Hire

[Adam S]

Hi

Me and a friend, who are into photography, are thinking of setting up a business, hiring out SLR cameras, mainly canon, along with a selection of accessories and lens, from basis kit lens to expensive L series.

Would anyone be interested in hiring anything like that, bearing in mind that our business plan would be to undercut the likes of calumet.

adam

 

[Matt989]

www.lensesforhire.co.uk seem to do ok, the guy who runs it is a member ofvthis forum I believe.

 

[Kemble3]

I would think very carefully before going in to this business if your only USP were to simply undercut your competition.

A few things to consider………..
What is the size of the camera/lens hire industry in the UK?
Who will be your competitors?
What is your route to market?

I for one don’t think Id ever need to hire a camera but have hired a few specialised lenses in the passed.

 

[Starastin]

reed posts from the lensesforhire.co.uk guy . they explain a lot about this type of business.

 

[c_robinson]

i'd also look at the capital outlay before thinking again, how much does 1x 1d4 canon cost? £3500.
how many bodies would you need to supply demand?

 

[akr]

I'm not sure how you'd go about this, but I'd consider initially starting with items that will hold their value more (eg lenses), so if you need to sell you could recoup a fair amount of your investment. I'd also start small and try and build up a reputation.

I imagine the problem with cameras is that they now come out so often that people might only want to hire the latest, and that's then a lot of expense every xx months.

I've used lensesforhire before, as have quite a few others, and it would take more than shaving off a few pounds on the hire for me not to use them again, so you'll need some other elements to get people to use you vs an established business with a good rep.

Good luck

Al

 

[Jelster]

I've used lensesforhire before, as have quite a few others, and it would take more than shaving off a few pounds on the hire for me not to use them again, so you'll need some other elements to get people to use you vs an established business with a good rep.

I'd have to 2nd that.

Stewart's business has exceptionally high customer service and they are very easy to work with, even when things go wrong (like me being delayed in Aus for 12 hours & missing my return date).

And the capital outlay is huge, especially if you are getting into camera bodies. Now Flash units & studio equipment, that's a different subject and it's not covered very well....

Steve

 

[madhouse]

I can see that you're trying to enter the market with body hire and as such you'd be likely to get the associated lens hire as well. Your differentation is in the bodies as no-one else seems to do that at the mo - have you ever considered why?

Personally, I've just started hiring lenses as it lets me get a top quality lens for a one-off occasion - something which means repeat business is highly likely. I'm not sure I'd hire a body though, it takes a long time to really get to know a camera and really fine tune it to your liking, so would I get the most out of my hire period? probably not.
You also need to think about yourself, firstly it's going to cost a fortune and banks aren't exactly giving money to start-ups at the moment. There's also the admin and it'll take a while to clear all those custom settings the previous hirer saved and to make sure it all still works, all of this you need to do while making a £3.5k body pay for itself inside of a couple of years and an ex-hire body may not hold its re-sale price like a privately owned one either.
On a more positive note, if you're the only hirer of bodies in the UK then maybe you get the jump on everyone else and maybe there is enough demand from those wanting to try-before-you buy, need a second body or have broken theirs and need an interim.
Being the cheapest is one selling point but don't underestimate the level of service people expect, and also that people will pay a bit extra for fantastic service and also come back for more.

There's so much to think about before setting up a business, I hope that we're all able to help you cover all the bases.

 

[itsdavedotnet]

Now Flash units & studio equipment, that's a different subject and it's not covered very well....

Steve

at the professional end it is, plenty of profoto and bron kit in rental houses, calumet and tfc all around the UK. at a more amateur level, TFC do cheaper packages iirc. Any more 'consumer' lights probably wouldn't sustain the hard life that is involved for them in a rental market.


oh, and the hire business will always be based upon reputation, past experience, customer service and reliability.

 

[Adam S]

Thanks for the comments, it looks like lens hire is that way to go.

I understand that just undercutting the competition is not the only thing to do, I have sold a fair bit on ebay and good coms, fast deliverly and honestly is key, and this is somthing which ill carry over into any other bussiness.

Im just trying to understand the target market at the moment, is it beginners who want a go with a pro lens, or is it pros?

Also I hear what people are saying about the bodies going out of date pretty quick, and the lenes actually going up in value, but maybe there are complete beginners out there who want to hire a camera, a couple of lens, a battery grip and a couple of memory cards for there hoilday, but then again I think most people will just take there compact camera.

Adam