How a Portuguese freelancer elevated his rental business with Flecto
Rui Portela is a professional designer and content creator operating in Portugal for more than 10 years now. Ever since he started his audiovisual career, Rui has worked alongside renowned brands such as Holmes Place, Airbnb, Lidl, Forbes and many others, while also having the chance to travel to places like Tunisia, Canada, France and Germany.
After a few years in the market, Rui started to face the challenge that many professionals in the area similarly do — what to make of equipment that is not being used at the moment. Audiovisual equipment is known to represent quite an extensive investment: different tools require a lot of money upfront but end up with a relatively low usage depending on the projects that the owner is involved in.
So the question is: how can I still turn a profit in a professional area that is highly fluctuating and requires financial commitment? Rui quickly found the answer in renting. Back when Flecto was still know as Rnters, a peer-to-peer rental marketplace, Rui saw the opportunity to display his items whenever he didn’t need them and keep some cash flowing.
The decision was a success. With a wide portfolio that includes tools such as GoPros, memory disks, monitors, batteries and many others, Rui started to balance his operational infrastructure in a much more efficient manner by focusing on equipment he actually needed while still being paid through the one he didn’t require.
It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day
Rui Portela was one of the many professionals that joined the ride and transitioned from Rnters to Flecto to keep his rental operations up and going. The difference being that he now has a platform that is fully dedicated to managing his entire business from A to Z as a freelancer.
With Flecto, Rui is now able to upload and edit his whole inventory, going as far as customizing different price ranges and tax values for different days in order to provide more flexibility to his business. All items are displayed on our Flecto Market and Rui is also able to control the availability, status and overbooking of each item, so he stays in control of his entire stock. The market itself already existed when Flecto was still known as Rnters, which means Rui’s usual customers are still able to find him in the same place as they did before.
Flecto supported the freelancer with Google Search campaigns that focused on audiovisual audiences and keywords, which means Rui was able to drive more traffic to his own catalog on Flecto Market. This means an obvious increase in his number of leads, since his usual customers from Rnters were already aware of how he runs his rental business but now he gets to welcome new clients thanks to a joint marketing initiative.
Flecto also allows Rui an incredibly high customization of each booking. He is able to add whatever additional services might be needed to each rental, such as transportation, cleaning, or even insurance. With Flecto Link, the freelancer relies on a single URL page to stay in touch with each of his customers, providing timely updates in terms of pricing and the status of the respective booking. This means that each and every rental is unique — Rui is able to adjust them according to the customer’s needs and stay on top of things at all times.
Ever since he kicked off his rental operations on Flecto, Rui unlocked an outstandingly exciting phase in his career. He is able to carry on his duties as a designer and content creator while engaging in a new revenue stream that not only further supports his profession but also ends up representing a much more sustainable way to do business.