Can you provide rentals for any of these outdoor activities? (Bikes? Kayaks? Paddleboards?)

Or if it’s a big tourist area, are there tons of AirBnBs that you could provide rentals for? Roll-away beds, baby cribs, strollers?

Hey OP!

I’ve got a ton of ideas/ insights/ recommendation for you. I’ve owned my own rental business for 17 years, and now I help other people start or grow a rental business. Not trying to shill, just wanted to give my credentials before I give some ideas or advice.

Here’s a really helpful exercise for you to think about feasibility:

1. do you have a pickup truck, trailer, or box truck?
2. what are your income expectations? Is this a pure side gig where you’d be thrilled to make 15-20k? Is the hope that this turns into a full-time endeavor and replaces a full-time job?
3. storage. Do you have a garage or a large shed? Or would you have to rent a storage unit right out of the gate?
4. where are you located? There are some concepts that work really well as long as you’re near a big city or in a coastal area where people do destination weddings. For example wedding arches / chuppah rentals. Here is an example: www.MonmouthWeddingRentals.com

Here’s a few fun concepts for you:

1. wedding arches / chuppahs
2. core event rental items (basically tables, chairs & linens)
3. dance floor rentals (www.NorthshoreDanceFloor.com)
4. backdrops (floral walls, champagne walls, boxwood hedge backdrops) www.BostonBackdrops.com)
5. pop-up tents (if you’re trying to potentially expand into something larger, this is a good entry into tent rentals)

The great part about event rentals is that you totally get to set your own schedule. If somebody is too far away, too much of a pain in the ass, if you want to go on vacation that week, or if you just want some time off you can always just say no.

Lastly, two other important pieces of advice:

1. you don’t have to buy a bunch of equipment and hope it works. You can simply put up a website, do a little bit of marketing, and then turn around and buy the equipment once you’ve got customers in hand.

2. if you really want to be strategic about this don’t buy any equipment and don’t think of a concept on your own, instead don’t show to a handful of wedding venues in your area and just ask if there are any rental pain points you can solve. Imagine if one of them says “We would love someone to do dance floor for us,” you would now have a client that would rent your floor 30 to 50 times per year for all of their weddings. This is made a huge difference in my business.

Hope this helps!