Inventory items are one of the most important, and expensive, investments for a rental company. For a rental business, accurate inventory management is key to seamless workflows. Without adequate inventory stock, companies can lose customers and ultimately sales revenue. 

As the full impact of COVID-19 hit businesses across the world in 2020, rental businesses were no exception. Small and medium-sized rental businesses faced new and unique challenges including store shutdowns, supply chain disruptions, changing market needs, and a shift to remote operations – all while ensuring the safety of employees and customers. 

The American Rental Association (ARA) forecast a 13 percent decline in equipment and event rental revenue in 2020 compared to 2019, dropping to $48.7 billion in the United States. However, they predict modest growth in 2021, ticking up 0.3 percent to $48.9 billion, before accelerating recovery kicks in with growth of 9.2 percent in 2022, 6.8 percent in 2023 and 4.8 percent in 2024 to reach $59.7 billion.

2020 has been a challenging year for most businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all businesses and rental businesses are no exception. Whether or not you have met your sales target for the year, the holiday season is a great time to boost business. With online shopping on the rise, you can optimize your rental business website for the upcoming holiday season and amplify sales.  

Last year, Black Friday shoppers spent $7.4 billion online – the second largest online sales day ever.  Couple this number with the $470 million spent on “Small Business Saturday”, and it’s evident that this weekend is extremely important for businesses, big or small.

With Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday around the corner,  how can you prepare your store for eager shoppers? Here are a few tips on how you can set up your small rental business for success and make the most out of Black Friday.

For rental companies that have large amounts of inventory to track, store, and maintain, optimal equipment management is a core business requirement. This is especially the case for the construction rental industry because they deal with high ticket items.

Regardless of inventory type, all rental companies need total inventory visibility. However, a lot of companies are still struggling with manual methods to manage their inventory across multiple warehouses. Manual methods such as spreadsheets are tedious to use, labor-intensive, static, and most problematically, highly prone to human errors.

WordPress powers almost 34% of all websites on the internet, making it one of the most widely used content management systems. One reason WordPress is a popular option is that it offers a wide variety of theme options to users. With new WordPress themes emerging almost daily, there is no shortage to choose from for your website.

While having so many options does sound exciting, having to sift through them in an attempt to pick just one can become tedious. Also, this isn’t a decision you can take in a hurry because choosing the right theme for your website is extremely important for online business success. It affects the first impression customers have of your company, defines your brand, helps promote brand consistency, and more. There are many factors to consider before choosing a WordPress theme.

Over 21 percent of worker fatalities in the private industry in 2018 were in the construction industry. According to a 2018 Turkish study  equipment-related occupational accidents are typically higher compared to other types of occupational accidents worldwide. 

This is especially true for the heavy construction industry where the equipment is usually huge and heavy and the consequences of accidents are severe. While the inherent risk is there, it can be mitigated with proper training of workers, vigilance on the job site, and importantly, well-maintained machinery. 

Have you secured your rental information against a natural or man-made disaster? You are likely not asking yourself this question on a daily basis, but it is important not to neglect this key area of business. Case in point: The wildfires raging across the West Coast threatening homes and businesses.

While the first concern regarding such natural disasters is the resulting property and financial damage, business owners also have to worry about their rental information. Since you cannot predict when calamity might strike, it is better to think ahead and always be prepared. For example, what happens if you lose all your rental information in a fire? It is going to be hard for you to get your company up and running again after such a loss.

In March of this year, over 500 trade shows were canceled globally, according to news accounts. Eight seven percent of audiovisual (AV) solution providers and 83 percent of AV end-users said their companies were negatively impacted by the pandemic, according to a survey conducted in the same month.

The same company reported data in June that the industry impact appeared to be lessening slightly, and attributed it to slowly opening economics and projects. While the impact of the pandemic may be lessening, it is important for AV rental companies to adapt to the “new normal”.

The pandemic has impacted every industry differently and while most are facing tough challenges, others, such as office furniture rental businesses, are seeing an uptick in business.

There is a simple reason for the sudden increase in demand for office furniture. Now that people are spending more time at home and in a lot of cases, setting up their home offices, they require furniture pieces that can help make the workspace more comfortable.