see, the imagination of entrepreneurs is truly limitless. And the most amazing thing is that even crazy, at first glance, ideas find their buyers.
Therefore, if traditional types of business do not inspire you, then come up with own idea- as all the entrepreneurs from our reviews did in their time.
And to spur the imagination, use the author's development of our portal universal designer of business ideas "Tarot 1000 ideas." With this set, in a month you will create more ideas than your competitors come up with in a year.
This set combines almost all effective techniques that help to go beyond patterns and stereotypes. At the same time, the focus is always on the applied task of not developing the imagination “in general”, but searching for new, original ideas and business solutions.
This article was written based on the results of a Skype conversation with Nizhny Novgorod businessman Vasily Kuropatin, who created own business on cheap car rental, and who shared his success with our readers with great pleasure. We tried to concentrate in the article the most important questions on opening an inexpensive car rental in a city with an average number of solvent population.
Car rental is a great business for those who understand!
Almost every person with a stable income has his own car. But, despite this, the rental of vehicles remains a very promising direction.
For example, in Europe and the USA, the car rental business is already well established. Many people do not bother with the maintenance of their own transport, but simply rent it.
In our country, this type of activity is developed very poorly, but the trend towards an increase in demand can still be traced. For example, over the past year, the Russian car rental market has grown by almost 15%. It is hoped that this trend will continue in the future.
The main thing: creating your own car rental business plan
We (the editors of the Russian Startup project in almost every article devoted to starting a new business do not cease to affirm (large personal experience) that starting a business without a well-developed, working business plan is the height of stupidity and “recklessness”.
Especially when it comes to businesses such as car rental where necessary big investment. Read the section of this article: Financial indicators". Look at the numbers, which reflect very, very serious investments in the business.
Is it possible to start such a business (as well as any other) without a clear understanding and step by step instructions? No and no. A business plan is your instruction and route map. Daily, practically.
Who are the clients?
As a rule, it is necessary to focus on wealthy clients. As for the representatives of the middle class, they rarely use the services of such companies.
An interesting fact is that most tenants have their own car. The reason for contacting a rental company is the repair of your transport, going out of town, the need to impress business partners, and so on.
Now more and more popular is the registration of a car for rent for a long time, which provides the entrepreneur with a very solid and stable income.
VIP class cars are most often issued for a maximum of one day.
If you take the prices, then the rental of a domestic car costs from 1000 rubles per day.
A foreign car will be more expensive - from 3000 rubles per day and more.
To the most expensive transport includes a limousine, which is billed on an hourly basis.
The average rental price is from 3000 rubles, but already per hour.
Such a high price is due to the fact that the car is provided with a driver.
Where possible, agreements should be made with corporate clients who will regularly rent cars and bring a stable income.
Naturally, for this type of cooperation there are certain requirements for the form of organization.
Choosing a form of ownership
If your task is to open a car rental business that can be developed and make a good profit, then give preference to "LLC" with simplified taxation.
At the same time, to reduce costs, register vehicles maybe for yourself. If there are doubts about the choice of the form of ownership, then you can contact the consultants who will describe the procedure in more detail.
As a rule, registration of an LLC costs about 100-150 thousand rubles.
Cheap car rental or luxury car rental?
Cars
The most expensive part is the purchase of transport for business. At the same time, starting with several machines is pointless. The best option is a fleet of 10-20 cars.
The most budget option is the products of the domestic auto industry. But keep in mind that such cars are rarely rented out, so it is better to give preference to reliable and time-tested foreign cars - Audi, Mercedes, BMW and others:
- economy class (40% of the total fleet) - small-capacity foreign cars (Volkswagen, Ford, Renault and others). Their cost is from 2000 rubles per day;
- comfort class (20% of the total fleet) - Hyundai Solaris, Chevrolet Aveo and others. Rental price - from 3000 rubles;
- business class (20% of the total fleet) - Skoda Octavia, Volkswagen Passat, Honda Accord and others. The price of such cars is from 4000 rubles per day;
- elite class (20%) - for example, Audi A6, Mercedes. Such cars are more suitable for businessmen for organizing business meetings. The cost of renting a VIP class car is from 7,000 rubles per day.
As for more prestigious brands, such as Porsche or Ferrari, it is unfortunately impossible to do this in Russia.
You can buy cars immediately for cash (in this case, the amount of costs can exceed 20 million rubles) or you can lease equipment. In the latter case, you can "get off" only with an advance payment.
In the future, you can make payments already from the received profit. A big plus of leasing is that the cars remain the property of the lessor.
This means that registration, maintenance and registration are his problems. In addition, there is a chance to save on tax payments (which most entrepreneurs successfully use).
It's useful and interesting!
More than 500 ready-to-use business plan templates in our catalog:
A high-quality selection of franchises for start-up entrepreneurs, collected by us
From this article, you can find out how a simple driver from Samara created a taxi service and earned a million dollars:
Insurance
It is not enough to buy (lease) cars - they must be maintained. At the same time, the largest expense item is insurance. As a rule, for each car it is about 10-15% of the total price.
At the same time, hiding cars from insurers or trying to cheat is a very risky business. It is better to arrange all the cars normally and get a discount.
Most insurance companies go to provide services with an unconditional deductible.
The discount in this case can be quite significant.
Particular attention should be paid to the conditions prescribed in the insurance contract. The documents must indicate that the car can be left anywhere and at any time.
The total cost of insurance - from 2 million rubles a year.
Parking
You need to choose a place where all cars will be stored. It is desirable that it be a guarded and covered parking lot. The optimal location is in a residential area or in the center.
Cost - from 2 thousand rubles for one place. If there are 10-20 cars in the park, then the costs will be from 20,000 rubles per month.
Do you need an office?
As for your business premises, the situation is twofold. On the one hand, you can save money on this expense item, and applications can be accepted by phone and the car delivered to the specified address.
On the other hand, foreign clients prefer to work through offices. In principle, it is enough to rent a small room for 2-3 people.
The optimal location is as close as possible to the parking lot where the cars are located. The area of the room should be 15-20 square meters. In this case, the rental price is from 20,000 rubles.
It is necessary to organize workplaces for employees in the room, put tables with computers, chairs and sofas for clients. The total cost of equipping the premises is from 100 thousand rubles.
Employees
You will need several workers. 2-3 people will need to be placed in the office for receiving and processing orders, making payments and other "paper" work.
In addition, it is required to hire 1-2 specialists in the production of transport (and drivers in one person).
As for the dispatchers for receiving applications, young girls or boys are suitable here, preferably with an economic education. Knowledge of car models and their features (at least in general terms) is mandatory.
As for the release specialist, this may be a former taxi driver. The main requirements are no criminal record, responsibility and knowledge of cars.
Total labor costs - from 100,000 rubles per month.
Advertising
Car rental is a business that needs to be promoted. In this case, the best result can be achieved by installing outdoor advertising, organizing a site on the Internet and placing banners on the relevant sites, distributing booklets and visits.
For the first time, you can paste over all the cars from your fleet. The costs here are small, but the effect will be maximum. “Decorate” with such advertising one car will cost from 2 thousand rubles.
Create and promote a high-quality website - from 50 thousand rubles, and then another 5 thousand rubles a month to maintain it, fill it with content and other events.
Car rental without a driver
Payback
One of the main issues is the payback of the business. As a general rule, the machine must be running about 60% of the time to make a normal profit.
In this case, you can count on income in the amount of 700 thousand rubles a month. As a rule, this indicator can be reached after a few months of work.
The total payback is 2-3 years.
Table number 1. Potential of consumers of car rental services in Russia
dangers
We must not forget that car rental for money is risky view business. Therefore, it is necessary to selectively approach the choice of customers and put forward certain requirements for them.
In particular, the age must be from 25 years old (minimum from 21 years old). An important factor is the presence of a solid driving experience (the best option is from 3 years).
At the same time, we must not forget that even a thorough check cannot completely protect customers from getting into an accident. This is where the contract with the insurance company will be needed.
At the same time, the car rental business still suffers losses, because the car is being repaired, and, therefore, does not generate income.
Another important point is the requirement of collateral from customers. Here rates may vary. For example, when registering a domestic car, the deposit will be from 50,000 rubles, foreign cars - from 100,000 rubles.
In this case, the higher the value of the car, the greater the deposit. But keep in mind that this option can scare away many customers.
Table number 2. Growth of car rental market participants in Russia
Results:
So, let's sum up the financial results:
- business registration - from 100,000 rubles;
- purchase of cars - from 20 million rubles. Leasing is possible (in this case, the initial costs will be from 4 million rubles);
- insurance costs - from 2 million rubles;
- office and purchase of equipment - from 120,000 rubles;
- advertising - from 100,000 rubles;
- salary costs - from 90-100 thousand rubles per month;
- parking lot rental - from 20,000 rubles per month.
Income - from 700,000 rubles per month. Payback - 2-3 years.
Conclusion
The car rental business, and even more so cheap car rental, is a very profitable, but risky direction. It is important to consider that it is necessary to open an LLC in big city with a population of 500 thousand people. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to get a decent profit.
The rental business has been and remains popular for many years, as many people are unable to purchase a home, and companies seek to reduce the level of one-time investment in development activities. The range of objects that can be rented out is constantly growing: this moment you can even rent out things such as roller skates, skis, etc. - everything that is not in constant demand, but is an object of seasonal use.
However, the most common option is still to rent a property. In order to receive a certain income from the provision of a particular room for rent, it is necessary to take into account a number of nuances that will be discussed in this article.
It must be understood that real estate is usually classified into 3 groups − land, housing and non-residential premises
. The most common types of services in this market are the provision of rental housing and non-residential premises.
Among the non-residential, commercial real estate is usually rented. At the same time, all authoritative analytical agencies distinguish the following varieties of it:
- office rooms;
- trading;
- warehouse;
- industrial.
In addition, some organizations rent separate view premises - the category "for special purposes". Buildings are allocated here for kindergartens, schools, hospitals, churches, etc.
In addition to real estate, you can rent out land, gazebos, equipment, cars, special equipment, inventory and much more. However, this is rarer and complex shape business.
What is the most beneficial?
When it comes to residential real estate, average cost a one-room apartment 10-15 minutes from the metro in a residential area in Moscow will cost 5-6.5 million rubles. At the same time, the average rental rate for such rooms is about 25-30 thousand rubles. As a result, when calculating, it can be obtained that the minimum payback period for a one-room apartment will be about 15 years.
Accordingly, this option cannot be called very profitable in terms of investment: the only case in which it can really pay off is when housing is inherited.
If we talk about office space, they are somewhat more expensive than residential, since their location should be more passable places, and their area is higher. In Moscow, a small office space will cost 6.5-7.5 million rubles, provided that the area is about 60-70 square meters. At the same time, the rental rate this case will be considered as 1 square meter.
According to the Knight Frank agency, at the end of 2015 the rental rate for class A offices was about 25 thousand rubles, and for class B office space - about 15 thousand rubles a year. Accordingly, the maximum payback period will be about 8 years old.
It is even more profitable to rent retail premises than office premises - their payback period is 5-6 years. But there is an important limitation here: for such real estate, one of key factors turns out to be the location. The premises should be located in the central area, in a place with a high level of traffic. Finally, it must be of high quality.
In general, commercial real estate loses to residential in only one parameter: the level of risk, since it is dependent on the economic situation in the country and in a particular city.
For information on where to start and how to develop such an activity, see the following video:
How to organize such a business from scratch?
- First of all, you need to find a suitable place for renting. In the case of receiving living space as an inheritance, the procedure will begin with the execution of documents confirming that the entrepreneur is the owner of the housing.
- When looking for a ready-made premises, it is best to turn to the services of professional agencies that will help you evaluate the real cost of housing or commercial real estate: an inexperienced businessman can easily miscalculate.
- Next, you need to complete necessary documentation on property. If this is commercial real estate and it is planned to lease it to special organizations (for example, those working in the field of Catering), you need to take care of obtaining additional permits and conclusions of some services.
- After clearance primary documentation it is necessary to carry out redevelopment and repair: in the case of residential real estate, it is important to purchase a certain set of furniture and household appliances, since apartments that can be lived in immediately after settlement can be offered at a higher cost. In case of commercial real estate it is important to focus on increasing free space and the possibility of subsequent redevelopment according to the needs of the client.
AT Russian practice many people rent residential real estate without concluding a contract - this allows you to get rid of the personal income tax in the amount of 13% and reduce the payback period. However, this comes with certain risks - in particular, those associated with the unreliability of customers. Therefore, both in the case of non-residential and in the case of residential real estate, it is necessary to formalize the relationship with the tenant.
Where to look for clients?
Search for customers through standard advertising options (posting ads in public places or printed publications) is not effective within the rental business. Advertising can be done through social networks(this is especially true for the situation of renting residential real estate) - here the effect of "word of mouth" will work.
In addition, placement on thematic sites and forums is suitable. For commercial premises, especially located in shopping malls, it is possible to hang a notice "for rent" with the phone number of the owner. This will expand the circle of potential customers to all visitors to the shopping center.
Finally, there are 2 more enough effective ways to search for clients - maintaining a thematic site or blog with unobtrusive advertising of services as a landlord, as well as distributing brochures and business cards.
Necessary costs
If an entrepreneur is going to engage in such a business, he must understand that among the main cost items it is necessary to include remodeling costs: in this case, customers are ready to conclude lease agreements at much higher rates (the difference can be up to one and a half times). This is because after redevelopment, the percentage of usable area most often grows, in addition, the room can be changed to fit your own needs.
Among the costs, it is also necessary to highlight:
- The cost of building or acquiring premises.
- The cost of the services of a specialist who can evaluate market price for real estate.
- Expenses for the maintenance and security of the premises.
- Costs for electricity, water supply, etc.
Underwater rocks
One of the pitfalls is to determine the optimal investment of money. Often, inexperienced entrepreneurs incorrectly assess the value of a particular premises, thereby investing in illiquid objects, losing a large amount of funds.
In addition, it is important to pay attention to the legality of the business, changes in legislation and the process of paperwork (primarily for commercial real estate).
Please note that the tax legislation in the field of rental business is constantly changing.
When calculating costs and the payback level, it is necessary to determine several development options - optimistic, most realistic and pessimistic in order to determine the approximate payback period of the object, as well as the fact how to diversify risks. It is imperative to have other sources of income in order to insure yourself against a situation of lack of money.
Pros and cons of this area
Such a business, like others, has a number of advantages and disadvantages that follow from its features. Among the minuses, one can single out the main one - the search for a tenant can take many months (this primarily concerns industrial facilities and commercial real estate in impassable places). As a result, even a high rental price will not be able to compensate for the financial costs that the lessor will have to bear during the entire period of downtime.
Also among the shortcomings should be highlighted:
- sufficiently long payback period;
- not very high level of profitability;
- high start-up costs.
In this situation, the only rational way out is the acquisition of liquid property (the one for which there is always a certain level demand). To do this, it is important to be well versed in this area or to contact the services of a specialist.
Business benefits include:
- long-term contracts for a period of one year or more;
- stable level of profit;
- income will be received by the landlord constantly;
- passive nature of making a profit (the landlord does not need to expend any effort after signing an agreement with the tenant);
- the possibility of organizing a business without registering as a legal entity.
Thus, the rental business is quite an attractive area for earning money. However, it is best to combine it with other sources of income in order to insure yourself against possible risks.
Dmitry Fokin talks about what can be rented out and how the era of consumer activity is replaced by the rental era
IT tools used by Dmitry Fokin
- Slack
- Redmine
- Skype
Dmitry Fokin, an entrepreneur from Omsk, believes that the current economic crisis will fundamentally change the consumer behavior of Russians: in his opinion, an increasing number of people will rent the necessary things, rather than buy them and stand in lines. Dmitry and his partners launched Rentalist - a site for renting and renting almost any thing. People can choose and rent a variety of good options - from toys to a car. The main advantage for the client is the cost of the service, and for the organization - a steady income and ownership of the product. About how much profit you can get, how to open a business, find premises and equipment, Dmitry Fokin told the Biz360 portal.
Dmitry Fokin, entrepreneur, co-owner of an Internet rental service Rentalist.me. Born in 1979 in Omsk. Graduated from the Moscow State Construction University and the Institute of Real Estate and construction business. Gained experience in various fields - consulting, economics, trade, law, e-commerce, etc. Since 2015 - one of the founders and head of the rental service Rentalist.me.
Dmitry Fokin
The Russians are cautious about the rental
This is not our first business. After finishing next project began to think about where to go next. By that time, the dollar began to jump.
My partner and I came up with the idea at the same time - to create a rental service, to combine a large number of offers on one site. At that time, we believed that everyone was insanely in need of a service where they could rent something, and as soon as people find out that there is such a place, all our servers will immediately fall down.
In fact, people need a rental, but many do not think about it, they simply do not allow the thought that you can just call and borrow other people for half a day, for example, a saw or a bicycle for the weekend. There is a stereotype that if you need something, you can find it from your friends, or go buy it, or borrow it at work
After the New Year holidays in 2015, we composed everything, and in April we started. Pretty soon we realized that people themselves are not yet ready to make money on the things that they have on their balconies. There are professional services that provide things for rent, some owners of these businesses are willing to cooperate with us, but there are also those who say why, we have our own website, why duplicate it somewhere else.
Thickness gauge for rent
If our project is compared with something, then it can be compared with Avito - of course, in terms of structure, and not yet in terms of scale. On "Avito" and a car shop can exhibit some kind of cars, and an ordinary person sells a "Zhiguli". It is the same here: there is an opportunity for the rental business to exhibit its assortment, and any person can rent out his skates through us, which he has been lying on his balcony for 20 years. Accordingly, you can rent anything - from mixers and board games to construction formwork, cranes, heavy equipment.
The assortment is quite wide, we have included almost the entire product range, made catalogs - you can find everything from rakes to helicopters. For example, hookah rental per day - 300 rubles. Or here - a thickness gauge - to see whether the car is painted or not, 300 rubles a day. Soap bubble generator for events - 400 rubles per day. Go-pro camera - 500 rubles. From the original - a set of hex keys, 5 rubles a day. books, board games, roller skates, photographic equipment, lenses, tripods, carnival costumes, wedding accessories, historical uniforms, puppets, wigs, evening dresses, cocktail dresses, etc.
At the start, we devoted a lot of time to creating a catalog that was just digestible so that a person could find what he needed. We have divided all this into 11 large sections, and they still have subsections that include more categories.
Marketing and promotion
As for promotion, here, perhaps, we have not invented anything, SEO promotion, content marketing, etc. The project is federal, we implemented geolocation, that is, if a person is from Yekaterinburg, for example, then he sees proposals for Yekaterinburg. While the programmers were finishing the service, we were collecting a database of rental companies that do this as a business. We collected about 2 thousand companies across the country and made a mailing list. The result was this: site traffic increased, but the content content at the very beginning did not meet our expectations. That is, rental services decided that they probably don’t really need it now.
We went on the second round of promotion, sent out press releases to local and federal media. An online news site responded, and we recorded the interview. Then the local TV channel, then the Metro newspaper. Attendance increased twenty times.
The bulk of visitors are people who want to take something, because demand is now leaning from shopping to consuming things for rent. But to rent simple people don't want yet.
When we launched the project, we studied how things were going with rental, for example, in Soviet time. There was a system of rental points, many rented TVs for several years, this was due to a total shortage. In the 90s there was nothing at all, in the 2000s there was a surge in consumer activity, people simply forgot about rental. Now, in connection with the situation in the economy, people will remember little by little about him.
When we launched, we were aware that this culture needed to be developed - both people who rent goods, and those people who provide things for rent.
This is a forgotten story, but if you remember it, then people will start using it. A couple of months ago, I took part in a comparative interview, where the guys studied how things are with the rental in Russia and America. They talked about the fact that in America they rent out a lot of things, and this is very popular. When they receive diplomas, these famous robes with tassel caps, for example, are also rented. There is a whole industry there, there are things that are needed once in a lifetime and it is pointless to buy them. This is an idea of more than one year to somehow shake this topic.
"We need to go big"
Now the site has more than 1.5 thousand products. The main cities are Omsk, Moscow, Krasnodar, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, St. Petersburg. At the same time, more people from neighboring countries join us - Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan.
So far there is only an investment in the service. This is a kind of contribution to the future, it will work someday. When some quantitative limit is passed, it will bring money.
The system of interaction between the tenant and the landlord works through our service, settlements are also carried out through us so that people do not exchange money. Reservation of collateral on the site, signing of lease agreements, provision of some paid services, advertising. Commission percentage - 5-10%, the question is in turnover. Now the question is not in self-sufficiency, but in reaching some kind of high turnover. We set deadlines - a year or two. Investments in the site were invested in the region of 100 thousand rubles.
Now we are developing a system for automatically adding products to the service in order to expand the range. I see that there are many requests for goods in cities where we are not represented. That is, people go to search engines, they see us, they go further and do not find what they were looking for. It turns out that there is a demand, but we cannot satisfy it yet. As soon as we satisfy it, the client flow will grow, recognition will expand. When people start renting, they will be able to rent.
Rentalist project team.