There is a long list of Hire and Rental businesses that fail. There is an even longer list of hire and rental businesses who are constantly busy but not making money.
From global rental organization to local hire and rental companies, no one is immune to the prospect of failure.
So what is the difference between those that succeed and those that tread water or worse, fail? Having worked with hire and rental companies around the world – we have identified three reasons your hire rental business could fail.
1) You create friction for your customers
Customers choose to hire and rent equipment when they identify it is more efficient than purchasing it themselves. Once the decision to rent has been made, you can guarantee you are not the only business that will receive the enquiry. At this point, it is absolutely vital you make it as easy as possible for your customer to move forward with your business.
If you are unable to immediately identify if the item is available on the required dates, your prospect will start the think about where else they can fulfill their need. “I will have a look and get back to you” is a 1990’s way of doing business. If the item is available, make it as easy as possible to move forward without bypassing due process that protects your business.
As an example, emailing a rental contract to your customer and asking them to print, sign, scan and email it back is all friction that makes it hard to move forward. Allow your customers to accept your quote and sign online immediately. Make it easy to do business with your company!!
2) You do not priorities accurate information and data.
Business is a numbers game, especially when it involves inventory. All successful rental businesses rely on making good decision based on accurate data. From knowing exactly how much inventory you have on hand, what is available at any point in time through to utilization, and item revenue reports. If you need to be looking at your equipment to know if its available then you are hamstringing your businesses ability to grow. You should be able to accurately book an item to a customer next week, month or year.
3) You do not think about the future
The most successful rental organisations are always thinking about the future;
Where is my industry heading?
What will be my customers’ expectations in 5 or 10 years?
How will my business adapt to benefit from future changes?
When you spend time thinking about the future, you can start making subtle changes to benefit from future opportunities. As an example, retailors that refused to consider an online presence were left catching up to their competitors throughout the 2000s. Industry changes don’t happen overnight – make sure you are listening out for the signs.
Artificial intelligence, augmented reality and RFID are all examples of future trends that are worth keeping an eye on. Most importantly, would you be in a position to take advantage of these movement in the future.
Viberent ‘s inventory management platform simplifies business for hire and rental businesses around the world. Sign up for a free trial today and set your businesses up to succeed!
