Start An A/V Equipment Rental - Business Ideas

Updated: September 15th, 2022
Start An A/V Equipment Rental

Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.

Buying AV equipment does not make sense unless you are an event organizer or your company runs multiple events annually. Instead, businesses prefer hiring AV equipment rather than investing thousands of dollars in buying the equipment for a single event.

An audiovisual equipment rental business offers event or party organizers the right equipment to make the events a hit. The AV equipment rental business offers bundled packages to add technical perfection to any type of events their customers are looking to host.

Starting an AV rental business can be capital intensive, but given the rising demand for AV equipment, it can be profitable. If you plan to start the AV equipment rental business, remember there is high competition. Therefore, you have to ensure aggressive marketing to attain the business objectives.

Starting an A/V equipment rental requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.

If you're interested in how to sell A/V equipment rental, or selling A/V equipment rental online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.

Key Stats

market size
$9.4B
starting costs
$18K
gross margin
90%
time to build
270 days

Startup Costs

Min Startup Costs Max Startup Costs

Employee & Freelancer Expenses

$151

$252

Website Costs

$223

$7,015

Business Formation Fees

$600

$4,700

Vehicle Expenses

$0

$10,000

Retail Business Expenses

$1,250

$6,650

Advertising & Marketing Costs

$75

$3,986

Software Expenses

$162

$2,720

Office Space Expenses

$0

$100

Specific Industry Expenses

$0

$500

Total Startup Costs

$2,461

$35,923

Successful Businesses

Business URL Rank

Sunbelt Rentals

sunbeltrentals.com

68,769

Equipment Rental Software

ezrentout.com

129,626

A-Z Equipment

a-zequipment.com

516,951

AV Party Rental

avparty.com

591,734

Trew Audio

trewaudio.com

603,926

Rental Software for AV and Event

rentman.io

665,037

AVE Living

aveliving.com

976,062

VER

ver.com

993,804

Tempe Camera

tempecamera.biz

1,160,957

AV2GO

av2go.com

1,176,366

Clearwing – Production, Sales, Service, Systems

clearwing.com

1,245,136

Pros & Cons

Pros Description

Little startup costs required

The cost to start a A/V equipment rental costs significantly less money than most businesses, ranging anywhere from 62 to 35,923.

Rewarding work

Starting a A/V equipment rental can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about.

High customer retention rates

Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer.

Pick & choose the clients you work with

A/V Equipment Rentales have the ability to choose the clients they work with. You have the freedom to work with only a few loyal clients or with hundreds of clients!

Control of workload

With starting an A/V equipment rental, you have the unique ability to choose how little or how much you want to work. You also have the freedom to decide which projects you want to work on, and can turn down the ones that do not interest you.

Gain exposure and experience

This career allows you to gain experience working for multiple different businesses - which will benefit your resume and also keep things interesting for you!

Cons Description

Motivation of employees

If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.

Longer Sales Process

A A/V equipment rental can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers.

Work can be inconsistent

As a A/V equipment rental, the amount of work assigned to you and schedule tends to be more inconsistent, which may make your income less stable. It's important to set boundaries and budget accordingly based on the amount of work you plan to have.

Lack of benefits

With a A/V equipment rental, you are typically self-employed and responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be quite costly and time-consuming.

Taxes

As a A/V equipment rental, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.

No safety net

Typically, as a A/V equipment rental, you do not receive a consistent pay-check and instead earn money based on your transactions each month. During the slow periods, you typically take away less since the job is based on commission. It's important to budget accordingly for the slow times.

Marketing Ideas

  • 1

    Direct Sales

    Direct sales strategy implies a direct contact between a seller and a consumer without the involvement of any third party. Direct selling is popular in sectors where sellers communicate with their clientele personally. The sales technique occurs at non-store locations which include at home, work, or online.

    For direct selling to succeed, hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process. It's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.

    Learn more about direct sales ➜

  • 2

    Word of mouth

    Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.

    Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.

    According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.

    Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.

    Learn more about word of mouth ➜

  • 3

    Social Media Advertising

    Social media advertising is the use of social media platforms to connect with your audience with the objective to build your brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic.

    According to Oberlo, approximately 48% of the global population use social media, and the number is ever-growing.

    Therefore, social media allows brands access to cost-effective advertising by enabling them to interact with a large audience.

    Learn more about social media advertising ➜