Side hustle input (I should probably read more, but I'm impatient)

[Robert6401]

First I should point out that I'm new here, but I stumbled across this forum and am awe-struck with the wealth of knowledge. I will be spending a lot of time reading old posts, blogs, etc.

I hope you all don't mind, but I was hoping for a little feedback on a business idea that I have that I'm sure has been done a million times.

The idea is to start an equipment rental business, meaning lawn equipment, tools, tractors, smaller construction equipment, etc.

I live in a burgeoning rural area that has huge growth potential over the next 10 years +. I have enough property at home to run the business out of the house and store all of the equipment. I may eventually need to build a repair shop, mine currently may get too small fairly quickly.

I already own most common lawn equipment, a small tractor with farming and lawn care implements (mowers, brush hogs, landscape rakes, box blades, etc). I also own a good bit of specialty tools from renovating my own home that most people would probably prefer to rent.

My thought is that I could start off renting what I currently own and build up from there. My primary customer base would be homeowners, property owners, and contractors.

Anyways, those are the basics. Let me know what you think.

[Papa bear]

There are a lot of places that rent tools and equipment.  I would call your insurance agent and find out your costs to protect yourself. Additionally, large equipment may need different insurance than you currently have.

But I see no reason why this couldn’t work.


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[Metalcat]

Have you looked into the local options for equipment rental?
Have you worked out how much you would need to rent out equipment to turn a profit and compared it to those other retailers?

It's one thing to have a side hustle renting out equipment you already own, it's another to buy equipment at retail for the purposes of renting it out, especially if you are trying to compete with big box stores that get their equipment at cost.

In terms of your own equipment, if there is a demand, everyone will probably want it at the same time (the same spring weekend, the same time in fall when the leaves drop, etc), so having only one of each could mean having to turn away a lot of clients, which isn't great for business.
Then that brings you back to having to buy more equipment...

It's an interesting idea, just look at the numbers and see if they make sense.

Personally, I wouldn't be trying to compete with big box stores that will always be able to undercut me on equipment costs, equipment repair costs, and even on price (because they could choose to run their rentals at a loss just to put you out of business if they wanted to).

I think there's an idea there though, but I would be more inclined to look at something like developing an app for everyone in the community to be able to rent/loan their existing equipment to one another, or something like that.

It all depends on what you are trying to get out of it.

[Linea_Norway]

When buying additional tools, buy them at least second hand for half the price or less. You may presume that people are not careful with rented tools. Don't waste new tools on them. Maybe you can add extra serve, like driving the tool to their homes and collecting it again. That is something our tool rental places don't do. If not, you should perhaps have a rental trailer that people can borrow.

[trollwithamustache]

Its dirty work. I had a semi-distant cousin who initially wasn't academically inclined. He graduated High school and spend  a year working at an equipment rental place, mostly cleaning stuff when it got returned. The experience lit a fire under his ass at community college the next year and he got through real college too. 

but its a great business if you want to own more tools for your homestead, in that it would let you accumulate way more tooling that otherwise in a tax advantaged way. Ie, you don't necessarily have to have a very cash profitable business for it to bring value to you as buy and write off more toys, er useful tools.

[HipGnosis]

You can start doing this easily - if you have an apple phone.
PeerRenters is an app / service for reting things like this (and more).
They charge 10%
See http://www.peerrenters.com/
It is limited to customers with apple phones...  which I think is a serious flaw.