Bin Rental Company

[mathwiz03]

I’ve got an idea that isn’t sexy, but I think would work. Let me know your feedback - also feel free to run with it yourself. If you like content like this, get more here.

Here’s the idea: Moving sucks for a lot of reasons, but one of the worst parts is all of the cardboard boxes you have leftover.

One of my buddies told me about a company called Gorilla Bins. Basically, they drop off these plastic moving bins and pick them up after your move.

I think this could be a great side hustle, or a way to pay for college. I’m thinking you could make like ~$30K/year profit.

Here’s the napkin math:

I think to hit $30K/year profit, you’d need to hit $50K/year revenue.

Based on Gorilla Bins’ website, I’d guess they charge an avg. $180/move (two-bedroom move).

So, to hit $50K/year in revenue, you’d need to do about ~5.5 moves/week.

Each move requires ~50 bins, so to cover 5.5 moves per week you’d need about 275 (6.5 * 50 bins)

You can get bins from ULine’s website. Bins will cost you about $15/each.

275 bins *$15 = $4,125 initial startup cost.

Keep in mind, you don’t necessarily need to spend this much to test the idea.

The economics actually work pretty well here. You’re renting out each bin for about ~$3.50/move. That means, you only need to rent out the bin 4 times and it’s paid off.

To put this in perspective, if the bin gets rented out ~100 times, that’s $350 in revenue - which is a 23x return on investment (per bin).

Here’s how I would pull this off:

I don’t think it’s worth wasting a lot of time on naming, branding, incorporating, etc…

I’d just take the easy route with all the stuff.

Name = [cityname]binbuds.com - costs $1/mo

Logo = Namecheap free logo maker

Incorpotation = UpCounsel for basic paper work - $300

Branding = stickers from Stickermule to throw on the bins - 300 for $75

Website = Carrd super easy to set up - $9/year

Let’s say this all adds up to about $500 in misc. startup costs.

Next, let’s look at marketing

Personally, I think the easiest way to pull this off is via Google Ads, Yelps Ads, and partnerships with moving companies.

Based on my quick research, in most cities, there’s no one advertising for “moving bin + [city name]”. If there is, there are typically only 1 competitor - and sometimes they don’t even serve the city you’re searching in.

If you threw $5-7K in marketing at this, I’m confident you could kickstart the business.

If you’re feeling ambitious, you could also expand on this idea:

1. Franchise this idea to other towns or college students
2. Add on a moving truck service
3. Sell leads to self-storage operators

Alright, so quick recap:

Revenue goal: $50K/year = 5.5 moves/week * $180/move

Costs: $500 for misc + $4,125 for bins + $8K for labor (bin dropoff + pickup) + $7K for marketing.

Total costs = $19,625

Net profit = $30,375

So for less than $5,000 of startup costs, you could have a business that will profit about $30K/year.

Keep in mind, this isn’t a sexy business and it would take work, but I think it would be relatively easy to get off the group.

Let me know what you think and please add to the discussion!

h/t to Shaan Puri for the inspiration.

 

[drew_mi]

@mathwiz03 Lol I love this sub compared to entrepreneur. On the other sub everyone is complaining about these silly nuances of starting this business. Here everyone is like, “hell ya brother let’s go buy some bins.” Never change sweaty start up.

 

[timothyd]

@drew_mi Exactly these posts are what makes this sub so special, no fucking around just straight to business

 

[drew_mi]

@timothyd Also people figure out the business by doing not speculating on the internet lol.

 

[longlivethechrist]

@mathwiz03 This is an underrated idea, I work at a commercial moving company and when we don’t have enough bins (if we have multiple jobs going that day) we use a rental bin company. Sometimes the clients will request to keep the bins for a bit too if they want to move around stuff internally. The rental bin company sends us a bill, and then we just markup it to our client

Edit: if moving an office usually will rent around 50 bins for a reference

 

[et1phone2home]

@mathwiz03 Random question, why would people rent plastic bins instead of purchasing or re-using cardboard boxes?

 

[mathwiz03]

@et1phone2home Less cardboard waste/you don't need to throw away the boxes, you don't need to find the boxes, and these bins are likely heavy duty + easier to carry.

 

[et1phone2home]

@mathwiz03 What if someone is moving long distance, how do you get the bins back? Or is this for local moves only? I agree they are heavy duty and easier most likely, but cardboard is easily recyclable and I dont think they would create waste. I wouldnt compare it to the plastic bins because you would probably reuse the bins many many times before they break.

 

[liamdude5]

@et1phone2home What about using collapsible bins????

 

[et1phone2home]

@liamdude5 At first I didnt know what you meant by that, but are you saying collapse the bins and then put them in a single large bin and mail it back? Could potentially work but at a hefty cost. You would probably need very light but durable collapsible bins, which I'm not sure exist.

 

[liamdude5]

@et1phone2home Exactly. I think that the business model could be much different and cover long distance moves. Also easier to work with a 3PL or courier for delivery and pick up.

 

[eburner]

@et1phone2home Off the top of my head, they’re not as strong and they’re not waterproof so your stuff isn’t as secure. after you’re finished with them, you need to get rid of them. Some people don’t want the extra hassle. If you’re not buying them, you need to find enough to fit your stuff in. Much easier if you have the funds and space for some guy to come and drop 50 boxes off at your house and then pick them up from your new place a week later.

 

[jerm_goduke]

@eburner Plus the fact that who wants to hold onto 20+ plastic bins?

 

[blessednow]

@mathwiz03 As a consumer I'd like this idea. I also think you could potentially charge more.

A couple of upsells: 1 is, you can hold onto the bins for a certain amount of time. They're going to be better to store things in your garage in, as cardboard wicks moisture, degrades over time, invites pests, etc. If you keep them beyond a certain point, you pay to rent them by the month. 2 is, we'll store the bins for you. This is Clutter's and Makespace's model, but you could do a super-lightweight version of them where you just stash my things for a few days while I'm in the moving process, or keep a few boxes for me indefinitely.

 

[dave6]

@blessednow Another upsell: some sort of packing foam to protect the fragile stuff in these bins. I know they have foam peanuts or bubble wrap. But that stuff then becomes waste too and sort of defeats the purpose. What about some sort of reusable packing foam? Does that even exist??

 

[jerm_goduke]

@mathwiz03 Quality shit right here.

I would say that you could also scale up and offer to actually move the bins from A to B for a flat fee, say $150 for up to 20 miles or something. You'd need a secure vehicle to do it, so probably a cargo van or box truck, but it's an idea once you get to that point.

 

[mathwiz03]

@jerm_goduke Right, it'd would be a very easy upsell!

 

[lasiilea]

@jerm_goduke 20 miles is 32.19 km

 

[christianminecrafter]

@mathwiz03 You probably won't get great partnerships with moving companies unless you give them a pretty decent cut.
Movers make a lot of money from selling moving boxes (source: my Dad owned a moving company for 30 years, I worked for him quite often).

Also, something you may not have thought of. Movers will buy back used boxes usually for around 50% of the original cost (they re-sell them as used boxes to customers, this is very popular), and will often pick them up as well.

Not saying your idea isn't good, but keep all the above in mind.

 

[otruitt]

@mathwiz03 Man, this sounds great. Apparently there's a company here that's already doing this and basically copied the name.