How to Create a Business Plan for Your Water Sports Rental Company

Water sports rental is a dynamic and exciting business idea that could be right for you. However, there’s a lot more to it than being passionate about kayaking, jet skiing, and everything in between. 

You need to know how to put together a water sports rental business plan. This plan is going to play a big part in both your ongoing success and securing the funding you need to get started.

Let’s look at what the plan should contain.

Industry Overview

No matter what kind of business you’re opening, your business plan will start with an industry overview. This section basically serves as an introduction for anyone unfamiliar with the nature of the industry, as a potential lender might be. It sets the foundation for the more specific content to come later.

Some general information about water sports rentals and their extent in your area can make up the industry overview. State or national statistics about the industry overall can be good as well, demonstrating the viability of the business concept in general.

The Executive Summary

The executive summary is the rundown of the overall contents of your water sports rental business plan. It will give the gist of your business, what you’re going to offer, what your market is, and a bit about yourself and any partners as business owners.

This section isn’t the first thing to write when figuring out how to start a water sports business plan. Despite being near the front of the plan, you’ll have to work through all of the other parts first to actually know the details you need to put here.

Your Services

Here is where you really get into your business and what it’s going to do.

Water sports rentals can cover a broad range of services, so you’ll have to specify what your business will offer. Are you renting kayaks for coastal journeys, jet ski rentals for lakeside getaways, or any other combination of water sports rentals?

You might also consider additional revenue streams for your business. While your rentals are, of course, important, is that all you’re going to offer? If your site is right on the water, you might consider selling snacks and drinks as well. In tourist areas, you could even carry souvenirs — it all comes down to your individual business idea.

The Mission Statement and Vision

The mission statement and vision should have a bit about how you want your business to present itself. It’s an important part of how to open a water sports rental store. You could say something about your motivation for starting the business or about giving people a chance to experience the great outdoors in the best way possible.

In general, you can also say a bit about delivering quality rentals, friendly service, and so on. This section is unlikely to make or break your business plan, but it is still important to include.

The Structure and Roles

This section is back to serious business planning. You’re going to have to define the structure of your company. Is it just you, or are you going to have employees? If so, what are their responsibilities going to be? These are all important questions.

For small businesses, you don’t have to worry about being overly specific. However, you should show that you’ve put some serious thought into how your business is actually going to run.

The SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis is going to break down your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You’re going to try to show lenders the reasons why your business can succeed and that you’ve had the foresight to identify areas of concern.

This section is going to be highly dependent on you and your individual business. However, you can mention a few industry-wide perks like always being popular and having high margins while listing possible competition as a potential weakness.

Your Sales and Marketing Strategies

You’re going to need a way to draw in customers for your business, and any lenders will want to see that you have a plan. This section is where you can detail plans like distributing brochures to local hotels, having a social media presence, and other tactics.

Identifying your target audience is also important. Are you trying to sell to tourists, locals, or both? Is your specific water sports rental business for hardcore enthusiasts or families on vacation? These are important things to consider.

Your Sales Forecast

Of course, your water sports rental profitability is going to be a major sticking point with lenders. They want to know if you’re actually going to make money. That means you’re going to need sales forecasts for your business.

This section can be difficult to put together. A good starting point is other businesses within your region if you can determine their revenues. You can also work backward from their rental prices to see how much you might be making.

Your Pricing Strategy

It isn’t always obvious how much you should be charging for rentals, especially in seasonal businesses like water sports rentals. You need to make sure that your rates are low enough to draw in customers, but high enough to pay the bills.

When you’re considering this, you also need to think about what the market has to say. Your best bet for finding the right prices to charge is to look at other businesses in the area to determine what the going rates are.

Your Business Expenses

Your business plan should have a clear breakdown of all of your business expenses. This breakdown will include purchase prices for equipment but also ongoing costs. You’ll have to determine estimates for maintenance, insurance, utilities, employee wages, and more.

Working through your business plan in so much detail can be challenging. Our water sports rental business plan PDF template can greatly simplify the process and make sure you aren’t leaving out anything important.

Running Your Water Sports Rental Business With Quipli

Once your business is established, you need the right tools to run it. Quipli’s integrated platform provides you with the inventory management tools and online storefront that you need to make it easy for customers to book rentals. To find out more about what Quipli offers, Contact Our Team Quipli Today!


GET QUIPLI’S WATER SPORTS RENTAL BUSINESS SOFTWARE TODAY

The Current State of the Dumpster Rental Industry

Every dumpster rental company does essentially the same thing. They rent out dumpsters of various sizes to clients for a specified length of time and coordinate the drop-off and pickup of the dumpsters. 

This similarity can make it difficult to get your business to stand out and attract new customers, but that’s where marketing comes in. If you take the time to learn the ins and outs of the industry, then you can learn how to diversify and market your business to stand out from competitors, including big corporations.

Recent Trends in the Dumpster Rental Industry​

Between 2014 and 2019, the dumpster rental industry saw moderate growth, with many local rental companies popping up all over the country. The client base of dumpster rental companies mostly consists of construction companies, both residential and commercial. 

However, there is also a significant demand for dumpster rentals in the industrial sector, as well as for things like home improvement projects.

In total, over 300 dumpster rental companies are operating in the US, but don’t let this discourage you. The actual number of businesses you are competing with is far smaller. 

Dumpster rental companies tend to be localized, and only operate within a certain radius of their business headquarters. So instead of competing with every rental business in the country, you are only competing with the ones nearby, plus a few big players that have a nationwide reach. 

In general, the performance of the industry is linked to the overall performance of the economy. In times of economic boom, the increase in construction projects and consumer spending will drive up demand for dumpster rentals. Despite occasional dips, the industry is still projected to grow steadily in the coming years. 

How the Pandemic Affected the Industry​

Since the rental industry is closely linked to the overall national economy, it’s not surprising that the industry saw a dip during the coronavirus pandemic. As everything came to a halt, so did countless construction projects and a significant number of dumpster rental contracts. 

However, as things begin to get back to normal, the industry is expected to reach pre-COVID levels in the coming years and continue to grow. 

Of course, small businesses were hit the worst by the pandemic since they do not have the same financial cushion that large corporations have. This decline forced a lot of businesses to evaluate how they do business and how they can attract new business. 

A new sense of importance was placed on marketing and presentation as businesses tried to attract customers to stay afloat. 

How to Compete

Thankfully, one or two corporations don’t control the entire dumpster rental industry. The largest three industry leaders of dumpster rentals only generate about one-quarter of the entire industry’s revenue. This ratio means that there’s still lots of business for the little guys — you just have to know how to get it. 

Research Local Competitors

The best place to start is to do some research on your local competition. By finding out what products and services they offer, what their website looks like, and what their prices are, you can get a better idea of how to make your business stand out. 

For example, if dumpster rental companies near you do not offer delivery on weekends or 24/7 customer support, you can offer that as a way to stand out.

Diversify Services

To attract more clients, cast a wider net with the services and products you offer. By diversifying your dumpster rental inventory and services, you can create more streams of revenue for your business. 

Diversification can be as simple as stocking more sizes. It can also be more complex, like creating some sort of loyalty program as a way to get clients to return.

Focus on Customer Service

The biggest leverage your small business has over big corporations is customer service. Big corporations can sink money into hiring hundreds of customer service reps, but they are not able to provide the individualized and personal customer service that local businesses can. 

 

Simply getting to know your clients and making them feel heard by providing prompt, knowledgeable, and helpful customer service is one of the best ways to ensure clients will return.

Increase Your Online Presence

In today’s increasingly digital world, a company’s online presence is extremely important. People want to be able to learn everything they need to know about a company from their website, so that they can compare nearby businesses without having to make several calls or schedule face-to-face meetings.

Create a Positive Customer Experience​

Instead of focusing solely on attracting new customers, you should also focus on how to get customers to return. If you can create a positive customer experience, then your clients will be more likely to give you their business again in the future and to recommend your company to other people looking for dumpster rentals. 

Of course, this includes customer service, but the full customer experience encompasses every step of the rental process, from booking to delivery and pick up.

Many small businesses overlook the effect their website has on their customer’s experience, but a clunky, outdated, and hard-to-navigate site is going to ward off potential clients. 

However, a streamlined website that is informative, captivating, and easy to navigate will create a positive first impression and increase the chance of a potential client giving you their business. 

If you do not have the technical knowledge to create an engaging and functional rental website, don’t sweat, you can easily create one using Quipli. Quipli is an eCommerce rental software solution that allows small businesses to compete with large corporations and stand out from the local competitors. 

With the software, your clients can quickly and easily book the rentals they need, and you can manage rental inventory, deliveries, and pick-ups all in one place. If you’re ready to take your dumper rental business to the next level, check out Quipli today to book a demo of our industry-leading rental software!


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