Party Equipment Rental Services is a very lucrative business because in most parts of the country, partying is a common practice, especially on weekends.
It is usually one party or the other, little wonder the popular saying party after party.
Honestly, we all love to have fun. That is why party equipment rental service can be likened to a goldmine.
Anybody throwing a party wants the party to be a success. So, they spend money on all the materials needed for the success of the party.
This is where rental of party equipment comes in. All of the chairs, tables, tents, cooking equipment, and the likes will be required for the success of the event.
To have these items as personal property is not logical, it will only be necessary to rent them.
This is another business opportunity on our list of 50 hot business ideas in Nigeria that you can look into.
The business affords you to target different customers and you only need to compete with the few local rental services in your area.
What Is Party Rental Business?
Party Equipment rental services involve, renting or leasing equipment like chairs, tables, commercial cooking equipment, tents and so on, to people, for the smooth running of their event or occasion.
This kind of business will likely require huge startup capital. However, as it is true with every other business, even you can start with low startup capital.
You can establish a low scale party rental business and as more profit is realized you can expand.
But, the good thing is that, once you are able to get all of the equipment needed, you will continually make money with them.
The same sets of equipment will generate income for the business for a very long time.
If properly managed, the same equipment would have been used for different customers on several occasions before replacing them with a new one when necessary.
Aside from the cost of maintaining the equipment, transporting them in some cases and paying the person(s) that will help you load and offload the equipment into the vehicle, you won’t be incurring any more expenses.
Rather, you will be making a profit. Party rental business is a wonderful opportunity for individuals who want to make an easy extra income.
Note that apart from transporting the equipment to the venues, you will be required to set them up and take them off after the events.
One of the benefits of doing this business is that you can do it from your home. All you need to do is to create space for storing the equipment in your house.
It also gives you the opportunity to do other businesses while you run a party rental service.
Researching the Party Rental Service Business
Starting a business first requires researching your intended market.
In the party rental business industry, this consists of looking at your demographics, your competition, what your services should cost, and what the demand is for these services in your area.
Looking at your competition will give insight into what methods works for them, how they operate, and the services and prices they offer.
This is not intended to copy your competitor’s business. In fact, you should try to lay your hands on new things.
What can your party rental company offer that these other guys do not? When doing research, look around the city you will be doing business in.
Are you only renting to customers in the same city? Perhaps you want to offer delivery services to the surrounding cities.
What kinds of venues and how many are available in your neighborhood? At this stage, think of the various rental services you can offer.
The beauty of it is that according to your capital, you can combine all the various services and you can also decide to start with the most demanded in your area.
Later, you can include others as your company expands. Let me introduce you to a few of such services:
Rent Out Wedding and Reception Dresses
It is a fact that a lot of brides now prefer to rent their wedding gowns, because, it is only going to be used for one day.
You can start renting out wedding and reception dresses for brides and their maids.
The wedding dress rental business is a relatively simple rental business to start.
You stock up on wedding dresses, and brides come to rent the dress for a certain period of time and pay a fee, most often a daily fee.
Once a fee has been agreed upon, it is a standard practice to ask for a returnable deposit to cover any damage to the dress as this will make your customers tend to look after it better.
Also, make up a basic contract document that would contain the name of the person hiring the dress, time to return the dress, and if there is a late fee.
Also, you can prepare wordings to make the person hiring responsible for any damage to the dress.
Some grooms may want to rent wedding suits too, so you may stock up some smart and expensive suits for them since they may likely follow their intended bride to your store.
Related: How to start a successful shoemaking venture
Rent Out Wedding Accessories
The wedding gown is not the only item a bride needs to spend money on, she also needs to get the proper accessories.
You can start a wedding accessories rental business and start renting out things like jewelry sets, bridal earrings, wedding flowers, wedding fans, crown, headpiece, wedding veils, wedding clutch purses, hand gloves, rhinestone bracelets, and pearl bracelets to brides.
You can offer a trial at home and delivery at-home options.
Also Read: How to start a restaurant business in Nigeria
Wedding Venue Rentals
One other thing that costs a bunch is the reception venue. Naturally, every couple gets to rent a venue for their wedding reception, unless they want to do it at home at their backyard.
The cost of renting a venue depends on the location and physical structures. The fact is, this is capital intensive.
But what appreciates more than having land with an income-generating structure on it? Having event halls etc. is one big investment with big returns.
Rent Out Decoration Materials
You can establish a rental business that offers decoration materials and help to install it at the reception venue. The installation usually comes either in the following two ways:
- full decoration in which the hall or the venue will be heavily decorated and the chairs and tables will be covered too or
- half decoration in which the hall will be slightly decorated and the chairs and tables may not be covered.
Cooling Van Rental Business
A lot of wedding receptions do not provide drinks, so couples usually bring their own drinks.
Since it would not be hospitable enough to serve your guests’ warm drinks, you ought to hire a cooling van to take care of it.
This makes the cooling van rental business a very profitable one because you can as well rent it out for other events.
This business is mobile and with the right marketing strategy, you will have a wedding to attend every week.
Rent Portable and Mobile Toilets
This is very important for wedding receptions that take place outdoors. Couples usually hire classy portable toilets for the comfort of their guest.
Aside from the services listed above, one very important and popular rental service known is renting of chairs, tables, commercial cooking equipment, tents.
How to Establish Your Own Party Rental Business Services
Now let me take you through the stages of establishing your own rental services
Develop a Business Plan
Before hitting the ground running, learning how to write a good business plan is important.
You will need a clear strategy that defines your goals as a business and provides a road map for you as you start your journey to building your company and image.
Also, note that if you need business financing from an organization, they will require a submitted proposal/business plan.
Your business plan should summarize your business and your overall goals as a company.
You will also need to include an analysis of the rental market, a marketing and sales plan, a description of your products & services, and financial projections based on your market analysis.
Obviously, the best way to prevent your rental company from flopping is by planning ahead, as a popular saying put it: if you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail.
Determine Your Scale of Business
Do you intend to start small or you are starting on a large scale? This will greatly depend on your starting capital.
Understanding the underlying financial requirement will help you decide on whether to start small or start big.
Get the Equipment You Need
Ensure that all of the equipment you buy is original and up to standard. Go for the types of equipment and brands that are in use.
During the research stage, take note of the equipment being used and get the ones that are of high quality that will last for a long time.
Be sure to purchase your equipment in bulk whenever possible, this obviously helps you manage your capital well.
A large part of your initial costs for starting your rental company is the equipment you plan to rent to the public.
Your business cards, website, and any other marketing materials are small costs compared to the cost of the equipment.
Here is a list of some equipment you may need to purchase:
- Rectangular collapsible tables
- Round collapsible tables
- Round highboy cocktail tables
- Plastic chairs
- Plastic folding chairs
- Wood or Resin couple’s chairs
- Tents of various size and styles
- Large drums for cooling drinks
- Cooking pots and spoons
- Cutleries
- Serving pots
- Serving plates
- Cooking stove and gas cylinder
- Dance floors
- Generator
It is very important to make inventories of the items you are renting out and make a solid agreement and arrangement on damaged or lost equipment.
Pricing the Equipment
When you researched the rental market in your area, you should have pulled pricing from your local competition to get an idea of what they price their equipment at.
It’s important to market your products as a high-end commercial product.
If your prices are going to be higher than your competition, then you have to provide branded and quality products because customers will more likely engage in price shopping.
You’ll need to give them a reason to rent the more expensive you are having. This will quickly boost your ROI.
On the other hand, you can price your equipment a little lesser than others to attract more customers and as you build your customer base you can gradually increase your service charge.
Figure out the cost of each chair or table, and other equipment and determine how many times you will need to rent each piece before you break even and start to realize a profit.
Make Provision for Transportation
Another thing you need to make arrangements for is a means of transportation. Most party equipment rental services have pick-up vans, with their business names written on it.
If you do not have the means to have your vehicle now, you can be in partnership with a van renting company.
It is for transporting party equipment to the location of the party. Especially, if the event is being held at a far distance from where the rental service is located.
Also, it is needed when the equipment being rented is too much to be carried by one person. So, you must have a ready and steady means of transporting the equipment.
Marketing
After you have purchased the equipment and gotten the means of transportation that you need to start your party rental business, the next thing to do is to locate prospective customers.
It is also an added advantage for you if the business is located where you reside.
The person throwing the party in your area will not want to go and get equipment from a far distance and get to pay extra cost for transportation.
You can partner with an event management company or event planner and caterers. Several event planners rent equipment for their events instead of maintaining an inventory of their own.
If you have a good relationship with an event management company or planner as well as caterers, they will always rent the equipment needed from you. They will recommend you to other prospects as well.
Marketing your rental properties is key to having them rented quickly.
There are many ways that you can market your rental properties. Listed below are a few:
- Newspaper advertisement
- Online advertisement, creating a blog post
- The use of flyers. Use quality pictures emphasizing the benefits of your rental. The more pictures, the better
- Word of mouth from friends and family
- Using the power of social media (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter). Social media is king when it comes to advertising your rental property.
- Make use of property listing syndication. The goal here is to increase exposure for your rental properties.
- Create a video tour and/or Styled photoshoots. This will make your rental business stand out from the others.
- Write a catchy sign and property description.
VisCorner is a platform that deals with services. They connect service providers with clients that need their services.
You can register your new Party rental business for free, so as to get your first clients. You would also get access to other professionals you need to complete any job on their website.
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Special Offers and Other Services Needed
In a bid to get more clients for your party rental business services, you may consider offering discounts and special offers to customers.
This will create an avenue for a word of mouth or referral marketing. The fact is, anybody that gets a discount or special offer from you, will tell another person who is holding an event about your service, and they will likely patronize you.
For example, you can decide to give a customer who rented a particular benchmarked dozens of chairs and tables from you, free transportation.
It will make the customer happy to the extent of telling others about your services.
You may need to hire one or two people for maintenance, loading and offloading equipment, taking record of orders and delivery as well as the inventory of the equipment.
It will relieve you of stress and also give you the opportunity to do other things along with running the business of party equipment rental.
Conclusion on Party Rental Business
A party equipment rental service is a very lucrative business in Nigeria.
Once you are able to bear the cost of getting the equipment, transportation, and maintenance and you are getting clients constantly, you will always smile to the bank.
After a year of running your business, you would have realized your initial capital, and picking it from there is an increased profit.
The more often you get patronage, the faster it is for you to cover your costs of getting the equipment. That is why you need to have a large customer base and do business more often
There you have it. Basic things you need to know when starting a party rental business from your home or elsewhere. Remember, quality service is the key to success.
Did you find this informative? Which of these would you love to start as a side hustle today? Let’s have your comments in the box provided below.
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I love this business idea a lot.
And this writeup is gonna be of a great help in start up my party rental business