When was the last time your friend borrowed your lawn mower? Have you ever lent your furniture to a neighbor for their party? Did you give away your Halloween costume after wearing it only once?
These are all business opportunities you can still invest in. How? Invest to increase one of the abovementioned assets, open the lending of your assets to a wider circle, set your price for the time borrowed, and automate it with rental software. This is what any rental business is and with a low to medium initial investment, you too can start your own business.
Let’s explore the top 20 best rental business ideas you can start right now:
1. Power tools and equipment rental business
You can start a power tools and equipment rental business with an initial investment that can be low to medium based on which segment of this market you want to target.
In the lowest investment segment, you can fill your business inventory with regular power tools like drill machines, saw cutters, chainsaws, etc. You can even buy tools in a niche such as power tools for gardening, equipment for pressure washing, tools for metalwork, etc., and start your business by renting to that niche.
For the medium investment segment, with a high profit margin, you can invest in forklifts, lawnmowers, and light construction vehicles.This construction equipment rental business idea can yield you great profit.
2. Camera and lens rental business
This is an easy rental business idea for shutterbugs who want a side gig. Since certain specific cameras and specialized lenses are only used occasionally, they are more likely to be rented out rather than bought for single or multiple uses. So, you will be tapping into a ready market. Your customers will include wedding photographers, short filmmakers, media students, and small studios.
All of them rent out cameras and lenses frequently. As a photography enthusiast, you may invest in expensive lenses, camera equipment, high-end gear, and drones. Additionally, you can offer bulk discounts, loyalty points, coupons for long-term rentals, and more.
3. Audio/video equipment rental business
You can invest in an audio/video equipment rental business with low to medium investment. This rental segment is quite profitable and already a well-established industry.
You can offer your customers a diverse range of A/V equipment like recording equipment, karaoke, microphones, projectors, monitors, screens, production equipment, speakers, and more. Initially, you can target a specific niche like only renting A/V equipment to events, festivals, weddings, parties, corporate events, and local concerts.
As you understand the A/V equipment rental industry better, you can scale your business to provide rentals to production houses, film and TV companies, international festivals, and globally renowned music events.
4. Computer and mobile rental business
With next-gen devices released every quarter, it is becoming a challenge for corporations, schools, and tech businesses to upgrade their IT assets immediately. Most of them rely on computer and mobile rental businesses to help them cater to this demand.
With a medium investment in these devices and gadgets, you can start your own computer and mobile rental business. You can meet the seasonal demand of schools and colleges who want their IT assets upgraded only for a term or a few years. You can also help tech businesses who need quick access to high-tech devices only for a specific project or a client.
On a smaller scale, you can rent out gadgets, laptops, devices, etc., to students and project-based hires visiting your area. This is a lucrative rental business idea and works perfectly well if you are already a tech geek.
5. Durable medical equipment rental business
The durable medical equipment (DME) rental business is highly lucrative and rewarding. Your rentals will include crutches, canes, walkers, wheelchairs, scooters, commode chairs, blood sugar meters, hospital beds, stretchers, patient lifts, medical machines, and medical accessories.
If you start this DME rental business, you will be able to help hospitals, clinics, home-bound patients, medical camps, and short-term medical training programs. The hospitals will rent from you when they hit an emergency crisis. The smaller clinics with budget constraints will rent from you temporarily to fill a need. The home-bound patients will rent based on their requirements as well. So, you can offer your DME rentals on short-term, medium-term, and long-term leases to keep your business profitable.
To keep your DME rental business successful, you will have to maintain your medical rental equipment with the highest standards of inspection, sanitation, and industry regulations. A record of regular inspection and sanitation before and after every rental use will help build trust and safety for your customers.
6. Car rental business
The rent-a-car business has been around for decades. With medium to high investment, you can get your own fleet and start your car rental business. Your customer base will include tourists, visitors, travelers, and the like.
You can also rent out to people who need the vehicle only for a specific time, a place, or an event. You can populate your fleet with niche vehicles such as towing vans, specialized trucks, ambulances, and other special-use vehicles. If you’re a vintage car collector, you can earn money on the side by renting out your cars for shows, movies, and shoots. If you are already one of these car rental businesses that hasn’t digitally transformed yet, you can power up your operations with rental business software.
Keep in mind that this rental business will require regular maintenance and upkeep costs for the vehicles.
7. Bike and e-bike rental business
A rental business for traditional bikes has a low investment entry point as compared to other vehicular rentals. Get yourself a fleet of mid-range city bikes if you live in a tourist-heavy city or town and have a rental business ready to go. Pair that with rental software and you have every workflow automated for you.
One thing to remember is that bike rentals can be a seasonal business. Depending on where you live, this business will profit in the spring, summer, fall, and even mild winter.
A ripe-for-business segment in bike rentals is e-bike rentals. With e-bikes getting a lot of attention now, we may see a spike in city car owners and renters moving towards e-bike rentals for everyday commutes. Be a pioneer and take advantage of this opportunity.
8. RV rental business
Starting a recreational vehicle (RV) rental business can have a steep startup investment. The investment may be lower if you have the capital to buy a running RV business. RVs come in all shapes and sizes; the largest ones are called motorhomes, and the smallest ones are called campervans.
The motorhomes are for experienced drivers who know how to maneuver a large vehicle on the highways. These come with comfort and convenience like a fully-equipped kitchen, bathrooms, WIFI, and other amenities. The campervans are smaller than conventional RVs and are easy to drive and park for average city drivers. These come with basic amenities.
In addition to offering your RVs, campervans, motorhomes, etc., you can provide additional amenities. Bundle up your RV rentals with snacks, WIFI, camping gear, stoves, etc. for an additional cost. Not only will you be enhancing the experience for your customers, but also increasing your revenue.
If you are reluctant to buy RVs at the get-go, you can partner with RV owners and put up their RVs on your rental business website. Earn through commission, and once you raise enough capital, buy your own RVs to add to the fleet. Tap into the projected $1-billion RV industry now before it becomes saturated in the following years.
9. Trailer rental business
The trailer rental business is diverse enough to have customers that can be friendly neighbors to small business owners, and from corporations to industries. The use of trailers is extensive as these may be used for cargo, logistics, transporting light to heavy equipment, hauling vehicles, moving horses or cattle, etc.
If an initial investment in buying trailers is too steep, you can partner with truck and trailer owners to put their vehicles on your rental software. Earn through commission and buy your trailer fleet once you have raised enough capital.
Once you have your trailers ready for rental, you can advertise your rental business in the right market to get started. Build lasting relationships with courier services, logistics companies, equipment manufacturers, construction companies, event companies, etc. as these will ensure regular business for you.
Find a niche that works best for your business, and expand within that niche to offer great service and experience to your customers. Keep your vehicles insured, cleaned, maintained, and serviced so your customers always get the best trailer rentals.
10. Dumpster rental business
A rental business idea that is profitable but sometimes the least desired is a dumpster rental business. Dealing with trash has an ‘ick’ factor that some business owners may find undesirable. However, if you want to start a medium investment rental business that has good profit margins, getting a few dumpsters is the way to go!
Your customers will include construction companies, renovators, homeowners, plazas, etc. who want to get rid of their waste and trash. Offer them a dumpster rental in capacities that work best for them.
You can get additional revenue streams by recycling and disposing of the contents of the dumpsters. Sell scrap metal, second-hand furniture, salvaged doors and windows, etc. You can further add professional cleaning, organizing, storage, delivery, and moving services to your business to increase your dumpster rental business revenue.
Please research thoroughly into your local jurisdiction before investing in a dumpster rental business. There may be rules and laws you may have to abide by for the trash or waste you get from customers, and how and where to dispose of it.
Some lucrative niches you can tap into within the dumpster rental business are construction, commercial, residential, roll-off, temporary dumpster, event waste management, junk removal, and hazardous waste management.
11. Portable restroom rental business
The ‘porta-potties’ or portable restroom rental business is among the most profitable rental business ideas. Invest in these and offer them for rentals to popular festivals, events, concerts, emergency camps, construction sites, and temporary job sites.
Your regular customers will come from the construction and temporary renovation sites where these portable restrooms are used every single day. The industry standard for the number of portable restrooms required for a construction site is one portable restroom per person working 40 hours every week. Due to this standard, you may have a good number of rentals being rented for medium to long terms.
The portable restroom costs low due to its molded plastic construction. But, you may have to dip deeper into your wallet to buy the specialized vacuum truck equipment required to get rid of the waste produced. Research waste removal practices and relevant equipment required to keep your portable restroom rentals free.
12. Party rental business
Weddings, birthdays, graduation, formal dinners, anniversaries, holiday season, and similar events only happen once or a few times a year. For an average family, it doesn’t make sense to invest so much money into getting the right furniture, decorations, and equipment to host these. This is the opportunity where you can cash in and start your party rental business.
Equipped with the right items for every occasion, your party rental business can cater to these events all year round. Event management is an old business model, and it may be a saturated segment in your area as well. However, if you find the right audience in a niche, you may start getting referrals quickly. This is a low-investment rental business as well, especially if you only rent out for specific events or to a certain audience.
13. Costume and props rental business
Our last suggestion for a rental business is the costume and props industry. It will require a low to medium investment. You can rent out character costumes for Halloween, dresses for formal events, party wear, wedding dresses and suits, and festival-specific costumes.
Your customers will be individuals, and you can also rent to schools, theaters, production houses, movie companies, and festivals. It is a huge market as most people want to rent their costumes, suits, and dresses instead of buying one for just a day or two. Tap into this market by finding a crowd that shares the same passion as you.
14. Wedding and wedding suits rental business
Weddings have to be perfect in all aspects, from the venue to the food, and from the couple to the guests. To ensure this, every couple wants the best in business for their wedding. Try your hand at a wedding rental business as it is an investment that you can start locally and quickly. Your family, extended family, neighbors, friends, and coworkers can become your early customers.
To start, go through an extensive wedding plan to inspect the most common things that are rented out in a wedding. You can invest in a specific niche within this rental industry.
For example, pair up with a wedding catering company and offer to rent out cutlery, catering equipment, and related furniture. You can also focus your wedding rental business on offering decorations, furniture, tents, chairs, tables, etc.
If you have an eye for fashion and can get bespoke suits and dresses made in time, you can invest in renting tuxedos, suits, dresses, etc. In this fabric-focused niche, you can expand your rental assets to include stage curtains, photo booths, drapery, cushioning, napkins, theme weddings, etc.
15. Baby equipment rental business
For young families with kids, traveling to another city or state is always a hassle. They have to pack the baby stroller, baby car seat, or even baby carriers.
These take up valuable space in your car, or worse, it may deduct considerable allowed weight from your plane ticket. You can start a profitable baby equipment rental business by renting mobility equipment to visitors and tourists. It has low to medium investment with a good profit margin. You can scale your rental business over time. The ideal places where you can rent out baby equipment are huge malls, theme parks, hotels, zoos, and recreational centers. These will be brimming with tired parents, moody toddlers, and babies that want to sleep.
16. Furniture rental business
For a furniture rental business, you may buy the required assets to cater to homeowners, corporate offices, dorms, media companies, and hotels. You can become an all-in-one furniture rental solution or pick a specific niche. Your furniture rental business can provide outdoor furniture for festivals or office furniture for corporate buildings for longer durations.
You can also rent luxury furniture for events or you may cater specifically for an entertainment stage or a movie set. Since stylish, unique, or period-specific furniture is expensive, your customers will be willing to rent out furniture for cheaper rather than buying it themselves.
17. Decor and signage rental business
Starting a decor and signage rental business is straightforward. It is a business you can start easily with low to medium investment. Your customers will be businesses, individuals, corporations, and anyone at all.
You can invest in getting decorations for specific seasons or occasions like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Valentine’s Day, etc. Your customers will rent the decorations for their events and parties. Additionally, you can offer lighting equipment and rent off a generator in case the event is off-grid.
You can select lawn signs as your niche and offer the rentals to realtors, property owners, homeowners, etc. Another niche within the decor and signage rental industry is temporary road and traffic signs, cones, detour signs, etc. You can partner with local highway authorities to offer your rentals to them.
18. Camping and adventure gear rental business
If you live near a National Park or popular camping grounds, you can invest in opening a camping gear rental business. Not all campers want to buy expensive gear for this activity which may only happen a few times a year.
Find your target audience which will be camp-going families, students, groups of friends, etc. Create a rapport with them by offering the best quality camping gear rental equipment. Give them a great rental experience using powerful rental software, and you will likely convert them into loyal customers who visit you every season.
A few offshoots of this same adventure equipment rental industry are rentals for fishing, hunting, hiking, etc. Depending on the influx of visitors and the time of the year, you may be able to start a highly profitable rental business.
19. Canoe and kayak rental business
If you live close to a popular water body like a lake or a river, you can invest your money in a canoe and kayak rental business. It can be started with a low to medium investment as you will only be getting canoes, kayaks, paddles, lifejackets, etc.
The canoes and kayaks are durable so you won’t have too expensive or frequent equipment maintenance. Pair up your rental business with guided tours and courses, and you have a great rental business model.
If starting with your physical storage space seems challenging, you can partner with hotels and accommodations on the waterfront. They will get you storage space and customers, and in return, you will add experiential value for their visitors with your canoe and kayak rental business.
20. Ski and snowboard rental business
Consider starting a ski and snowboard rental business if you live in an area with heavy winter weather. Bike rentals are to summer what ski and snowboard rentals are to winter. It has a low investment entry point and you can research the types of ski and snowboard popular with amateurs and professionals.
Build your rental business around their needs. Keep in mind that this business will be seasonal. You can rent to popular skiing and winter resorts or locate your business at the base of the ski hill or the last town before the resort. Additionally, you can also offer winter boots, goggles, helmets, ski suits, socks, etc., to cover all bases in this niche.
There you go, the top 20 rental business ideas and how to get them going. If you have the right rental software to back your business, the only way to go will be up! It will help you effectively manage your assets, orders, customers, and more. By automating workflows in the rental software, you can save precious time to focus more on your core business. It will result in quicker rent-outs, easier tracking, and instant payments.
FAQs
What are the most profitable things to rent out?
Renting out a variety of items can be highly profitable with real estate being the highest rental earners. The construction industry relies heavily on rentals, with equipment and vehicles being in demand.
The event industry also frequently rents equipment like tents, chairs, and AV gear. Luxury items like high-end cars also have a lucrative rental market. Specialized tools and machinery, RVs, and campervans can also yield significant returns.
Vacation rentals, including cabins and beach houses, have become increasingly popular. It’s important to note that market demand and location are crucial factors in calculating profitability.
How profitable are rental businesses?
Generally, rental businesses that have a high investment entry point usually result in the highest profit margins—for example, construction vehicle and equipment rentals, car rentals, property rentals, etc.
What profits should I expect from an equipment rental business?
The profits will vary widely based on factors like location, market demand, type of equipment, competition, and operational efficiency. On average, profit margins for the equipment rental business range from 5 to 20%, but specifics depend on your business model and circ*mstances.
What are the most profitable rental business ideas to make money in 2024?
In 2024, the most profitable rental business ideas are real estate (especially short-term and vacation rentals), construction equipment, luxury vehicles, event and AV equipment, specialty tools, RVs and campervans, and high-demand tech gadgets.
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