I started an event rental business 8 months ago

[vladimir21]

So as the title says, I started an event rental business in April of 2023 (www.woodburyeventrentals.com for anyone who is curious). We rent tables, chairs, linens, dance floors, and other core wedding/event items.

As I come to the end of the year and I am looking back at how things have gone, as well as looking forward to what's to come in 2024, I just wanted to write about some of the things that I have learned.

1. Marketing is key, especially online marketing. I partnered with a company (www.recipi.com) that specifically caters to event rental businesses. They handled building my website, setting up Google ads, SEO, and general advice (since the owner also has 10 years as a successful rental company owner himself). This year alone we have had over 5,400 visitors to our website, and over 400 inquiries between phone calls and website form submissions. Byhaving this many leads we have been able to focus on the specific areas and events that we want, and we can avoid having to take every job that comes along just to get business. This also means that I don't have to worry about dealing with the inevitable cheapskates and "negotiators" that we all eventually run across.
2. One of the key strategies that Recipi and I came up with was to not invest in any equipment until after I had confirmed orders. That meant that I had to make sure that I wasn't locking in a rental less than 3 weeks out, but that wasn't a big deal. I actually booked my first order while sitting in LAX on vacation with my wife. At the time, I didn't own anything other than a website. But that one order (grad party) referred me to several other local moms, and it was off to the races. By the time that I ordered my first collection of tables and chairs I had 5 orders confirmed and deposits made. The second half of the strategy was to reach out to local venues and venue managers and try to make some partnerships. While I haven't locked in a lot of these yet, I do have one venue owner that I have partnered with as their supplier for any hosted events. I have also been added to two venues as one of their "preferred vendors" and I have made friends with a couple of local event planners.
3. When it comes to the actual renting of equipment (the sweaty part, this is r/sweatystartup after all) work smarter not harder. When I buy equipment, I see if there are carts, dollies, or other accessory equipment made for those items. I have chair carts, table carts, dance floor carts, and wheeled cocktail table racks. I realize that this might seem painfully obvious, but I also know that there are people out there who would skip the $125 chair cart and instead use a $15 furniture dolly from Harbor Freight, and just wrestle with the load to save the money. But you will find that customers greatly appreciate it when you roll up to their event and you wheel a cart with their 40 chairs into their garage and let them know that they get to keep it. These items also let you store more stuff in a smaller area, which when you're running the business out of your garage is very important.
4. Don't ask for "reviews". Ask for 5 STAR REVIEWS. If you did your job well, people will leave them for you. If you send a thank you email with a link for them to do so, they will do it even more often. I tried actually mailing thank you cards to people. I sent out 20-30 cards and I got 1 review. I have sent out probably 20-30 thank you emails and I have received the other 12 on my Google business profile. Again this might seem obvious, but I wanted to make the point.

One note, most of the time you should (probably) do some market research and see who/what else is in your area that you're going to compete with. I didn't do this. I just pulled the trigger and ran with it. I got somewhat lucky with my geographic location and the fact that the city that I'm in turned out to be underserved in the event rental area. But I can also tell you that even if you are in a city with 5 other rental companies, there is a niche you can fill. Whether you specialize in smaller orders or bifold tables that can be packed into a Honda Civic or you're the best at last minute jobs or you just happen to be the one source for folding farm tables and whiskey barrels you will get business. Once you get a foot in the door and get a reputation going you will grow.

That's all I have for right now. If you have any other questions DM me or leave a comment here and I will try to answer what I can.

 

[valsaex]

@vladimir21 Let's see those numbers chief

I'm excited for your business, looks like you know what you're doing

 

[vladimir21]

@valsaex I honestly started this business to create tax write offs, so we’re looking to break even/take a small loss in year 1. Probably about $40k in revenue this year against $40k or so in start up costs. We’ll see what my accountant can do with all of it lol.

 

[613jono]

@vladimir21 Ask your accountant about the Augusta rule. You can have your business rent your house for a company retreat and write off the cost of the rental. You can rent a house for 14 days and pay no income tax on the rental income.

Also ask about IRS section 179.

 

[tkd]

@613jono What other secret knowledge you have?

 

[613jono]

@tkd Depends on the situation. Rich people stay rich with tricks. Tax code is at least a few pages long. I know like 4 tricks

 

[missemma]

@vladimir21 Great ad

 

[marissa23]

@vladimir21 Awesome advice! Thanks for posting this! My husband and I also just started an event rental company in Raleigh, NC and am going through a lot of these steps right now. We’ve been in research/planning mode since August and we just launched our website last week! No leads yet, I’m trying to diy our SEO and build a social media presence. We have a TON of competition here.

We did order equipment before getting bookings, but a very small 50-person-event’s worth. Our growth plan is to book bigger orders before we have the equipment, though!

We are working out of our home garage and plan on renting $20 uhauls until we can afford to purchase a cargo trailer. Do you guys have a trailer or box truck yet?

My takeaway from your post is we need to bite the bullet and pay for google ads after we finish optimizing our SEO.

 

[vladimir21]

@marissa23 I’m telling you, talk to Jim at Recipi. His pricing is more than reasonable and his background (aside from HIS rental business) is doing SEO for major corporations. It takes a big bite off of your plate so that you can focus on the customer service side.

Edit: so I bought a truck and trailer because I couldn’t find a box truck that would work. In hindsight I should have waited. I plan to look for either a box truck or a Ford Transit for next year. I’ve done some deliveries in Uptown Minneapolis and downtown St Paul and a trailer sucks in urban areas.

 

[catherineh]

@vladimir21 Seems you are just here to market for Recipi. We used them and it was a waste of time

 

[marissa23]

@vladimir21 That’s a really good point about the trailer. I appreciate your insight!! I’ll look into your advisor too. I could definitely see that freeing up a big chunk of time for us.