Rental Business Resources Archives - Page 5 of 8

Google Ads for Equipment Rental Businesses: A Beginner’s Guide

Published on October 5, 2022

Have you been wondering what sort of ads rental companies should be running in order to attract new business?

Interested in marketing your rental company on Google using paid ads but have no idea where to begin? Been searching online for things like “Google Ads rental companies,” but coming up with meaningless results?

Although it sounds like you’re on the right track, the entire concept of engaging in paid online advertising can seem mysterious and daunting if you’re new to digital marketing. But if you want to grow your business, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the basics of digital marketing and branding.

While there are many different ways to engage in paid online advertising, Google Ads is the strongest platform for rental companies to bring in quality leads and get more bookings.

With that in mind, we’ve put together this beginner’s guide on Google Ads for rental businesses. Here’s what you need to know about what the platform is, why paid search ads are important to the success of your business, and how to design Google Ads strategies that get results.

What Are Google Ads?

Google Ads is an online advertising platform that allows you to pay for marketing space on the Google search engine.

Specifically, these ads are displayed on search engine results pages (SERPs), at the top above the organic results. (Organic results are regular Google search results that are selected by their search engine’s algorithms.)

There are usually up to four text ads total, each marked with a small “Ad” label.

When you pay for won’t be charged for your ad unless someone clicks on it, even if your ad was one of the three that were displayed.

You can customize your per-click bid, as well as your weekly and monthly budgets. Once you have hit your spending limit, your ad will no longer be displayed.

Why Paid Search Ads Are Important for Equipment Rental Businesses

By using paid search ads, you can generate almost immediate traffic — assuming that you are winning bids, of course. Ads displayed on the right queries can bring in a lot of valuable leads.

Paid search marketing should be a core part of both your short and long-term growth strategy. If your company is new or simply in the process of growing its online presence, PPC marketing provides an opportunity to generate leads while you wait for your search engine optimization strategy to mature.

After your SEO campaign has begun producing results, you can continue to use PPC to boost your total web traffic.

What You’ll Need Before You Get Started

Google has lots of free tools that you need to take advantage of before you start using Google Ads.

First off, you should create a Google Business Profile account. This account links to services like Google Maps and displays key information about your business, such as your address, hours, phone number, and website. You can even use your Google Business Profile to track site traffic generated from Google services.

Additionally, you need to create a Google Analytics profile. Google Analytics provides powerful insights into the efficacy of your SEO and PPC efforts. You can track traffic volume, leads, ad views, and much more.

Lastly, you will need to sign up for a Google Ads account. All of these accounts are interconnected and will be accessed using your Gmail username. However, you must set up each account separately before you can start using Google Ads.

Finding Your Target Audience

Google Adwords PPC advertising revolves around audience targeting. If you are not targeting the appropriate audience, the results of your Google Ads campaign will be underwhelming.

When running the ads, you bid on relevant keywords – things someone would search for if they’re looking for the kinds of products or services you’re offering. For example, a construction equipment rental company based in Fresno might want to bid on “backhoe rental in Fresno.”

When setting up a Google Ads campaign, you will be asked to select which keywords you want to target. You will need to set a bid on each keyword as well.

When users search for a keyword you’re targeting, Google’s algorithm will analyze all of the bids for that phrase, and display the three or four winning bids.

Google Ads works on a pay-per-click (PPC) billing model. This setup means that you won’t be charged for your ad unless someone clicks on it, even if your ad was one of the three that were displayed.

You can customize your per-click bid, as well as your weekly and monthly budgets. Once you have hit your spending limit, your ad will no longer be displayed.

Choosing the Right Types of Ads for Your Rental Business

When creating Google Ads campaigns, you will have the ability to select from several different types of ads, including:

Search Ads

Search ads are the most well-known type of Google Ads content. These search ads appear at the top of SERPs, directly above organic results. Usually, only three search ads are displayed on a SERP page.

Paid search ads are a great tool for targeting customers who are Googling phrases related to your business.

For instance, if you operate a party supply rental company, you could use search ads to target customers searching for phrases like “table and chair rentals” or “party rentals.”

Google Ads Keyword Planner provides some great information on search volumes. This insight will help you decide which keywords to target and how high to set your bids.

However, paid services like SEMRush and Ahrefs provide more detailed search volume data. Therefore, you may want to invest in one of these services once you get a good grasp on the basics of PPC marketing.

Display Ads

Display ads incorporate images into the content and are not as focused as search ads. Whereas search ads are displayed on SERPs, display ads are shown on websites that have enabled Google AdSense.

This system is a monetization tool that provides websites with a small cut of the revenue generated from display ads. On a side note, you can use Google AdSense once your website begins generating a healthy amount of organic traffic.

Display ads can cultivate brand awareness and showcase your products or services. You can use display ads to target prospects based on past search history, location, and demographic attributes.

While display ads are more general than search ads, they are typically displayed on sites that have some nexus to your business. For instance, an ad for a kayak rental company may be displayed on a blog about outdoor activities.

Remarketing Ads

Remarketing ads specifically target customers who have previously visited your site. When setting up your Google Ads account, you will have the ability to install a cookie-based tracker on your website.

Once this cookie is embedded on your site, you will gain the ability to track users and target them with remarketing ads. The purpose of these ads is to nurture leads who have visited your site but were not quite ready to book a rental.

Establishing Your Budget

Before your Google Ads campaign goes live, you will need to establish a budget. When setting up your budget, you will be asked to choose per-word bids, and also select a monthly spending limit.

Keep in mind that the price of keywords can vary radically. Several factors impact the price of keywords, including the amount of search volume they are generating, how many companies are bidding for those phrases, and your geographic location.

Naturally, keywords like “kayak rentals” are going to be more costly in areas near beaches or popular waterways. Fortunately, there are ways to stretch your Google Ads budget. One great approach involves targeting long-tail keywords, which are usually far cheaper.

Long tail keywords are phrases that usually include four to seven words. For example, instead of bidding for “kayak rentals,” you could target the phrase “kayak rentals in Tampa Bay, FL.”

While you are going to get fewer clicks overall, the interactions that you do earn are going to be much more relevant. You will also be paying less for each click, which can translate into huge savings over the course of a campaign.

Monitoring Performance

Although Google Ads makes it easy to manage campaigns, you cannot “set it and forget it.” If you want to get the most bang for your advertising buck, you will need to carefully track your ad campaigns to measure their efficacy.

We suggest monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) like:

Click-through rate
Cost per click
Total number of clicks
Conversion rate — how many people rented equipment after clicking on your ad?
Cost per conversion — total cost of clicks divided by the number of conversions
View-through conversions — how many returned to your site and booked?

When your campaign is not producing the desired results, re-evaluate your tactics. You may have missed the mark with your ad content or might be targeting the wrong keywords.

Alternatively, you may have a high friction rental process that is dragging down conversion rates.

Grow Your Rental Business with Google Ads

Google Ads is a powerful marketing tool that can help you bring in leads and make more sales, often very quickly.

Looking for additional marketing ideas for equipment rental? Or help with planning campaigns and tracking performance metrics? Quipli can help with our cutting-edge equipment rental software and marketing offerings.

Learn About Quipli’s rental Software

How to Start a Medical Equipment Rental Business

By Kyle Clements

Published on October 5, 2022

Every healthcare practice — from hospitals to private clinics to ambulance services — relies on medical equipment. However, purchasing and maintaining an expansive inventory of necessary equipment could be too expensive for some facilities, especially those with diverse disciplines.

This is where your medical equipment rental business comes in. You can purchase a wide range of equipment to rent to local healthcare practices and facilities, offering them the equipment they need at a price they can afford. Alternatively, you can specialize in a particular niche and cast a wider net for your client base.

Of course, getting a successful business up and running requires careful research and planning. Before dropping startup capital on medical equipment, you need to make sure there’s ample demand, then create a solid marketing strategy. Here’s what you need to know to get your venture off the ground.

Choose a Niche Carefully

When you’re considering how to start a medical equipment rental business, the first thing you should examine is how many niches there are in this industry. If, for example, you rent to hospitals and clinics, you could offer patient monitoring and critical care equipment like ventilators, aspirators, pumps, DVT therapy units, and more.

Alternatively, you could provide hospital beds and durable medical equipment (DME) like wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, and oxygen equipment. Or, you could rent DME to home healthcare practices or even private individuals.

You should also consider specialized healthcare practices like dentistry and veterinary medicine. Finally, you can look at offering medical equipment rentals to targeted groups like cosmetic surgeons, physical therapy practices, and so on.

Knowing what options are available to you is just the beginning. From there, you need to research local demand and competition before you choose a niche where you can thrive.

Assess Your Local Competition

You may enter the medical equipment rental field with a niche already in mind. Perhaps you have some experience in healthcare and you want to parlay your expertise into your own enterprise. Or maybe personal experiences have led you to this business.

However, before you jump in, you need to make sure there’s space for you to succeed in the marketplace. If there’s too much competition in your chosen niche, you’ll find yourself fighting an uphill battle against established brands to gain customers.

Start by looking into medical equipment rental businesses in your area and see what they’re offering. If possible, find out who their clients are. Some businesses offer information about prestigious clients on their websites to attract new customers.

Next, research what competitors are offering and how they’re positioning themselves. Who are they trying to attract as clients? Through the process of elimination, this information can help you spot areas of need that lack coverage — or at least find marketplace segments with minimal competition.

Insure Your Equipment Properly

As a business owner, you’re responsible for insuring your company against potential harm, such as legal liability, theft, or damage to tangible assets. Because medical equipment could cost lives if it fails or malfunctions, you have to be extra careful.

Rental equipment management has two steps: First, you have to insure your inventory while it is in your possession. That is, your policy must cover equipment while it is being stored at your retail location or a warehouse. Seek an insurance policy that will cover a range of potential catastrophes, such as theft or natural disasters.

The next step is deciding how to insure equipment while it is rented out. You can offer your clients the option to either buy insurance or take on the cost of repair or replacement if the equipment is damaged in their care (beyond normal wear and tear).

Pinpoint and Understand Your Customer Base

Once you’ve chosen a niche and performed market research, you’ll want to understand the needs and expectations of your customer base. Determining how to start a medical equipment rental business is all about figuring out the best path toward building a swift and loyal following.

Who are your customers? If you’re in an urban center, there may be scads of hospitals, clinics, rehab facilities, and other healthcare providers in search of your services. In a rural area, you might cater more to private practices, emergency services like first responders, or even individual consumers.

Find out what types of equipment are needed and used most, what prospective customers are lacking, and how many units are required. Keep in mind that most rental businesses must take into account the element of seasonality. For example, ventilators might be in higher demand during flu season.

Make sure to talk to a range of healthcare providers, such as administrators, doctors, nurses, techs, and EMTs. While decision-makers handle details like budgets and scheduling, knowing what facilities and organizations need from the ground up could help with your marketing efforts.

Create a Marketing Strategy

Once you’ve got a handle on how to rent out equipment for the healthcare industry, you’ll need to promote your business.

Knowing who your customers are and the pain points they’re dealing with gives you a good starting place when it comes to creating a sound marketing strategy for medical equipment rental. However, coming up with compelling content is only one aspect of marketing.

You also need to consider the marketing channels available to you. What are the costs and potential returns? Which

h are most likely to reach your target audience and result in desired conversions like website visits, sales, and so on?

While traditional marketing efforts like radio ads and mailers can have an impact, especially in a local market, most businesses these days rely heavily on digital marketing. With the right marketing strategy, you have the best opportunity to make the most of your marketing budget and see the returns in rental bookings.

Types of Marketing for Medical Equipment Rentals

Even if companies and consumers seeking a medical equipment rental business receive word-of-mouth recommendations, chances are that they will also do some research online to make sure they’ve found a reputable and reliable partner. At the very least, they’ll probably comparison shop for pricing.

When this happens, you want to be among the first options they find, and the right marketing can help. Some of the most effective marketing strategies include:

SEO
Paid Google search ads
Social media marketing
Content marketing

Search engine optimization, or SEO, revolves around efforts to ensure that search engines like Google recognize your business as relevant to specific search terms. You want your business to show up in the top results when users enter searches like “medical equipment rental,” for example. SEO is one way to make this happen.

Paid Google search ads can also be incredibly useful for building brand awareness and boosting website traffic, especially with the right strategies.

You can also build a presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, and similar sites. Social media marketing has incredible reach and can catch your audience’s attention even when they’re not actively searching for you.

Finally, content marketing adds value for customers without pushy sales tactics. It also supports your SEO strategy and other efforts. Each of these can be an important part of your overall marketing strategy.

Choose the Right Software

Streamlining your rental business operation requires the right software. What should you look for? You need a comprehensive platform that not only facilitates bookings, payments, and inventory management but also integrates seamlessly with other software, such as QuickBooks and Google Analytics.

If you’re ready to get your medical equipment rental business up and running — or it’s time to streamline operations — book a demo with Quipli today to discover the benefits of advanced rental software.

Explore our medical equipment rental agreement template for additional medical equipment information.

Learn About Quipli’s rental Software

The Top Cities for Equipment Rental Search

By Kyle Clements

Published on July 11, 2022

If someone wants something, they are probably going to use Google to find it. With an estimated 40K Google Searches per every second, looking into the data behind Google Search can provide insight into almost any niche.

Quipli, an equipment rental software solution, conducted a study to evaluate which U.S. cities have the highest demand for equipment rentals by analyzing how many searches occur within each city for the most popular types of equipment rentals.

By analyzing this data, Quipli has been able to pinpoint the U.S. cities that have the most people searching for equipment rentals.

“Understanding the importance of how local search behavior ties into equipment rentals is essential for rental companies aiming to succeed in their market, especially as the rental industry continues to move online. We hope this study shines light on how important it is for equipment rental companies to focus on their online visibility, as well as reveal overlooked markets for small business owners looking to branch out.”

Kyle Clements, founder and CEO of Quipli

How Cities with Populations over 1 Million Compared

Rank	Searches per City	City	Population
1	3710	Houston, TX	2320268
2	2080	San Antonio, TX	1547253
3	1480	Dallas, TX	1343573
4	1390	San Diego, CA	1423851
5	1370	Phoenix, AZ	1680992

How Cities with Populations Between 500K & 999K Compared

Rank	Searches per City	City	Population
1	2810	Miami, FL	467963
2	1020	Cincinnati, OH	303940
3	930	Colorado Springs, CO	478221
4	870	Wichita, KS	389938
5	737	Omaha, NE	478192

How Cities with Populations Between 100K & 499K Compared

Rank	Searches per City	City	Population
1	2130	Austin, TX	978908
2	1690	Las Vegas, NV	651319
3	1250	Denver, CO	727211
4	1180	Portland, OR	654741
5	1010	Sacramento, CA	513624

How Cities with Populations Between 50K & 99K Compared

Rank	Searches per City	City	Population
1	527	Yuma, AZ	98285
2	440	Lawrence, KS	98193
3	390	Auburn, AL	66259
4	370	Fort Myers, FL	87103
5	354	Duluth, MN	85618

Get Your City’s Google Keyword Data

Did you city place in the top 100? Submit your email and your city and we’ll send you the keyword data for your city, so you can dial in on what keywords your business should be targeting.

Methodology:

About The Data in this Study:

The data in this study is based on Google’s estimations of keyword search volume. Based on the sample size of this study and Google’s tendency to underestimate search volume, true search volume for each city is likely higher. Google does not provide exact amounts, but does provide monthly estimations.

The Process:

We created a list of 35 thousand keywords and ran them through a tool called Keywords Everywhere. This tool collects keyword usage estimation data from Google at a monthly level.

With this keyword data, we grouped keywords by city to understand the total rental product demand.

How do people search for equipment rentals?

There are a series of variations that are common amongst Googlers looking for rental equipment products that are geographically based.

There common iterations were:

1. [keyword] rental [city] [state]

For example: equipment rental denver co, forklift rental denver co

2. [city] [keyword] rental

For example: Denver equipment rental, denver forklift equipment rental

3. rent [keyword] city

For example: ie: rent equipment denver, rent forklift denver

We took the 22 of the most common equipment rental products that are searched and applied these common iterations to see which had estimated search volume in each city.

The types of equipment rentals we evaluated were:

Auger Rentals, Backhoe Rentals, Boom Lift Rentals, Chainsaw Rentals, Crane Rentals, Equipment Rentals, Excavator Rentals, Floor Sander Rentals, Forklift Rentals, Heavy Equipment Rentals, Ladder Rentals, Lawn Mower Rentals, Lift Rentals, Log Splitter Rentals, Mini Excavator Rentals, Paint Sprayer Rentals, Scaffolding Rentals, Scissor Lift Rentals, Sod Cutter Rentals, Tool Rentals, Tractor Rentals, Trailer Rentals, and Trencher Rentals.

We applied these 66 keyword variations to all cities with populations over 50,000 which resulted in 535 cities.

Equipment Rental Cost Calculator

By Kyle Clements

Published on March 31, 2022

Point is, this industry is growing fast. It’s a great time to be in the equipment rental business.

If you manage your business well, you can see huge growth fast. Thing is, to do that, you need a plan.

You need to run the numbers. One of the things you can do this with, is the cost of your rental equipment.

How much are your loans? How long will it take, at what price, to repay those loans? How should you ensure that you get a good ROI on your equipment?

To help you answer these questions, we’ve created a detailed online calculator. Just plug in your numbers, and you can find out what you’ll need to do to make sure you make a profit.

Our Equipment Rental Cost Calculator Spreadsheet

To help you crunch the numbers, we’ve created an equipment rental cost calculator.

It’s in the form of a spreadsheet, which you can open and use in Google Sheets, Excel, or similar apps. It’s programmed to do the math for you – just enter your numbers, and you’re good to go.

Using Sheets or Excel, you can calculate the best daily, weekly, or monthly equipment rental rates that will get you the best ROI, while still remaining competitive.

So how do you use it? Below, we have a full rundown of what our calculator does, and how to use this simple but powerful tool to figure out how to get the best ROI on your investment into your business.

What you’ll need:

Purchase cost of equipment
Insurance cost
Operating costs
Loan costs
Any other associated costs
Your ROI goal
The period of time over which you want to break even on the loan
Your utilization rate (per day, per week, or per month.)
Your utilization rate percentage (for daily utilization rates, you should enter 100%)

How to Calculate The Price of Your Rental Equipment?

When deciding how to properly price rental equipment, companies should understand the costs of owning their equipment, how often they can expect to rent their equipment per month, and any other costs that may be required.

Pricing for rentals should take the following into account:

Initial cost of the equipment
Any maintenance associated with keeping the equipment in good repair
How often the equipment may be rented each month
Any additional expenditures, such as staff or storage costs

Before pricing rental equipment, it’s important to conduct market research of other firms in your area that offers similar items for rent.

Find out how much they are charging for the rental of their equipment. Identify if there are any discounts offered for longer rental times or if additional costs associated with the equipment are passed on to their customers.

This article will discuss how to properly price rental equipment. It also includes an equipment rental rates calculator that can be used to help you figure out how long it will take to recoup your initial outlay.

Daily vs Weekly vs Monthly Equipment Rental Rates

In our calculator, you can set your rates by day, by week, or by month.

So which is the best option?

In short, the longer the rental, the better the daily rate equivalent should be. Longer rentals are massively valuable as they limit the number of transactions you have to make, and minimize downtime.

On the other hand, higher rates for shorter term periods means you’ll make more on each rental. Targeting customers that have longer rental periods will generally make for a more profitable and sustainable business that’s easier to manage.

Your administration and handling costs tend to be higher for shorter term rentals – keeping in mind that equipment needs to be cleaned, and undergo routine maintenance, between rentals.

There are different ways you can structure this, but daily rates – with weekly and monthly based off of the daily rate – tend to be optimal for most types of equipment rental, including heavy construction equipment.

A good way to do this is to start with the daily rate, then set monthly rentals based on the number of calendar days total in the rental period, plus a slight discount for the longer period. So if your daily rate is $200 for a piece of machinery, and say you’d be comfortable giving a 10% discount for a monthly rental as opposed to a daily one, you’d be looking at around $5,400 for a month-long rental period – a good deal for everyone involved.

You can also consider things like a discounted monthly rate for high-value recurring customers who rent for long term periods. But generally speaking, it’s best to charge by the day.

That way, calculating your equipment rental rates daily, monthly, and weekly in Excel or Google Sheets is also a lot easier.

Product Costs

When deciding how to price rental items, you must first figure out the cost of the equipment you plan to rent. The cost of the item should include the initial outlay for the product, as well as any interest expenses and upkeep costs. Upkeep costs can include storage, maintenance, and an allocation of staff wages as a proportion of the product.

Breaking Even

Your first task is to understand how long you expect it will take to break even with your initial investment in your equipment. Once you break even, your ROI improves substantially because you are renting your products almost purely for profit (with the exception of on-going costs such as maintenance, insurance, staff, etc.).

Return on Investment Goals

There are two different prices you can rent your product out at: at the break even price, or at a price with profit in mind.

If you rent your equipment out purely at your break even price, your overall rental price will likely be lower than your competitors, and thus will be more attractive for customers. However, recouping your initial investment will take more rental days.

Plus, there’s no reason to completely undercut your competitors, though offering a lower price is a good incentive for new customers to choose you.

With the right calculations, you can layer in an ROI goal while you are still in your break even phase.

An Example Rental Cost Calculation Scenario

Say, you purchased 10 pieces of equipment to rent which totaled $100,000.

You want to break even in 2.5 years.

In order to recoup your investment, you would need to rent out your 10 pieces of equipment about for a total of 200 days during 2.5 years at a price around $200 per day.

However – your competitor rents this piece of equipment out for $400 a day. Even lowering your price $50 underneath theirs would be a nice perk for your customer. If you were rent out your equipment at $350, you could recoup your costs in in around 115 days.

But – if your competitor is renting for $400 a day – they are probably renting at a profit instead of breaking even – as should you.

Back to the drawing board:

10 pieces of equipment: initial cost = $100,000

Break Even Goal: 2.5 Years

Competitor rental price: $400 per day.

Your ROI goal: 250% ie 150K on top of your initial investment.

If you rent your 10 pieces of equipment a total of 350 times in 2.5 years at a price of about $400 per day, you would break even in 2.5 years while making 150K.

The key factor is the number of times you think your market requires during this time period. Is renting 10 pieces of equipment for a total of 350 times in 2.5 years seem possible?

If this seems unreasonable, you have a couple levers to pull.

1) Your ROI goal might be too high. If you lower your ROI goal, then number of days you need to rent lowers.

2) Your Break Even Goal: You could increase your Break Even Goal, so that it takes longer to pay off your initial investment. However, rule of thumb is that you should Break Even with your initial investments at a max of 3 years.

3) Your rental price. If you price below your competitors, you may gain an edge in your market which would increase potential renters.

Utilization Rates

Some niches – most commonly construction – price their equipment based on utilization rates. During peak seasons, you might expect some of your equipment to rent out for half of a month. Thus – a 50% utilization rate.

Identifying a utilization rate requires having a strong understanding of your industry, however can be helpful for planning and maintenance costs.

If you are new to an industry, considering just how many days you need to rent during your break even period may be more helpful in that it simplifies what your goals are. Instead of thinking, “I need to rent out my equipment 50% of each month for 2.5 years”, you can replace this with “I need to rent out my equipment for x number of days over 2.5 years.”

Post Breaking Even Period Profit

Once you have reached the end of your Break Even Period, your profit margins will greatly increase since now you are renting almost purely for profit. With the exception of recurring cost such as insurance, maintenance, staff, etc. your equipment is paid for.

Here – you can calculate further your future profit and the calculation is quite simple.

(Rental Price x Expected Days Per Year it Is Rented) – Annual Costs = Annual Profit

What Are the Advantages to Understanding the Profitability of Your Equipment?

Knowing what items in your equipment rental company are generating a profit can help you better understand the mechanics of your operations. If you are consistently generating a regular income from particular items that you rent, you can decide to purchase more of them.

In contrast, if you have items that aren’t very popular with your customers, you may decide not to keep many of them available to rent. Thus, you’ll be able to have a more balanced approach to managing your event equipment inventory.

The equipment rental cost calculator can give you a lot of insight into understanding what benefits your business and what doesn’t. You don’t want to invest in products that have a high product cost and don’t sell well.

In that case, you’d be left with reduced profits or even losses. Understanding the strength of your product mix can help reduce your spending on unprofitable items.

USE QUIPLI’S RENTAL EQUIPMENT CALCULATOR TO FORMULATE A BREAKEVEN POINT

Equipment Rental Pricing FAQ

How do I calculate equipment rental rates?

The best way to figure out how to price your rental equipment is to price it by day, by week, or by month. (Rather than using a fixed rate structure.) Some of the factors to keep in mind include:

Initial cost and/or loan payments
Maintenance cost
Your goal for time to break even
Your ROI goal (what percentage you want to make back vs the cost)
What your competitors are charging for the same equipment

How do I calculate my equipment utilization rate?

To calculate your time utilization rate – that is, what percentage of the time a particular piece of equipment is in use – you can use the following simple formula:

(Days rented)/(days available for rental) = Time Utilization Percentage

The best time utilization percentage to aim for, for your fleet or inventory as a whole, is 75%. Keep in mind that equipment can often be under routine maintenance between uses, or can be in the shop for repairs. No piece of equipment is going to have a 100% utilization rate individually, regardless of the time period by which you’re measuring it.

How do I calculate the cost of my equipment?

The initial up-front cost of the equipment – whether you took out a loan, or bought it outright – is only part of its total cost.

Other factors to take into account include:

Maintenance and servicing
Repairs
Equipment inspections
Unexpected costs, like unanticipated facility downtime or other issues
Upgrades and improvements to the equipment
Depreciation over time

Here’s a formula that you can use for this:

(Total cost of a piece of equipment) x (5% / month) x 13 x 80%

How do I assess my competitors’ rates?

Market research is a big part of tailoring your equipment rental rates. (Our calculator has a section where you can enter what your top competitors are charging.)

To do this, you want to take a look at what’s standard in your area for a particular piece of equipment. This involves looking not only at pricing, but at how your competitors are positioned.

When looking at local competitors, you should ask:

How is a given competitor’s brand positioned? Are they positioning themselves as a premium offering, or are they catering more to customers who are shopping on price?
What prices are customers willing to pay for renting a given piece of equipment? What are typical minima and maxima locally?
Is price a big factor in your target customers’ decision making process? (This can depend on what kind of equipment rental you’re offering, as well as what particular piece of equipment you’re analyzing.)

Wrapping Up

If you are in the equipment rental business, it’s important to have a full understanding of how to calculate rental rates, as well as ways to increase your profitability. Using an equipment rental cost calculator can help you determine your break-even point for each item of equipment that you have. Once you know your break-even point, you’ll be in a better position to set your rental rates.

Quipli offers lots of insight geared towards assisting equipment rental companies who want help in growing their businesses.

Our software includes equipment reservation management, inventory management, and a reporting & utilization data tool. All of these modules can help you put your best foot forward for your equipment rental business. For a free demo of our equipment rental software, contact our team today!

Learn About Quipli’s rental Software

How to Calculate Construction Equipment Rental Rates

By Kyle Clements

Published on March 30, 2022

If you are in the construction equipment rental business, it is important to set the rates at which you rent your equipment to ensure profitability. Construction equipment is one of the more expensive types of equipment in a rental business due to its high upfront costs.

If you own a construction equipment rental business, you likely need staff to ensure that your machinery remains maintained and stored when it is not being used. This overhead can add to your regular costs associated with the rental.

How to Determine Your Rental Costs

There are several factors involved when determining how to calculate construction equipment rental rates.

First, you’ll need to consider the market rental rates for similar machinery in your area. You can do this by checking with other companies located within your region. If they offer construction equipment rental, ask them how much they charge for items that are similar to yours. You may also be able to find their rates online.

If you are the only company offering a piece of construction equipment, you’ll be able to set your own rates.

As you progress, you’ll want to make sure that your rental rates for construction equipment remain competitive but still leave you with a profit after you factor in your operating costs. Typical costs associated with construction equipment include:

Leasing payments made to the financing company for construction equipment
Regular costs of maintenance to keep your equipment functional
Overhead expenses, such as storage or staff
Insurance expenditures

Once you have an idea of all of the costs that should be allocated to your construction equipment, you’ll be in a better position to determine your rental rates.

There are several other different components associated with determining your rates. These include the product cost and the cost per rental. You’ll also need to determine the number of days required to rent your equipment before you break even.

What Is the Product Cost?

When determining how to calculate construction equipment rental rates, the product cost will be one of the more important pieces of the puzzle. The product cost is the total cost required to purchase a piece of equipment.

For example, if the equipment you purchased costs $1,500, this will be one part of your total product cost. Other costs involve an allocation associated with each piece of equipment that includes maintenance, overhead, and insurance.

For example, if you determine that your yearly maintenance and overhead costs are $250 for this particular piece of equipment, then your total product cost will be $1,750.

What Is the Cost Per Rental?

The cost per rental is equal to the amount that you can expect to charge for the construction equipment each day. If the average market rate for a piece of equipment is $150 in your area, this is the amount that you would set your rental prices to be.

What Is the Number of Rental Days Required to Break Even?

The number of rental days required to break even is simply the product cost divided by the cost per rental. In our example, it will be equal to $1,750 Product Cost / $150 Cost Per Rental = 11.67 Rental Days. Thus, you will need to rent your equipment for 12 days before you break even and begin to accrue a profit.

Examples of How to Calculate Construction Equipment Rental Rates

Provided below are examples of how to calculate construction equipment rental rates for three of the most popular types of rentals:

Scaffolding

Scaffolding is a type of construction equipment that is typically needed during exterior renovations. For example, if a client is currently repainting a building, they may need scaffolding to support their contractors to stand on and hold their supplies while working on areas above the ground.

To determine how to calculate construction equipment rental rates for scaffolding, search your local market to determine what other companies are charging.

Averages are generally between $15 and $40 per day but will vary according to location, the type of scaffolding required, and its length. If the market costs align with your product costs, the rental rates will be reasonable.

For example, if your product cost is $1,000, and the cost per rental is $40 per day, you will break even on your scaffolding purchase after renting it for 25 days.

Forklift Rental

The second most popular equipment rental is a forklift. A forklift requires a lot of outlay to initially purchase but can be quite lucrative depending on the market demand. Since many construction companies don’t require the use of a forklift daily, they will prefer to rent them to save on costs.

The average initial forklift cost is between $15,000 and $25,000, and the market rental rate will depend on your competitors and the amount you can afford to charge without losing profit. In most markets, a forklift can be rented for between $150 and $400 per day.

Assuming that the forklift you purchased costs $20,000, and the additional costs for overhead relating to it are $2,500, your product cost is $22,500. If you charge $400 for the rental, you will break even after renting the machine for 56.25 days.

Trencher Rental

A trencher is used to dig long, narrow trenches for landscaping purposes. Their initial cost can vary significantly depending on the type of trencher purchased and how it is used. The more expensive models can be over $50,000, while inexpensive versions may be obtained for a little over $2,000.

Assuming you purchase a trencher that costs $30,000, you’ll need to allocate the additional costs that your trencher will incur to arrive at a final product cost. For example, pretend that your allocated costs are $5,000, resulting in a product cost of $35,000.

The average rental rate of a trencher will vary depending on the type of model and the location where you are renting it from. Average rental rates are between $125 and $300 per day. If you choose to rent your trencher for $300 per day, you will break even after $35,000 / $300 = 116.67 days.

Are You in the Construction Equipment Rental Business?

Figuring out how to calculate construction equipment rental rates is just one part of ensuring smooth daily operations for your company. Quipli offers all-in-one software designed to meet your company’s equipment rental management needs. Contact us to learn more about our services and see a free demo today!

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How to Rent Out Equipment – Your Step-By-Step Guide

By Kyle Clements

Published on March 18, 2022

Do you have construction equipment rental business ideas that you aren’t sure how to realize?

Starting your equipment rental business takes planning and execution. To find success, you must manage inventory, and market your business well.

To start your business on a great foundation, we share this step-by-step guide on how to rent out equipment.

Evaluating the Market

Whether you’re interested in starting a tool rental, or heavy equipment rental business, you need to know who your target customers are. What’s the most rented equipment type in your area? Is there a demand for equipment rentals? These are all important questions that you should find a definite answer to.

An important part of how to rent out equipment is choosing the right equipment type to cater to your local market. If your area doesn’t see much new construction but plenty of renovations, then you should focus on lighter tools instead of heavy equipment. Every local area is unique, and evaluating the specifics of the market is key to your success.

Pricing Your Rentals

Once you’ve determined what types of equipment are in demand in your area, you need to establish your rental business profitability. To do so, you’re going to have to decide what you’re going to charge for your rentals. This task can be more challenging than it might seem.

The primary factor behind your rates is going to be what the market is willing to pay. You can look at similar rentals in your local area (or the broader region) to find this out. If it’s cheaper somewhere else, then you won’t get much business. The other major factor in deciding your costs is going to be how much revenue you need to be profitable.

Determining Your Costs

Your revenue has to be weighed against the costs of running your business. If you’re renting out equipment for profit, you’re going to have a variety of expenses. First, there’s the capital investment of buying equipment to rent out. Depending on whether you’re going with general tools or heavy equipment, this can be a significant investment.

Property for your business is going to be another significant cost. You’ll need to rent some kind of property to serve as your storefront, equipment storage, and maintenance shop. Further costs can include wages as your business grows, utilities, insurance, maintenance, and more.

Acquiring Inventory

Once you have determined your potential revenues and costs and found that your tool rental business plan can be profitable, you can move forward with acquiring inventory. You want to ensure that you get quality equipment while keeping costs as low as possible.

In some cases, used equipment can be a viable option. It really depends on the specific type of equipment. If your equipment rental business will have large numbers of the same type of equipment, you can consider reaching out to mid-level distributors for better deals rather than relying on retail dealers.

Learn How Equipped Saved 10 Hours a Month by Automating Inventory Management with Quipli

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Insuring Your Business

Insurance is important for many businesses but absolutely essential for rental businesses. Your insurance will protect you in several circumstances. The first is when equipment is damaged, but liability can’t be placed on the customer. This insurance can really save your business a lot of money on equipment replacement costs.

Second, your insurance will protect your business from potential liability for improper use of your rented equipment. If a customer were to cause significant damage to a building or property with your equipment, you could find your business under fire at some point in the legal proceedings. Insurance can protect you from this scenario.

Establishing a Maintenance Routine

Once your business is in swing, and you’re starting to rent out your heavy equipment, you’ll have to settle into a regular maintenance routine to keep it running. Different types of equipment have unique maintenance requirements. Keeping up with them is essential to maintaining both your inventory and your reputation as a rental business.

Another key component of your maintenance plan will be ensuring that customer maintenance requirements are communicated clearly. Many types of heavy equipment have active maintenance requirements that need to be carried out during the course of a regular working day, and customers need to know what their responsibilities are.

Marketing Your Rental Business

With your business now running properly, it’s no time to get complacent. You should always be focused on growing your business and bringing in new customers. To do so, you’ll need an effective marketing strategy that targets your potential renters. There are plenty of different options that you can take advantage of.

You should have a website that includes search engine optimization so that it comes up higher in search rankings. Social media can also play a role and make your business easier to find. Don’t discount traditional marketing tactics like brochures, print ads, and flyers, either. You might even consider billboards or bus ads, depending on your area.

Writing a Proper Rental Equipment Agreement

It’s important to ensure that you’re properly protected while running your business. That’s why you have insurance, a proper rental equipment agreement, and an equipment rental business license. Your rental contract establishes the roles and responsibilities of you and your customers, and it’s critical that you get it right.

A rental equipment agreement will protect you from costs due to negligent use of equipment by your renters. It also serves as an essential record of rental rates and schedules. You can check out our convenient rental agreement template to make sure you’re covering all of your bases.

Start Your Rental Equipment Business Right with Quipli

With so much planning and commitment going into your equipment rental business, you should implement the best possible inventory and reservation management system.

Quipli provides rental businesses with an easy-to-use and versatile solution that integrates your inventory with online reservations, along with other benefits. You can reach out to our team today to book a demo and find out what Quipli can do for your equipment rental business.

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Protect Your Business with This Equipment Rental Agreement Template

By Kyle Clements

Published on March 18, 2022

Careful planning is the most important thing when starting and growing your rental business. This planning needs to cover the company from every angle — logistically, technically, and legally. Nothing should be left to chance when it comes to your business.

Developing a formal construction equipment rental contract is a vital task that your rental business needs to start offering equipment rentals. While this might seem like a challenging task, we’ve got some clear guidelines to help you out.

What Is an Equipment Rental Contract?

Just about every kind of business out there relies on some sort of contract to nail down what exactly the service being provided entails. Defining this agreement is important to prevent confusion between companies and customers and to provide evidence of the nature of the contract if legal action ever needs to be taken.

A construction equipment rental contract is similar to the contracts many businesses deal with but covers both customer and business responsibilities. Considering that you have valuable equipment on the line every time you rent it out, you want your equipment rental contract to be ironclad and incredibly clear.

Need an airtight rental agreement template? click here to learn more

What Should an Equipment Rental Agreement Include?

Your construction equipment rental contract needs to clearly define the terms of the rental or lease in question. It is imperative not to overlook any details when preparing an equipment rental agreement because any ambiguity could end up being decided in favor of the customer if you ever face legal action.

Of course, you also want your equipment rental contract to be clear to make customer relations go smoothly. If a customer understands all of the terms of the rental clearly, they won’t end up disappointed or dissatisfied by any misunderstandings.

To protect yourself legally and keep your customers happy, make sure your construction equipment rental contract includes the following:

The Specific Equipment to Be Rented

Your equipment rental contract needs to specify very clearly what particular equipment is being rented. You don’t want to ever have to deal with a customer returning a similar but different piece of equipment and having only your word against theirs to rely on. Keep in mind that this should include any accessories and attachments as well.

The Length of the Rental

The construction equipment rental contract needs to define how long the rental term will be. Is the user renting your equipment for a day, a month, or indefinitely?

The return deadline should be clearly stated. If you’re arranging without a set end date, you’ll need to define additional terms for billing and what constitutes the end of the lease.

The Rental Rate

Of course, your agreement needs to define what the price is for the rental. This section should include a complete breakdown of the costs, not just a total. The rates should be set for each piece of equipment and be listed as the per day, per hour, or week rate. Don’t forget to be clear about accepted payment methods as well.

Limitations and Liability

Part of running a construction equipment business is dealing with the regular wear and tear and consequent maintenance involved. However, your agreement should have clear limitations defining what is and isn’t allowed, holding the customer liable if they damage the equipment through negligent or inappropriate use.

Insurance Responsibilities

Insurance is one of the most complex aspects to deal with when defining a rental agreement. The contract must identify who is responsible for equipment insurance. Does the customer need to acquire their own insurance, or does your equipment rental business insure the equipment during rentals?

Transportation Arrangements

Every agreement should clearly state who is responsible for transportation. This section is one of the most common sources of disputes between customers and rental businesses, whether the equipment needs to be picked up by the customer or dropped off by the company.

Termination Provisions

As the owner of the equipment, it’s in your best interests to include some provision for terminating rentals at will. This section will allow you to demand the return of equipment in some extenuating circumstances.

Without these terms, you could find yourself without any recourse if you know that customers are misusing equipment or breaching renting terms and conditions.

Renewal Options

With construction equipment, the actual duration that contractors need equipment can vary widely from their initial estimates. This variability means that they could require the rental longer.

Contractors will often look for businesses that provide attractive renewal options. Your agreement should define renewal rates and notice periods for extending the rental.

Maintenance Responsibilities

Most types of construction equipment require regular maintenance that would fall within the typical duration of rental agreements. It’s essential to define these maintenance responsibilities to avoid negligence from customers leading to equipment damage without your rental business having any effective recourse.

Warranties

The warranties defined in your rental agreement show what the primary expectations for your equipment rentals will be in terms of equipment quality and condition. In general, this protects the customer more so than the business. Many customers will be unwilling to rent without well-defined warranties guaranteeing that equipment works as intended.

Contact Us Today to Purchase a Rental Agreement Template

There’s a lot to keep in mind when setting up rental agreements for your rental business. We can make things a bit easier with this handy downloadable rental agreement. Of course, make sure to look over it carefully and ensure that it’s in line with the terms you want to set for your construction equipment rental contract.

Starting Your Construction Equipment Rental Business Off on the Right Foot

Having a reliable equipment rental agreement is an absolute must for your business, but there’s so much more that goes into running that business well. Reservations and inventory management are two of the most important areas to handle properly if you want to succeed.

Quipli provides rental businesses with a dedicated platform for seamless inventory and rental management, along with a point of sales system and digital growth tools for growing your business. Just contact our team today to book a demo and see what we can do for you.

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How to Create an ATV Rental Business Plan

By Kyle Clements

Published on March 17, 2022

ATV rentals are on the rise across the United States and abroad, and online searches for rental services have increased each year for the past four years running. There’s no reason to believe that this trend won’t continue — the timeless thrill of ATV rentals will always draw in adventurous customers.

If you’re looking into how to start an ATV business, you need to develop an effective ATV rental business plan. This will ensure that you fully understand what it will take to make your business succeed, and serve as an essential step in finding financing for your new business.

ATV Rental Industry Overview

Researching how to start an ATV rental business has probably left you familiar with the industry overall, but anyone you’re showing your ATV rental business plan PDF to might not be.

Place the industry overview at the start of your business plan to bring the reader up to speed with the ATV rental industry as a whole. By including some information about how ATV rentals are growing across the country or within your region, you can inspire confidence in the success of your venture.

Now you’re establishing a good foundation for showing any potential source of funding that your business can thrive.

Your Executive Summary

Once you’ve given the reader a brief overview of the industry, communicate the highlights of your ATV rental business model quickly and concisely. The executive summary contains key details about your business model, pricing, and more.

While this goes near the start of the business plan, you’ll actually put this section together last. It’s a summary of the contents of the rest of the business plan, so you’ll need to have all the other parts finished before you begin.

Your ATV Rental Services

In this section, you define what services you’re going to offer. You can flesh out your ATV rental business ideas in more detail here.

Consider these questions:

What class ATVs are you providing?
Are ATVs rented hourly for on-site trails, or extended off-site excursions?
Do you rent out helmets and other gear?
Do you have any accessories available for purchase?

When it comes to establishing your business plan, just saying that you’re going to rent ATVs doesn’t provide the necessary detail to determine your potential ATV rental profitability. You must be specific with your plans.

Your Mission Statement

You might not have thought about your mission statement when researching how to open an ATV rental store, but it’s still an important part of your business plan. This should say a bit about the principles on which you’re going to run your business.

It’s best to keep things simple when it comes to your mission statement. For ATV rentals, in particular, you can include that you want to provide an exciting experience while maintaining safety.

The Structure of Your Business

With this section, you’re getting into some of the finer details of your ATV rental business start-up.

Before moving any further, you need to decide who is going to do what in your business. Whether you’re going to have employees (and how many) will have a huge impact on your overall plan.

There are core responsibilities for any ATV rental business, and you need to know who is going to handle them. Who performs maintenance? Who cleans the ATVs? Who is dealing with marketing?

Performing a SWOT Analysis

A key feature of modern business plans is the strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) analysis. Here, you can identify how your ATV rental business is situated for success. You can discuss the demand in the area and other factors.

It’s just as important to discuss potential weaknesses and threats, in order to prevent and react to them. Is there a lot of competition in your area? Is there a risk of extended inclement weather reducing rentals?

Sales and Marketing Strategies

A big part of how to open an ATV rental store is properly marketing your business to drive growth. Marketing is important for establishing your business and keeping it going. You should identify specific strategies and platforms you intend to use for your business.

For ATV rentals, you should understand who your key rental demographics are. This can vary depending on your area and what renters will likely be using your ATVs for, whether that’s touring local trails or more serious off-roading.

Sales Forecasting

Are ATV rentals a profitable business? The biggest deciding factor for your business will be your sales. That means you should have some forecast in place before you actually start your business in order to gauge profitability.

Sales forecasting is a challenge in any industry, even for well-established businesses. You can look at companies in surrounding areas to see how they’re doing to put together a rough estimate and include projections based on your expected inventory for different use rates.

Choosing Your Pricing Strategies

How much does an ATV rental business make? That’s going to depend largely on your pricing strategy. You need to have a coherent pricing strategy in place to make sure you’re getting the returns you need to justify your ATV inventory investment.

Developing an effective pricing strategy will involve balancing what your customers are willing to pay with the income you need to keep your business running. If you can’t get this to work on paper in your business plan, then chances are your business idea isn’t going to pan out.

Evaluating Your Business Expenses

Any good business plan should have a detailed list of anticipated expenses. This should cover everything you need to run your ATV rental business, including wages, acquisitions, insurance, and more. You don’t want to find out about any unexpected expenses after the fact.

How to Grow an ATV Rental Business with Quipli

Setting up an ATV rental business plan is the first step, but once you get started, you need to know that you have the correct tools to grow your business.

With Quipli, you have access to a website builder that works seamlessly with our integrated reservation and inventory system.

Book a demo with Quipli today to see what we can do.

Build YOUR BUSINESS WITH QUIPLI’S ATV RENTAL SOFTWARE

What Your Rental Website Builder Needs to Help You Run a Successful Business

By Kyle Clements

Published on March 17, 2022

Businesses rely on their websites much more today than they did a decade ago. They’re more than just digital business cards now, with so much going into building an effective website. To do so correctly, you’re going to need to find the right website builder for your business.

Easy-to-Use Website Content Management Systems

When evaluating different equipment rental website builders, ease of use is going to be near the top of the list for anyone who doesn’t have extensive website experience. There are many options out there with templates, drag-and-drop functionality, and other features that make the once-difficult task of website building accessible to anyone.

Key Ease of Use Features

There are some features you really shouldn’t be without. Ideally, you’ll find a website builder that has an available customer service team to help with the builder. Here are some of the other key features that you should be looking for to make your website building experience go smoothly:

One-Click Page Composer

You should be able to make a new page with just one click or something close to that. Good website builders have pre-made templates to suit just about any potential need. These website templates should make it easy for you to create modern and user-friendly web pages in no time.

eCommerce Capabilities

Different website builders allow for varying levels of integration with your business. Since your website is for your rental company, you need a website builder that makes eCommerce integration easy with specific templates for that function.

SEO Features

Search engine optimization (SEO) involves catering your website content to what search engines recommend to their users. This design approach involves putting keywords in the right places, including content that is only viewable by search engines. A good builder makes this task incredibly straightforward. Find out how Quipli’s digital growth products can work for you!

Fully Responsive Sites with Mobile Optimization

Most users make the decision to stay on or leave a certain website within 15 seconds. If your website isn’t fully loaded and completely functional within that time, then your customer is gone. A good website builder has the fully responsive layout needed to make things easier for your customers.

You also need to make sure that your website builder optimizes for mobile users. Search engines like Google place a high value on mobile optimization, and over 60% of search traffic comes from mobile devices.

Ability to Add Product Listings, Category Pages, and Subcategory Pages

Most rental businesses start small and grow over time. Your business is sure to add more equipment as time goes on, likely branching out into other categories. Updating your website to reflect these new product listings shouldn’t be a challenge. Instead, your website builder should handle this practically automatically.

It should be just as straightforward to save your rental equipment in different categories as it is with any other eCommerce venture. Quipli makes it even easier with the ability to import product information and categories from an Excel spreadsheet. Our software updates your product listings without any difficulty at all.

Straightforward Payment Integration

Of course, a big part of running any business is getting paid. You need a website builder that lets you accept bookings and payments from a wide variety of sources. It isn’t enough to only accept a credit card for online payments. Many customers will simply move on to a competitor with more versatility.

Today, there are countless options like Stripe, PayPal, and more for online payments. You need an integrated payment system that can let customers pay how they want. Quipli does just that while also making a seamless connection between online reservations and in-person pickups.

Equipment Inventory and Reservation Management

Inventory management is a vital part of any rental company’s day-to-day operations. Given how many customers prefer to book online today, the only way to meet those needs is to have your website builder include an integrated inventory and reservation management system.

Syncing your inventory and reservations is something that needs to be done automatically to avoid mix-ups. You can’t have two separate systems running online and in-person reservations — you need your website to be fully integrated with your inventory.

Rental Software with CRM Integration

Customer relationship management (CRM) is essential for any business to succeed. This need is particularly pronounced in many types of rental companies where repeat customers are among the top sources of business. Many tools can improve your CRM, and you should choose a website builder that integrates those tools.

Among the most important aspects of CRM is to capture valuable data from customer interactions. This capture includes getting email addresses from customers and visitors to provide a direct link for email marketing. If you aren’t using these resources, you’re missing out on one of the most valuable marketing tools available today.

Blog Features

Blogs might seem like they have gone out of style, but they are a very important part of how businesses market themselves online today. You need a website builder that makes it easy to create, manage, and optimize blog posts for your rental business.

All of the content on your website plays a role in search engine rankings. Blog posts are a great way to target specific keywords to cast a wider net and funnel more potential customers through your website.

Customer Support for the Rental Website Builder

Many website builders online today have little to no customer support available. That’s a position that you don’t want to be in as a business that relies on its website for reservations. If your website develops issues, you need to know that there’s someone you can consult with to resolve those issues.

Get Started with Quipli’s Rental Website Builder

Quipli provides all-in-one rental business software for equipment rental businesses. Our software features a built-in website builder that works seamlessly with our inventory and reservation management solution.

The Quipli website builder is easy to use and has all of the features you need to run your business, including our integrated point of sale (POS) system. Contact Quipli today to set up a demo and find out more.

CREATE YOUR OWN STOREFRONT WITH QUIPLI’S POWERFUL WEBSITE BUILDER

How You Can Start Your Own Golf Cart Rental Business

By Kyle Clements

Published on March 17, 2022

A golf cart rental business could be an excellent choice for your next small business idea. These businesses can be highly profitable if you’re situated in a good location and run your operation right. With a good golf cart rental business plan in place, you could see your new venture become very profitable very quickly.

How Does a Golf Cart Rental Business Work?

You might think that golf carts are strictly the domain of golf courses, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Your golf cart rental business ideas aren’t restricted to the sport itself at all. Golf carts are one of the most popular options for transportation in a wide variety of locations.

When figuring out how to start a golf cart rental business, one thing to keep in mind is that you need customers. Your primary revenue will be from renting out golf carts to drivers. In almost every case, those drivers are going to be tourists.

Golf cart rental businesses are predominantly found in areas with high tourist traffic. Most tourist areas will have the necessary density of attractions as well as pathways, boardwalks, and other routes that are perfect for golf carts.

The location is the primary factor in determining “how much does a golf cart rental business make?” If you have a steady stream of tourists and visitors renting your golf carts to enjoy local attractions and scenery, then this could be the perfect rental business idea for you.

What Is a Golf Cart Rental Company’s Business Model?

When it comes down to how to run a golf cart rental business, you need to understand how the business model works. That means you’ll have to understand what your revenue streams and costs will be.

In terms of costs to get started, you’re going to have to buy some golf carts. These can vary widely in price depending on the brand, style, features, and whether you buy new or used.

The other primary consideration is going to be where you keep your carts. You’re going to have to buy or rent property to store your carts and serve as your place of business. Identifying a suitable location will be one of the most considerable challenges because prime locations are expensive.

Your primary source of revenue will be rentals. Most golf cart rental businesses will charge by the hour, half-day, or day. To determine your golf cart rental profitability, you’ll have to weigh this revenue against all of your costs. Some golf cart rental businesses will also offer beverages and snacks.

What Are the Costs of Running a Golf Cart Rental Business?

In addition to the golf cart rental business start-up costs, you’ll also have various ongoing costs that can affect your golf cart rental business model. Understanding all of these costs is essential before committing to your rental business idea.

Maintenance is likely to be a considerable cost for your business. Like any vehicle, golf carts require regular maintenance to stay in working condition. You’ll have both recurring maintenance costs and unexpected maintenance costs when you have to replace broken parts. Customers will expect your carts to be clean and operational.

Your golf cart rental business should also invest in a tracking solution. You need to know where your carts are at any time to prevent theft. GPS tracking is the standard, with various solutions available on the market.

Replacing carts as needed is another significant cost. Eventually, every golf cart reaches a point where it needs to be replaced. Ignoring this cost in your business plan will eliminate any chance of profitability.

In addition to these specific costs, you’ll have the regular expenses of any business. If your business is more than just yourself, you’ll have to pay wages. Your golf cart rental business will need vehicle liability insurance. There will be taxes, utilities, accounting fees, and the costs for any other services or solutions you need.

How Can My Golf Cart Rental Business Reach Customers?

If you’re wondering how to grow a golf cart rental business, you can take advantage of plenty of unique opportunities. For example, if your business is in a tourist location, some effective tools can be traditional brochures and posters.

Hotels and other establishments encourage local attractions to provide brochures for their lobbies to attract tourists. You can also reach out to tourist spots themselves to promote your golf cart rentals. Any business that might receive more traffic if tourists can get around more quickly will be happy to help you.

Of course, there’s no getting around web marketing today. You’ll need an website that’s optimized and easy to find. It’s in your best interests to come up first whenever someone searches for transportation options in your area. Digital marketing for equipment rental businesses is crucial in this space.

What Are Some KPIs I Can Use to Understand How Well My Golf Cart Rental Business Performs?

Are golf cart rentals a profitable business? While they often can be, you need a way to know how well your business, in particular, is performing. To do so, you can use some common rental business key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate your business.

Time Utilization

This metric measures the hours your carts are rented out against the hours they’re available. You can use it to identify your strongest and weakest inventory items.

Customer Acquisition Cost

This data measures how much you pay in marketing to acquire customers. Comparing the cost for different referral methods can guide your marketing strategy.

Return On Investment

This figure represents the total revenue from a cart compared to its purchase and maintenance costs. It shows the lifetime profitability for your various golf cart options.

Of course, there are many more metrics that you can use to gauge how well your business is doing. By applying a wide variety of KPIs, you can get the best picture of your business.

The Importance of Reservation and Inventory Management

Every rental business needs a way to take reservations and manage its inventory. You can make running your golf cart rental business that much easier with Quipli, an integrated reservation and inventory system that automates the entire process and provides additional tools.

Contact Quipli today to find out more about our equipment rental website templates and our integrated rental pos system.

BUILD YOUR BUSINESS WITH QUIPLI’S GOLF CART RENTAL BUSINESS SOFTWARE