The equipment rental business goes far beyond heavy construction equipment. Sure, it contains cranes, bulldozers, and other heavy equipment, but what about all the peer-to-peer rental of small tools? What are the best ways to approach the equipment rental market nowadays?
Obviously, you need to know what you’re doing. What equipment could replace items that are out of stock for rental and still make a profit? Be aware that the equipment that you rent out should be in use for at least 60-70% of the time to cover the purchase price. And that automatically requires time management: you need to know how long equipment is rented out. Keep an eye on the dates to prevent overlap, or if items require maintenance, plan time in between the rental dates to perform it. Planning like that requires an extensive planning board from which you should be able to extract the utilization rates. If the item is not used as much as you thought it would be, it is wise to determine whether you should get rid of it. Unless you make a huge profit on a certain niche item, don’t consider incorporating it into your rental fleet.
Proper maintenance is critical. You should regularly examine the equipment technically to see if it fulfils its tasks and also meets certain security standards. Certificates should all be there if needed, and the paperwork should all be in order. Make sure that contracts are set up correctly; not only the customer details, but also all the technical details should be registered. If an item is returned late, are you going to fine the customer? Will you offer a certain discount if it is hired for a certain period of time?
Train yourself to be familiar with the equipment so you can demonstrate how it works and prevent misuse of the equipment that might damage it. You should also stay in touch to see how your equipment is performing. Maybe the customer needs more tips, or maybe they need another piece of equipment. Maybe you can cross- or upsell.
These are all things an equipment rental company should consider if you wish to take your business into the future in 2019. Want to learn more? Download the free whitepaper here.
Michiel Toppers
