Rentoid blog

No he’s not mad. He’s a pretty smart operator to get his gear on rentoid.com

Get the low down below from Chief Rental Guru Shannon Cooper in this episode of rentoid TV.

Click here see all their rental items.

I had a great chat with one of rentoid’s 30000+  rentreprenuers today, and she had a great story to tell about how she makes even more cash with her stuff on rentoid.

She uses the “would you like fries with that” principle to great effect (and profit!).  Here’s how.

It’s school holidays, and that always means a a spike in demand for Nintendo Wii’s and Sony PlayStation’s.   Our rentrepreneur rents her kids Wii out for cheap $10 a day, or $30 a week, but then offers the “fries” as well.  Wii Fit, Guitar Hero, Games, and an extra controller, each for an extra $10 a week.  She told me that always makes an extra $40 per week during school holidays by renting the extra’s. 

So instead of $30, she doubles (yes, doubles!) her cash by offering all the extra stuff, and setting a realistic base price for the Wii to attract stressed out mums and dad’s.

We think that’s awesome!

So… what could you offer in addition to your existing rentoid items for some extra cash?  Your whipper snipper for an extra $10 when you rent your mower?  Some camping gear when you rent your tent?  Or what about a tri-pod with your camera for a few bucks?  Renting out your ute or trailer?  I bet you can rent some ratchet straps for $5, or a moving trolley for $10.  Even offer a hair drier and straightener as a combo.  You get the idea.

Rental companies do this every day (trust us, we know), and make significant profit in doing so…. and so should you.

If you do offer “fries” and have a similar story to this one, we’d love to feature your story right here on the rentoid blog, so drop us an email, or skype us (we love to talk to our members!)

There is an interesting article featured in Rental Management Magazine that would appeal to all local rental companies (any business really) here in Australia.

The article looks at how the economic downturn in the US made made it necessary for many rental store owners and managers to change their mindset and approach their rental businesses with  a “startup mentality.”

There are some good lessons in the article offered from rental business owners.  Some of the comment demonstrate just how some business owners think during the good times:

“We were in growth mode for 20 years, always buying equipment and adding people, but preparing for growth is expensive”

That’s not the start up way, and it is easy to see why that type of thinking doesn’t lead to sustained success.

Preparing for growth isn’t “expensive” it is “investing”, and isn’t necessarily expensive.  It is expensive if you stuff it up!

Prepare for growth by getting on the counter yourself, getting out into your yard or store, answering the phone, connecting with your customers, loading the trailers, the utes and the vans, doing the deliveries and pick ups yourself.  You will be amazed at how much you learn,  the opportunities that you uncover, and the relationships you will build.  Do these simple things and you will grow and you will be prepared; because you are in touch with your customers (the edge of the demand curve).   And it costs very little.  In fact it is probably the best investment for growth you will make in ROI terms.

And this approach  shouldn’t just be the start up way- it should be the way of your business.  Full stop.

“This is what we did in the early days. We wanted to get our name out there. After more than 30 years, we still need to get our name out there and show people why we are the best and what the difference is. All of our competitors are cutting prices, so we need to show why we’re better and what differentiates us,”

Don’t have a startup mentality just “in the early days” have it “every day”.  The team at rentoid do-  and we have run successful rental companies for over 12 years.

So Start today by checking out some of the tips at startup blog (by rentoid founder Steve Sammartino)

If you have been keeping an eye on the “Recently Wanted List” on the rentoid homepage recently, you will have noticed that there are plenty of folks looking to rent heaters at the moment.

No surprising really- with top temp’s around the country barely making it into double digits and cold breath and crunchy grass making a comeback.

Lesson number one for rentoid members: if your have a spare heater, get it listed, make the most of the opportunity and make some cash.

Lesson number two for all “rentrepreneurs”: Keep a keen eye on our Recently Wanted List- opportunities abound for you to make some great money.

And if you have a great story about how you have used our Most Wanted List, we’d love to hear it, blog it and share it.

Stay Warm!

In a recent Smart Company article rentoid.com was featured alongside Zappos, Virgin Blue and Atlassian. Which is quite a nice compliment.

The article was all about having a culture with essentially human values. Which our rentoid members know we are all about being real. The article is worth a read and features our Chief Rental Guru Shannon Cooper and has some good tips for any company or small business.

Click here to read it all.

We’ve recently discovered at our humble rentoid office about the uber intelligent Rachel Botsman. She’s co-author of new book “What’s mine is yours” - the rise of collaborative consumption. Which is well, really the movement we’ve been promoting since rentoid’s inception. We’ll talk more about it in the coming weeks. But here’s a great little video to whet the appetite.

Collaborative Consumption Groundswell Video from rachel botsman on Vimeo.

We thought this piece from John Stewart was really great. He’s kind of like, well he is one of our heroes here at rentoid. We’re lucky to have people like him. Invest the 7 minutes in watching this. It’s worth every second.

Here’s what we think. The only real change that have ever occurred for humans has been driven by entrepreneurs providing better solutions. So let’s not wait for governments (we’ll be waiting a while) and create our own future.

Cheers, rentoid team

He has stolen items from various rental / hiring businesses around Melbourne. His name is Gurja Singh Malki

If anyone who looks like him or provides ID’s similar to these fake ones below. Please do not rent your item to them. More details to follow.

Remember Ken Bruce?… he went mad in the 1980’s. Check him out here.

But this is 2010 and he’s wised up. The professional (and fun) team at Ken Bruce Rentals now hire out all kinds of electrical and white goods- and they are all here on rentoid.com!

They have a warehouse full of quality, new,  brand name household appliances including fridges- including bar fridges and wine coolers, washing machines, freezers, microwaves. They even have beds and furniture- all for a fraction of the cost of buying new.

And if you need a few items to furnish your pad, they will do you a “mad” package deal.  Short or long term, it doesn’t matter, and they will also have a professional delivery and installation service for  all your new appliances.

And tell them you found them on rentoid during the month of June, rent something for twelve months, and they will give you the first month for free!  Now that is mad!

Renting makes great sense, so Ken,  according to the rentoid team, you’re not mad- your actually quite clever!

The cheapest snow rentals are right here on rentoid.com If you need an example here it is right here.

A snowboard for rent for $25 a week or $50 a month. This is only 10% of what you’d pay on the mountain or at Snow equipment stores.

If you have snow skiis or a snowboard, you really should be renting it out on rentoid. Be smart and make some money out of your equipment while you’re not using it. I can’t think of a better way to get your lift tickets for free - rent your snow equipment on the days you can’t go.

Mush. mush, Snow plow, Snow plow!