Top 5 ideas to start a rental business

Whether you understand the concept of rental economy or not, trust and believe that you are already part of it. When you rent a bicycle to have a sightseeing tour around town or book a kayak to enjoy some peaceful time on your favorite beach, that’s when you will find the very core of rental economy. By its very definition, rental economy supports the refurbishing and recycling of equipment in order to extend its lifecycle and allow more usage from a higher number of people.

The rental economy has been taking off as an alternative for corporations to become more socially responsible and practice a more sustainable way of doing business. Not only that, this means you have an inventory that eventually pays for itself, giving you the chance to continue to make a limitless, healthy profit on an item.

We’ve decided to navigate through the Business Activity Codes (BACs) of different industries that operate within the rental economy and analyze their respective revenue in recent years. So here are the top five most promising sectors if you’re thinking of starting a rental business.

Recreational & Sports Equipment

This category encompasses everything that has to do with leisure and outdoor activities, with equipment ranging all the way from pleasure boats, canoes, sailboats and bicycles down to beach chairs, umbrellas, skis and more.

Given its nature, this equipment is obviously much more used during certain times of the year. If we’re talking about surf boards, then the peak is gonna be in the summer. For ski boards, on the other hand, in the winter. As such, the success of a rental business in this industry would depend on seasonal challenges, such as high demand and many competitors.

Intellectual Property

In second place, renting intellectual property means allowing others to use products and similar products for which a royalty payment or licensing fee is paid to the owner of the product. The use of these assets can take various forms, such as reproduction licenses, used in the following processes or production, business operations under the franchise system and others. Some practical examples of this category include:

• Patented entities
• Trademarks or service marks
• Brand names
• Franchise agreements
• And more.

Personal & Household Goods

This category includes the leasing of products and goods that are usually found in common households, such as textiles, wearing apparel and footwear, furniture, pottery and glass, kitchen and tableware, electrical appliances and housewares, jewelry, musical instruments, scenery and costumes, books, journals and magazines, and many others.

A lot of these items are usually rented by production companies or agencies to help create sets, but also by individuals who wish to use it once or twice without having to spend a lot of mine. The possibilities are endless and this is category that is usually profitable all year round, as these are products that can be used regardless of the time and place.

Machinery & Equipment

In here you will find the renting of tangible and non-financial intangible assets, such as power tools, cleaning equipment, construction equipment and other big machinery. This category is usually related to big projects or business operations, where people are more focused on the final result and do not wish to spend lots of money on the equipment itself.

The initial investment for this industry may be higher than most others, but the payout is worth it. From big corporations down to small family households, there will always be groups searching for these items and finding value in renting it instead of owning it.

Party & Events

Last but certainly not least, we arrive at equipment that is related to parties and events. Think of birthdays, weddings, team retreats… what do all these events have in common? They don’t happen very often. Only once a year or even less. So it comes to reason that people are looking for affordable, sustainable options to conduct these events without having to buy all the necessary equipment to do so.

This category can include decoration pieces, sound sets, table wear, photo booths and much more. What’s interesting is that each event is unique and has its own goal and audience, which means you can really tap into your creative side in this industry. No event is the same as the previous one, which means you can also have a large pool of equipment available.

More and more companies are looking for alternative models to buying and selling: they just need the right tools to enter the Circular Economy. And that’s where Flecto comes in. As the platform that makes businesses thrive in the circular economy, Flecto allows businesses to unlock and manage rental operations by all the essentials in one single platform.