Well, there may be several of them. Despite their quantity, all the reasons originate from a single most important reason. And that is a lack of innovation.
Well, there may be several of them. Despite their quantity, all the reasons originate from a single most important reason. And that is a lack of innovation.
Innovation is so powerful that it can make or break your success.
Let's be specific. We start a business to make money. We set up our business, registering it as a legal entity, procuring equipment that we are sure will rent well in our community, and creating an attractive logo and vouchers by giving our best efforts to make them look good. And we distribute advertisements on social media and public places and even do word-of-mouth here and there. Then, we wait for orders to come pouring in. Unfortunately, a day passes, a week passes, and you notice something is not right. Anxiousness and fear of failure start to boggle your mind. And you seriously begin to look for your mistakes. Others party rental business seems fine, but yours feels like it is deemed for failure. What is the reason?!
It is not a secret. You lack the innovation to surf the modern trends. Did you know that 49% of shoppers use Google to find new products and services? That means if your website is not appearing in search results (even worse, if you do not have one), your chances are slashed into half.
Innovation should also go hand in hand with good customer experience. Attractive vouchers, logos, and top-of-the-notch web designs satisfy our internal desires, and they do not benefit a potential customer. Let's do a simple experiment. Make a flashy voucher, spending hundreds of dollars on its design, and make another with a simple design but with a bold discount offer (e.g., 30% OFF). People will select the latter.
A flashy voucher is valuable only to you because you have spent money on it; people like the one with a discount because they can see its value for themselves. I hope you caught the logic here.
The first step is determining why people are not coming to your business. Its answer is much more straightforward than you think. Mostly there are three possible reasons:
Have a website.
It should be the first step to your success. The following statistics suggest why it is essential. Around 70% of small businesses have a website. Did you know that 81% of shoppers prefer to do online research about a company before purchasing (including rentals)? More specifically, 55% read online reviews, and 45% search for the business website.
Statistics get even more interesting. 99% of customers use the internet to find local businesses. That means if you are not present online, your chances for growing your business are less than 1% unless you forge a partnership with a big, established company and operate under their umbrella.
Why do some small rental businesses not have a website?
Interestingly, some small businesses do not consider having a website on their own because they believe their companies are too small to have a website or they think it is too high to build and maintain one. Instead, they prefer to use social media. There is nothing wrong with using social media, and in fact, we recommend it. However, having a website and using social media is even better as each complements one another.
We are currently living in uncertain times. So, there are better options than relying on a single external platform (such as Facebook). What if your social media account you put so much effort into got banned one day? Or what if the people decide to leave the social media that you so much focused on because of the reported privacy breaches? The list can easily go on. So, it is better to have your website since you get full control over it.
Thinking your business is too small for a website is flawed logic. If you think it is too small, it will stay small. Your website acts like your online passport, and online searchers may only take your business seriously if you have it. Also, the assumption about website prices should not be a scary factor either. So many great software solutions equip your business with a professional website for an affordable price. For instance, Reservety, all-in-one party rental software, offers a website, hosting account, and over 200 features starting from just $28 a month. Plus, they provide technical support to avoid high fees associated with website maintenance.
Make customers' life easier.
Let's be honest. We are all getting accustomed to the conveniences of technology. Most of us prefer to sit on our cozy chairs, grab a phone and coffee or tea, and skim through the online shops to find the products and services we need. We no longer drive through the town and go to store by store to compare the prices until we find the one we like.
Visualize this scenario. Let's say you have a business that rents out 30 varieties of inflatables, five types of event chairs, and many types of event equipment and decoration options. How can you showcase them to people who want to decide without leaving their homes or office? It would be tough for you to email photos of each piece of equipment and even take-over-the phone orders. It will also not be convenient for renters as they may need to find time from their busy schedule, and even worse, they need to stay in your office for an extended period to do a rental paper. How can we ensure a quick and convenient rental process for customers? Rental Software.
We recommend Reservety because it turns your physical party rental store into an automated website with the following features:
Therefore, the online booking system plays a significant role. When you have a website with all your inventories listed with good pictures, accurate prices, and detailed descriptions, and more importantly, if the website allows customers to choose and book the rental items for desired dates autonomously by paying with a credit card or e-wallet, they will enjoy the process. It also benefits you because you are automating the rental process and freeing yourself from unnecessary hassles.
Those are just a few of the Reservety's features that can innovate your business model and create conveniences for your customers. If you have any other feature in your mind that would make your and your customers' lives easier, Reservety custom-builds it for you.
Let's summarize why you are not getting enough customers to sustain and grow your party rental business. The root cause is a lack of innovation. Party rental businesses usually follow old methods, use outdated tools, and try to make the bookings manually. Unfortunately, the younger generation prefers quick rental processes and wants them done through a company's website.
Failing to use innovative strategies leads to other chronic issues such as low business visibility, poor customer service, double bookings, and poor customer experience.
Three Solutions:
Reservety handles your website, bookings, inventory, and payments — so you can focus on growing your business.