RentalShare: Utah Man Finds a Way to Make Money Offering Free Storage

When Ellis Atwood was ready to renovate his new home in Orem, UT, he was frustrated by how much of a hassle it was to rent the tools he needed. Renting required multiple trips to the store, reservations couldn’t be made in advance, and it was expensive.

At the same time, he noticed his home storage space was filling up with tools and outdoor gear that he rarely used, but wasn’t quite ready to sell.

Those problems inspired Atwood to start RentalShare, a community-powered rental shop in Orem, UT. RentalShare is based on a simple premise - they offer you free storage for the tools and outdoor gear you use less often, and then they rent your gear out to the community, and they pay you a commission when your gear is used. Along the way, they handle repairs and maintenance, so you can have confidence they’ll have your stuff ready to pick up in good condition when you need it again.

“Free storage is very compelling. People love the idea of sharing and getting by with less. That said, starting a business from scratch has definitely not been a walk in the park”, Atwood said.

What sort of challenges? For one, finding the right inventory. Atwood found that what homeowners have to share is often different than what they need to rent. For example, everyone has an electric drill, but no one has a concrete mixer sitting in their garage to contribute. He’s exploring solving this by working with professionals to store their more specialized equipment.

Another challenge? Tracking inventory and performing maintenance when every item is a different model from a different manufacturer. As Atwood started collecting 100’s of pieces of equipment, he found this to be a critical issue, and has been working hard at putting the right systems in place to manage inventory.

But even with challenges like this, starting a business can be very rewarding, and offers the potential for strong future earnings when you put in the work now.

Right now Atwood is operating the business out of his home, focusing on getting the fundamentals right and getting more word of mouth renters, before committing to the expense of renting a space and hiring employees. “I’m a firm believer in nailing it before you scale it. I’ve been filling my basement to the brim with neighbors’ gear, but even though a shop would be nice, starting at home has been a great way to learn quickly while reducing the risk that comes with starting a business.”
What’s next for RentalShare? “We need more inventory. More of everything. When customers come to us, we need to be confident we’ll have exactly what they need in stock. Right now in our outdoor gear rental business, this means winter gear - we’re thinking deeply about how we’ll collect the hundreds of snowboards, boots, cross country skis, etc. that we’ll need to support our winter rentals business.” 

You can learn more about RentalShare by visiting www.rentalshare.org, or by following along on their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/rentalshareUC/. Have gear you want to get out of your closet? Message RentalShare on their Facebook page and tell him Lance from Millennial Making Millions sent you.

Next week, I'll be writing about my experience using rental share and allowing them to loan and store my gear!