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Author Topic: Equipment Rental's  (Read 2572 times)

Johnny Diaz

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Equipment Rental's
« on: June 16, 2015, 03:13:20 PM »

So I'm thinking about getting into equipment rental's and would like advise from those whom are already doing this or have experience in it.  My concerns are that the equipment doesn't come back or comes back damaged.  What are some of the things you do to prevent this from happening? Also, what are the thinks to keep in inventory which are good money makers and what to avoid?  Any advise would be greatly appreciated?
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Brian Jojade

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Re: Equipment Rental's
« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2015, 04:01:24 PM »

SOS gear has the very best ROI for me.  e.g., Eon speakers, small analog consoles, Fender Passport systems, etc.  It's not the fun sexy gear that makes you money.  It's the cheap gear that makes you money so you can buy the fancy gear for yourself to use.

As far as rentals, have a good contract and procedure in place.  Get the customers credit card and pre-authorize an amount that is held until the items are returned.  Don't be afraid to charge when stuff comes back broken or pieces missing.
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Brian Jojade

Ray Aberle

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Re: Equipment Rental's
« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2015, 08:06:05 PM »

Make sure you have a very accurate cable count. If you need to have your rental program show rental packages with the details, i.e. 6 XLR cables, 20', 4 XLR cables, 10', 2 IEC cables, etc, do it. I think I've probably lost 25 XLR/power cables over the years because I don't check things THAT closely. =-\

Accessory sales as a part of rentals are lucrative as well. Someone's renting PA? Sell them a roll of gaff tape. Make sure they know that if they use duct tape on your cables, there will be a cleaning charge.

-Ray
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Kelcema Audio
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Paul G. OBrien

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Re: Equipment Rental's
« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2015, 01:47:46 PM »

There are 2 basic ways to do rentals..

Dry hire: People come to you and pick up the equipment.
Delivery: You move and setup/strike the equipment.

Dry hire is less work for you but more equipment will get lost and damaged, you need a store front, and taking a deposit is not an option so you will need to accept credit cards so your total business costs will be much higher.

If you run a business based around deliveries only like I do then you don't need a store front(unless you also want to get into sales too of course), and taking a deposit is optional. You have to do a lot of running around but you can factor that into your prices, and since you are the only one handling gear it will stay in much better shape and much less will get lost.

Regardless what business model you choose all your gear needs to come in road cases,  bags, or have covers in the case of the speakers. And having reliable gear is paramount to making any money so cheap speakers and amps will not cut it. And you don't want to have to carry too many different types of gear starting out so you need to buy systems that are capable enough to handle the events they will see with some headroom, so for SOS for example it wouldn't be crazy to suggest you invest in EV ETX or QSC KW series for example. Also look at what else is available in your area and buy more of that so you can cross rent extra for larger events, you may even find the cross rentals will go the other way in some cases too where the other guy needs more gear.
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Scott Holtzman

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Re: Equipment Rental's
« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2015, 02:27:35 PM »

There are 2 basic ways to do rentals..

Dry hire: People come to you and pick up the equipment.
Delivery: You move and setup/strike the equipment.

Dry hire is less work for you but more equipment will get lost and damaged, you need a store front, and taking a deposit is not an option so you will need to accept credit cards so your total business costs will be much higher.

If you run a business based around deliveries only like I do then you don't need a store front(unless you also want to get into sales too of course), and taking a deposit is optional. You have to do a lot of running around but you can factor that into your prices, and since you are the only one handling gear it will stay in much better shape and much less will get lost.

Regardless what business model you choose all your gear needs to come in road cases,  bags, or have covers in the case of the speakers. And having reliable gear is paramount to making any money so cheap speakers and amps will not cut it. And you don't want to have to carry too many different types of gear starting out so you need to buy systems that are capable enough to handle the events they will see with some headroom, so for SOS for example it wouldn't be crazy to suggest you invest in EV ETX or QSC KW series for example. Also look at what else is available in your area and buy more of that so you can cross rent extra for larger events, you may even find the cross rentals will go the other way in some cases too where the other guy needs more gear.

That is my exact model, I have a few people I am close to I allow to come pickup but 99% is delivery.  I am also 90% QSC KW series and have 12 matched monitors and 3 monitor amp racks all with the same Crown xti.  The QSC covers are very nice and everything is in road cases, even cables.  We have a standard mic set that includes 5 SM58, 5 SM57. 1 Beta 56. 1 Beta 52, two PQX condensers and 4 PGX Tom MIC's.  Stands are in bags of 6.

The other company I work with also has all QSC KW.

All are mixers are X32, mostly racks and a compact. 

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Scott AKA "Skyking" Holtzman

Ghost Audio Visual Solutions, LLC
Cleveland OH
www.ghostav.rocks

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Equipment Rental's
« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2015, 02:27:35 PM »


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