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Epic Rental House Business Plan

Louis Maddalena

Louis Maddalena

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Hey guys,

I'm getting everything ready to make desposits on Epic's and other gear. My goal is to buy some gear and start a rental company (I've already started building up canon gear). I was wondering what you think I would absolutely need to get people attracted to renting from my company. I know I'll need a certain amount of lenses, some nice tripods and an Epic body, but what else do you think would be necessary?

Louis
 
Dan Kanes said:
Monkeys.

Several of them.

Can I write a business plan for you as well?
Click to expand...

No thanks, went to business school :) Just looking at what kinds of little gadgets Epic renters might like that I have not heard about yet...
 
Sorry, that was mostly meant as a non-sequitir joke.

I guess my thought is this: the information is out there. I've been learning for a long time how to
Make a viable business model.

For someone to come in to a forum and expect to basically be told what they need to do in order to make money feels anti-thetical to the notion of having to work to attain knowledge, money or power.

So, pardon me for not wanting to be crowdsourced for my hard-learned knowledge.
 
lol...Dan. I'm not asking how to start a business. This will be my third and I'm quite good at it. I came to a Red Forum because I wanted to get some information on the Epic. Since there is no information on any websites about exactly what can be bought and when I figured I'd ask the people who are lucky enough to have an Epic-M what if any cool gadgets the've gotten a preview to that a renter in the future might like so I can add it to my list of items I must acquire. I happen to belong to a bunch of other forums as well, some where I have over 7,000 posts and I am always willing to help somebody else if I know something that they do not know. That is the point of a forum and that is why I asked my question. In the future if you ask something and I know the answer I'll make sure to tell you that its not why we are here; to tell you something we have worked hard (and spent a lot of money on) learning something and you should go out and pay a university to teach it to you or go with the trial and error routine. Because who knows.. I might actually know more than you..

Respect my friend.. it will get you a lot more places than an attitude.
 
im in agreement with the monkeys.

as for the epic, an absolutely full kit will bring peace of mind to customers when they use you. Soo i recommend 1 of everything in the red store. :) for a start
 
Respect is a funny thing. It goes both ways.

Your best (most valuable) option is to go out an HIRE yourself a cameraman for a day, or two. Sit down and discuss the business. His needs, wants and desires. Things that he or she would like to see in a rental house that they might not be currently getting. You might be surprised by what gets discussed.

To come to a forum and expect to get a quick answer about which gadget will draw business to your rental house is overly simplistic. A good rental house has equipment, and lots of it. And lots of trained monkeys that know how to maintain it.

Being a successful rental house has a lot more to do with the people than the gadgets. Just ask any of the rental houses that have been in business for decades. There is a reason they have lasted (and will continue) so long. Regardless which of the latest gadget they are renting.
 
Dan Kanes said:
Sorry, that was mostly meant as a non-sequitir joke.

I guess my thought is this: the information is out there. I've been learning for a long time how to
Make a viable business model.

For someone to come in to a forum and expect to basically be told what they need to do in order to make money feels anti-thetical to the notion of having to work to attain knowledge, money or power.

So, pardon me for not wanting to be crowdsourced for my hard-learned knowledge.
Click to expand...

You should post this on the "Ask David Mullen ANYTHING" Thread I'm sure he worked really hard to acquire the skills and knowledge he seems to be giving away for free. I really don't think there would be a reduser without people asking questions and getting answers about red equipment. Or maybe it was the phrasing of the question that came across threatening, should he have just asked what the best full meal deal package for epic was. leaving out the whole rental business thing all together I'm sure that would have garnerd a more diplomatic response.
 
isaac williams said:
You should post this on the "Ask David Mullen ANYTHING" Thread I'm sure he worked really hard to acquire the skills and knowledge he seems to be giving away for free. I really don't think there would be a reduser without people asking questions and getting answers about red equipment. Or maybe it was the phrasing of the question that came across threatening, should he have just asked what the best full meal deal package for epic was. leaving out the whole rental business thing all together I'm sure that would have garnerd a more diplomatic response.
Click to expand...

Thanks for standing up for me. I wanted to be honest though in my question. I wanted to know what people wanted because even though I do intend customer service and gear maintenance to be highest priorities that's simple business stuff that anybody who knows business would know. I've asked a lot of people what they would want and I'm building s list of derided products that I can offer. I know that a lot of the people here are the types of customers I will likely have one day... People who need a second kit for a project, or don't have a particular piece and want to rent one for a few day.... I may only be 22 but I have every intention of having at least 2 full epic rigs and gear from other manufacturers and a few customers by years end. I have business experience and this is only one small part of my research....

I don't know, from how nice some of the guys are here I was stupid to assume that would be how everybody was....
 
Honestly.. (and im not in the rental game for this reason)

Unless your in some random town, where your the only game in town.. and there is an industry there needing epics,.. The camera rental biz is a tough one..

you should already have a list of clients and multiple cameras/ aks..

The camera world is cramped ive found
 
I have to agree with Zakaree. The old adage "if you have to ask..." applies very much here. With the advent of the Red One I think many jumped on the bandwagon and bought a camera thinking that this was enough in itself to find business. Sadly for many this has not worked out very well. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it can't work, but having established clients and good relationships in place is abosultely key. Existing rental houses typically have many millions of dollars in gear and their calculation of having any kind of decent ROI for new gear is based more on providing complete packages with multiple options then only betting on one horse.

On the other hand, small scale owners/operators like myself have done well and hope to do so also with the Epic because of a combination of in-house projects, technical expertise and prior existing relationships.
 
I think the suggestion to hang out with a shooter for awhile is a good one, but I would go farther than that.

In all honesty if I were you I would start by renting grip and lighting and after you are comfy with folks beating your gear to pieces feel free to move on to cameras. (Also.. grip/lighting always sells easily if you get tired of the game.)

"Renting some Epics" is a little more involved than what you are making it out to be. To truly be successful you will need to provide a high level of service and expertise. So maybe being an owner operator first would be a good idea and then buy additional camera(s) once your skills, service and connections are extensive.

DPs want a complete, well maintained package with everything they need and a direct line to someone who knows exactly how to bail them out if there is an issue with the camera...or they just need to know how to enable audio CH 3 + 4 because the menu scares them. :)

Also.. if you just want a simple list of gear then visit one of the many popular rental house websites and look up what they have.
 
Wow, what a can of worms. Without a solid working knowledge and experience of how the gear works and whats the latest widget people want and need, you can end up spending half your time sub-renting other peoples gear and delivery services getting that stuff to and from your shop, making it that much harder to profit. Or you hire a very experienced person to cut through the learning curve is another way, but that would cost a bunch.

Tough, tough, tough.

I'd run fast from this business plan unless your in the film business already and know a lot of people to begin with... that's square one. I agree with the person who said "if you have to ask"..... the learning curve will handicap you to a large degree to where you cant get a head of the game, specially in a saturated market, where everybody and they're brother has a camera they want to rent out. The "whole" business enchilada is much more then having a camera and some accessories to rent.
 
I'll share some opinions...
Obviously get more than one Epic.
Maybe consider having a couple of Red One MXs as well, since not every production that calls you will have the right amount of money (many won't) You may want a few of the smaller PL-mount 1080p cameras whose names I do not mention on this forum.
You will need lenses. Lots and lots of lenses. Zeiss, Cooke, Angeniuex. Multiples of every one. Don't expect DPs who rent from you to like the lenses you like, or apply logic to choice of lens. I learned this myself with my Cooke S4 15-40. It's a fantastic lens, love it, but DPs renting packages from me almost exclusively wanted the primes in that range despite the zoom matching them in color, sharpness, and speed. That alone was a $45,000 experiment...
Have a variety of camera support. Don't just have one 27-75 per camera. Get a few 20-60's, maybe an EX120, a few Sachtlers. A geared head and maybe a couple of Lambda heads. Be ready with various kinds of batteries; blocks, onboards, etc. Different monitors. A variety of follow focus devices.
Be ready with wireless of every flavor. Preston, Arri, Bartech. There are various price points and needs and you should have at least one of each.
Have backups, or arrangements with other rental houses so you can get what you don't have. Be ready to spend money every day of the week messengering around to pick up and return subrentals.
Don't undercut prices. You will be unpopular with said other rental houses, who may refuse to rent you gear when you need it, and will not be inclined and throw you a bone by renting your gear when times are slow. Also, since digital cameras have a shockingly short rentable life span, you need to make your return 5x or 10x faster than we used to with film cameras.
Hire smart people. Especially prep techs. Don't be surprised at the amount of time you will spend babysitting each checkout (besides being on the phone and sending quotes etc.) If you can't afford lens and electronic techs, make an arrangement with another rental house for priority access to their techs. Be ready to pay for this privilege.
Go out of your way to accommodate AC's requests, however ridiculous. ACs wield a lot of power in pointing DPs and producers to a favored rental house. Be ready to make special cables, buy silly brackets that you will never make any money on, etc.
Have a large, well-lit prep space with some kind of accommodations (internet, phones, a desk) again with ACs in mind. Consider a separate "feature room" for productions shooting tests or hosting a multi-day prep. This should be a room that can be blacked out for tests. Overestimate the amount of space you need. By the time there are three preps going on, and each AC spreads out 15-20 cases, you will run out of room quick.
Be prepared for a call at 2:00 am regarding gear that's gone down, or some other emergency need that may or may not involve your camera. Certainly you need to provide production with a 24-hour contact number, whether it's you or an employee. You may get these call more often than you expect.
Be ready with the back-office type business. Make sure you have good insurance, pay a lawyer to draft boilerplate retal contract or T&Cs. Obviously you need a Federal EIN but you also need state and local permits, tax numbers, etc. Make sure you charge sales tax or collect tax exempt certificates. You may want to get merchant accounts with VISA, MC and AMEX. Be ready to vet newcomer clients with credit checks etc. before you give terms.
Clean your cases. Even if it means you, the business owner, are doing it yourself. I'm not kidding here.
I could go on and on, but those are the major things I can think of.
As others have said, it's a rough business. As an owner/operator, I can skimp on some of this stuff and get away with it, but for a true rental house there is no skimping. You will be quickly branded as a place not to go.
Another option, of course, is to consider simply buying a tricked out Epic and leaving it at a major rental house with some sort of split arrangement. This would be a way to try the business before going full-bore.
Cheers,
Harry
 
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1st get enough of money, and then I mean multiple x multiple 100.000$ and recalculate everything 1000 times, or you won't get anywhere around and lose everything. try to be prepared as much as you can.

and even then, nothing is for sure...and all depends on your contacts, social skills, and off course a little bit of luck
 
Harry did an excellent job spelling out more completely the business of the "rental business".... not as easy as it may look at first blush.

And it gets more difficult every day as many cameraman and producers alike... buy's they're own cameras. Its not like even 10 years ago when to do "Pro" work you needed a 100-120k investment for one camera kit and most productions went through a rental house. Now you can pick your price point and buy gear that can be used in certain pro environments, which has put huge stress on the camera rental industry. Many who own a Red-One or will have an Epic rent them out when they are not being used, which changes the supply-demand ratio of these cameras in a significant way.
 
The stratification of the business is such that there is now a camera for nearly every price point imaginable. It seems to me that only the largest rental houses that service the feature and episodic markets have any kind of protected position.
Medium and smaller sized rental houses are facing hard choices about where to concentrate their business; i.e. only servicing the DSLR market (maybe with a few smaller type cameras thrown in), or a more traditional broadcast camera (ENG/ EFP) market, or a focus on narrow but medium sized market like the Epic scenario I described above. Each has its own challenges, requirements, and complexities.
The risks and rewards obviously go up in lockstep with the level of production and the complexity of the market you are trying to service.
Strange times in that end of the business...
Cheers,
Harry
 
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