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Tool Rental Business: What Tools and Equipment to Rent Out

September 13, 2015 | By Jenny Fulbright | Reply More

Articles in the Starting a Tool and Rental Equipment Series:

Tools and Equipment to Rent Out

Success in a tool and equipment rental business depends in large part to the quality of your product offerings. You can set your business apart from the competition by ensuring that you offer only the finest tools in the various categories that you serve. Your product selection should elicit customer satisfaction.

Decide on the tools and equipment that you will make available for rental. Start by planning the categories of tools that you will make available for rent, such as wood, general construction, painting and walls, fastening and welding, demolition, and other categories.

Some tools and equipment that you can rent out include:

Painting and Walls

Drywall Sander
Electric Wallpaper Steamer
Paint sprayer
Texture sprayer

General Construction

core drills
ditchers (both walk behind and riding trenchers)
air jack hammers
mini excavators
tampers
plate compactors
trenchers
rotary laser level kit
gas powered concrete saws
chain saws
drills, including roto hammers
electric pressure washer
air pavement breakers, bobcats, trenchers, trailers are good. Trailer-mounted air compressors in the 10-50 HP range might also be good (and a variety of air tools), cutting torches, wire welders, heavy-duty (1″ drive, or bigger) tools, cement mixers.

Fastening and Welding

air compressor
floor nailer
floor stapler gauge
framing nailer
finish nailer
welder

Demolition

electric jack hammers
breakers
chipping hammers
roto hammer
floor stripper

There is also significant demand in rental of vehicles that can carry heavy loads and equipment such as:

flatbed trailers
double axel trailer
utility vehicles

The cost of the tools and equipment that you will plan to rent will be the biggest start-up expense of your tool rental business. While it may be good to offer a wide selection of tools for rent, your resources may force you to limit the number of tools available. Try to anticipate the demand for your business. You don’t want to buy so many tools that will end up un-rented in your shop; yet you also don’t want a situation where you are unable to meet the demand of your customers. The safer approach may be to grow your inventory slowly depending on what customers look for in your shop.

If your tool rental business can offer only a small amount of tools, be sure to compensate that with excellent customer service and deeper knowledge about the tools offered. Visit other tool rental businesses in your area, and look around at their inventory, rental price of each item and then compare to cost.

Always maintain your tools diligently so that the tools are always in the best shape and will appear as new. Your tool rental business should always strive to provide a sufficient inventory of high-quality tools, kept in excellent condition. Having the highest in quality tools means that you will be able to better serve your customers, increasing your chances for the success of your tool rental business.

To supplement your tool rental business, consider selling new and used tools. You can sell professional-grade tools and equipment that were previously rented but are still in good, working condition. While the tools can be sold “as-is” at significantly discounted prices, be sure to test out the tools first to make sure that they working. Clearly mark the tools as “Previously Rented” to distinguish the tools from the brand new items.