RENTAL OPERATIONS
You should consider a rental business operation
By Glenn Hansen
“ My parents lived in the ownership economy . Today , young adults have less desire to own things ; they grew up with Airbnb and Uber ,” said Josh Nickell , vice president of the equipment segment for the American Rental Association .
It ’ s no surprise that a leader in a trade association focused on equipment rental is an advocate for rental operations . But Nickell is not wrong . People have been shifting to the “ sharing economy ” since the launch of the Airbed & Breakfast website in 2008 . Founders changed that name a year later . And since then , Airbnb hosts have earned more than $ 250 billion worldwide .
Does this apply to equipment rental ? It ’ s true that the “ sharing economy ” models such as Airbnb and Uber involve actual sharing . Here , someone owns a thing ( like a vacation home , car , or skid-steer loader ) and because they use it infrequently , they can share ( think , rent ) its use for any amount of time they like . They own it and make money sharing it .
Equipment rental is different but not much . The rise in public acceptance of the sharing economy reduces barriers to renting anything . Where it used to be cool to own everything , the
An equipment rental business also requires owning trailers and having space for them .
sharing economy plus a trend away from consumption makes renting okay , cool even . But it ’ s not really about sharing , not at all . It ’ s about access . And equipment rental businesses increasingly provide access to everyone from weekend DIYers to landscape contractors .
22 OPE + July 2024 www . OPE-Plus . com