Library of things as a business idea

[sidekickdmr]

I live in quite a outdoorsy and rural part of Devon and maintaining my garden requires all kinds of machinery, so I either buy it at great expense for it to be sat there for 360 days of the year doing nothing, or I hire a pro with their long waiting list and high rates.

Same applies to DIY, needed a multitool for a small quick job a few weeks ago, had to buy one at £45 for it to likely not be used again till rusty and binned.

So I'm wondering about starting a library of things as a sideline business!

Invest say 5k in a number of small items, strimmers, lawnmower, bush trimers, SDS drill, carpet cleaner, wet-vac, jigsaw, sander, de-humidifier, ladders, sewing machine, jetwash etc, and hiring them out for a few quid upwards a day to locals.

Could even include things outside DIY like Gazebo, camping chair, beach equipment, bike, travel cot, camera tripod, projectors etc

Have a website that took payment, checked ID and blocked it in a live calendar.

Ensure all of the larger items are battery stihl stuff so less maintenance, I have plenty of storage for it all, and actually have about 50% of what ive listed above already!

There is of course a big environmental push on this too, much less in landfill and less plastic produced.

Thoughts?

Edited by sidekickdmr on Monday 7th November 15:29

[evenflow]

Isn't this jewson et al?

[ovlovlover]

With respects to construction tools; like speedy hire or hss for example?

[VeeReihenmotor6]

Could do but sounds like a lot of hassle. What if you book a drill out for 3 days and it doesn't come back, yet is booked out to someone else for another 2 days.

[sidekickdmr]

I use Jewsons/HSS tool hire, but they A) like you to have a trade account and B) only tend to hire out larger DIY Tools, not strimmers, jetwashes and travelcots etc

This is a purely consumer/DIYer/gardener based service, not mega industrial professional tool hire.

[22]

People don't look after hired stuff.

[mcflurry]

I think the idea is sound, but there are a couple of caveats.

Would it cover ongoing maintenance and servicing costs?
Would the customers take care of the item and bring it back on time? What is fair wear and tear?
What if everyone wants the same items at the same time, for example rent a barbecue in the summer?

[bigandclever]

It's a great idea providing you can keep the general public away from it

[Simpo Two]

For smaller items I think people would rather buy their own new, eg from Amazon, than drive to your place, hire a second-hand widget, then drive back to return it.

But, if you have the kit already, you can try it and see if it works before spending money

[Redarress]

I think this could work with a little thought.
Are you thinking of servicing local area or nationwide ? ie delivery of equipment or local collect or both ?
If you need to transport it that brings in a whole new cart of fish !
As a poster stated above ..if an item is not returned on-time you will need to have a spare to hire out.
I think you can charge a deposit for hiring the tools that is the same price as the purchase price of a new tool. I actually do this with my Porsche exhaust drill jig hiring service so know it works !

Bear in mind cleaning and safety checking of returned tools prior to rehiring and the record taking of said safety tests

There are a lot of tools we would all like for short term projects that we put in the barn and don't use again for a number of years.

I think sourcing of quality,robust equipment is the key. I suspect however ,if a tool goes wrong and the supplier find out it has been on a hire fleet your warranty might be invalid.

I think if you use the environmental advantage this kind of service brings it might be a strong selling point.

An online booking website and test record website could massively reduce administration for you

[48k]

sidekickdmr said:

I live in quite a outdoorsy and rural part of Devon and maintaining my garden requires all kinds of machinery, so I either buy it at great expense for it to be sat there for 360 days of the year doing nothing, or I hire a pro with their long waiting list and high rates.

Same applies to DIY, needed a multitool for a small quick job a few weeks ago, had to buy one at £45 for it to likely not be used again till rusty and binned.

Have you thought about joining your local Men In Sheds group (https://menssheds.org.uk) and/or your local Maker Space (often a subgroup of the local Men In Sheds group). Handy way to get access to all sorts of tooling and kit without having to buy it, plus you can often get involved in all sorts of projects that you never knew you needed to get involved in

[Jakg]

sidekickdmr said:

Have a website that took payment, checked ID and blocked it in a live calendar.

https://www.rentmy.com/

[sidekickdmr]

Local only, collection and drop off, it's a good community here so likeliness is most people will be a friend of a friend, less likely to go walkies/be misused compared to a large city.

Perhaps a late return fee and a backup of the most hired items incase of non-return or failure/breakdown.

I wouldn't look to hire out any petrol tools and the inherit maintenance and mis-handling that can occur with them, yes Battery tools can break, but much harder to mis-handle/fuel/oil them.

[Simpo Two]

Redarress said:

I think if you use the environmental advantage this kind of service brings it might be a strong selling point.

- ignoring the fact it would involve four car journeys. But you could say 'If you have an EV' in small print

In reality I suspect most people just go 'gurr, green!' and hand over money.

[Redarress]

Simpo Two said:

- ignoring the fact it would involve four car journeys. But you could say 'If you have an EV' in small print

In reality I suspect most people just go 'gurr, green!' and hand over money.

In reality a EV isn't great for the Green thing if you take into consideration the elements used in the battery and the distance the battery unit has traveled prior to manufacture of the vehicle

But stopping cheap plastic crap going into landfill is a tangible thing that the younger members of society, quite rightly,want to target.reduction

I do understand your cynicism thou

[Cyberprog]

Oddly, someone has already had this idea - https://www.libraryofthings.co.uk/

[sidekickdmr]

Cyberprog said:

Oddly, someone has already had this idea - https://www.libraryofthings.co.uk/

Yep, thats what spurred the idea on, it's not new, but it's not left the major cities yet, and I'm thinking semi rural Devon towns with gardens and plenty of DIY could be a good thing....