vladimir21
New member
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.
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.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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.