Toy rental as a business. Renting baby products is a great idea for a small business. Whether to take an office

Children's toys can not only stick their sharp edges into bare feet, but also bring stable income. In this article, we will tell you how the largest toy rental in the capital began its work, how much effort and money it took, and also what delusions and difficulties await a novice businessman in this area. Read the interview with Marina Spiryakina, the owner of the Cherry rental network. Read and memorize - this is the quintessence of experience and real practice.

How did the idea to create the Cherry rental come about? What do you consider a starting point?

Already in the sixth month of pregnancy, I was thinking about creating a business on maternity leave, and not drowning in cereals and diapers. On the New Year went to friends in Ivanovo and were surprised by the huge toys in a small apartment. It turned out to be rental. Friends talked about the lease, and when I returned to Moscow, I created groups on social networks and started inviting mothers. Interestingly, the hostess of the Ivanovo box office became my client in Moscow, and we are very friendly with her - the world is so small!

There is an abyss between idea and implementation. Tell us about your first steps. How was the niche determined, promoted, searched for suppliers?

Building a business is like raising a child. Here are sleepless nights, and tears, and screams. And then at first small, and later big joys. I tried to create business plans, looked at competitors, but since the field is only developing, I relied more on intuition. I looked at the demand, acted by trial and error. At first I copied the assortment from other rentals, but after two months I decided that I had my own way.

I always try to please the client. It was difficult at first, but I got used to it:

answered calls around the clock, even when you want to sleep or put your baby to bed;
worked as a courier, delivered goods, showed how to turn everything on / off;
dragged boxes and swings;
but it’s scary to think about washing and quartzing - something was constantly drying in the bathroom.

But it is important for me that the client is sure of the purity of the goods, that it is convenient for him to call at any time and receive the service, that it is convenient to get to the center and rent at any time. The most difficult thing was to work in this mode for the first six months. I was lending goods from home, and the whole one-room apartment was filled with car seats, play centers and all sorts of different toys, and we maneuvered between them.

Whoever our client is, we appreciate and respect him.

We are always happy to help, advise on the range, answer any questions. We sincerely rejoice if the thing was useful, liked, helped out. The only thing we ask our customers is to take care of the rented items. After all, then she will go to another mother or baby.

I immediately determined for myself that I would give out toys seven days a week, as late as possible in time and without collateral. Children are born every day, they do not know holidays and weekends, but many rentals close early, and people can leave work at 12 at night. A deposit is extra money that can be spent on a child and you don’t want to give it away, even if only for a while.

What were the investments? If it's not a secret - quickly went into the plus?

On mom's forums they constantly write "take those toys that you got from your child - and now the mini-rental is ready." I had the opposite situation, at first everything was bought for hire, and after the birth of my son, everything was tested on him. There were practically no investments - only my monthly maternity payments. I immediately tried to let the rental provide for itself. After six months of work, I saw that the profit had become, albeit small, but stable, and I decided to rent an office - and more solid, and there was where to put the goods. The first year we worked to zero, but I got invaluable experience and hired the first employee.

For the first two years, we only used social networks, word of mouth, and free placements. The first client came from a neighboring house - walking with a huge belly, I put up ads in my area. Now we are already trying Yandex.Direct, placements in various media, we are being filmed by television.

It is important for any entrepreneur to understand who he is working for. Who is your target audience? Describe her. What does she love? What does he believe in? What are her character traits which can be recognized from afar?

At first, I saw among the clients only mothers who want to save money and at the same time get a high-quality large-sized toy. Gradually, another audience was defined:

Parents who are tired of a newborn baby in a couple of months and do not understand what to do, how to relax their backs and entertain the baby.
Traveling couples have been drawn who have enough children's goods, but short term for a trip they need a hipsit, a railway arena or a super compact stroller.
Also grandparents, to whom relatives come from other cities or from abroad. They need children's goods for a week or two, and they are well aware that next year the child will grow up and a high chair or bed will no longer be needed.

Surely you often hear objections. Do people hesitate to rent? What needs to be explained most often?

I call the rental social business because we are helping people more than making money from it. In Russia, this service was forgotten, but in Soviet times rented strollers, TVs, washing machines, and at the same time everyone was happy! People are very surprised when they hear about rental of children's goods: “What, and is there such a thing?”.

Therefore, the complexity of business is that it is necessary to form a sphere, create rental culture car seats, strollers and toys. Monetization is low, as toys are expensive and rent is very cheap. In our rental, the cost of renting a toy or a car seat is comparable to rentals in Anapa or Arkhangelsk, but the cost of rent, wages, couriers, etc. much higher.

What product do you use most in demand? Are there any "seasonal" items?

All products can be called seasonal. Even things for newborns, which seem to be born all the time, have a season or, as we call “waves”. This is a trend that exists in our box office. For example, we have five electric swings for a week, which no one needs for a week or two, but then the “wave” came, and they were not even enough for everyone! Mostly in summer they take strollers and car seats, and in winter the demand for toys grows. We can even track: good weather - everyone runs for strollers, bad - give a toy to entertain the child.

A child can damage or break an expensive toy. How do you protect things?

Oddly enough, but more often toys are broken by parents. All because we keep toys from famous brands. They are very high quality, and you need to try to break something in them. In extreme cases, you can lose. But broken handles on strollers, lost spare parts from car seats are not uncommon. The attitude to rental items is negligent, but we always discuss with customers and go to the world. We forgive minor mischief, but the rental has not yet experienced major losses.

How do you work with the consumer? Is there any system of discounts, bonuses, promotions?

More recently, we calculated that almost all of our customers are regular. People love stability - if they took the goods once and everything suited them, they will not look for another rental. If a client takes things from us for the second time - automatically a 10% discount, the more often - the more bonuses. From 15 to 50% discount, free shipping and much more. We love regular customers. In addition, we have club card, thanks to which our customers can get discounts on children's products, beauty services and even delicious cakes.

Another stereotype: “A toy is a personal item. Hygiene, after all." Do you have to prove that the lease is safe? If so, how do you guarantee the cleanliness of the toys?

Very rarely, a mother who is afraid to take a toy after someone will turn to the rental. These are mostly people who trust us, although there have been cases when strollers were sniffed and toys were checked with a luminometer (hygiene monitoring device). Regular customers know that the goods are brought to us from cleaning. In addition, there are quartz lamps everywhere at the pick-up point, and this calms people down.

How do you choose suppliers? Is the item you sell belongs to you?

There are goods that we buy used - but these are isolated cases and only in perfect condition. Basically, we buy new things for rental. Even taking into account the fact that the thing came from the store shelf, its life span is 1 year, maximum 2 years - either the product comes into a “non-rental” form, or some important parts are lost. All our goods are the property of the Cherry rental, other online platforms are engaged in subleasing and promoting rental ideas. For example, Next2U.

How not to miscalculate with prices? Imagine the pain of a budding entrepreneur. What percentage of the value of the item should be the rental price? Is there a formula?

In the beginning, I focused on competitors. I do not accept dumping - this is bad competition, and, unlike many rentals, I have to pay salaries to employees without days off and rent for several rooms. The formula is simple - in a year the thing must pay for itself, recoup the costs (rent, cleaning, depreciation, downtime, wages) and bring a profit of at least 10%, otherwise it makes no sense to have such a thing at the box office. This formula does not apply to all products, but it works.

Many entrepreneurs start with burning eyes and rub their hands - now I will make money! But in fact, it turns out that he did not calculate how much cleaning after each client, storage, purchase of spare parts, the time when the thing does not give up, but simply takes up space, and much more. Therefore, there are so many beginners who do not think about and close the rental after six months, a year, or even several years of work.

You offer franchise partnerships in different cities. Tell us more about what it takes to become your partner?

You need to fill out a partner questionnaire, have an initial capital and a desire to work. The cost of a franchise is much lower than the market, and the benefits of experience, knowledge, a working website, name, etc. - immeasurable.

Cherry rental franchisees receive:

site in the top 10 in search engines;
advisory, information and marketing support at each stage of work;
unique experience we have accumulated in large and small cities of Russia;
centralized purchases, cost minimization, income increase;
as well as the help of designers, programmers, accountants, lawyers and specialists in children's goods.

What cities do you work in? Are there city priorities or plans?

We work in Moscow, St. Petersburg and the nearest suburbs: Chekhov, Serpukhov, Podolsk. There is no goal to sell as many franchises as possible - we want to see adequate people who love their work among our partners. While we are selling franchises in a calm mode - we are honing the experience of managing and maintaining the first franchisee partners, but already now the results are impressive. Their joy and gratitude is the best payment, because it is so important not to disappoint a business partner, but to serve as support and support for him. Our mission is to create a network of unique services that help parents comfortably raise, care for, educate and travel with their kids.

Standard question: why you? How are you superior to your competitors?

Let me illustrate my answer with a real case. The client called today at 9 am, and at 10 am he was already at one of our pickup points, choosing goods and ordering delivery for the same day. "You are the only rental that really working! I called two more - some don’t have delivery at all, others have a large deposit and half of my list is out of stock. It was a young grandfather who needed a car seat, a high chair and a playpen for a visiting baby. No days off, no deposit, reasonable prices, friendly staff, the largest assortment in Moscow - all this is about our Cherry rental.

For two years now I regular customer and a rental fan - I know for sure that this service is needed and important. Like any resident of the capital, my apartment is a springboard for guests from all over the country. But I am not afraid of families with any number of children. We arrange children's holiday or you just want a new toy - please, everything that is not in armor and while you can freely take it for a week.

The world has proved to us that the rental does not exist in vain and everything that is written about it is the purest truth. We take the dry pool exactly for 3 days every 3-4 months, from the train and delight machines for a maximum of 2 weeks, and it has long grown out of electric swings and play centers, although he loved them so much! His joy does not have time to cool down - he forgets about toys for a while and opens them again, as if they were a thing freshly bought in a store. Well, rental is practical. Before buying a car seat, Mir traveled on all models from our rental and found the most convenient one for himself, in which he traveled perfectly from Moscow to St. Petersburg and back.

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Three children - it would seem that this is a job in itself. But the heroic Siberian mother of many children Svetlana Saprykina also works in a serious IT company, and she also has small business, as they say, for the soul - the company for the rental of children's toys "It's time to play!". Not only her husband helps her with this project, but also her children - they test toys. Svetlana Saprykina told the website about how to create a business with a baby in her arms and combine family, employment and her own business.

“I have always had thoughts about my business”

I started working as a student, in my third year as an office manager advertising company, then to the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company Novosibirsk. Motivation - to earn money: I always wanted to have my own money, and not just those that were given by my parents. I wrote dissertations and term papers for classmates for money. I studied very well, knew a lot and could provide such services. This allowed me to further develop in my specialty and earn money.

I am from the city of Bolotnoye, Novosibirsk Region. Mother - medical worker, is now retired. Dad was an entrepreneur, he sold food, kept a store. But my father died early. It turns out that I picked up his entrepreneurial baton.

I have always had thoughts about my business. Discuss ideas with parents. At the same time, I always wanted some soulfulness from business, so that my business would bring me pleasure, so that I would like to do it. But I really didn't want any small thing. But there was no resource and experience to organize something worthwhile. So after graduating, I went to work.

At Dolphin (a medical device company now bought by an international pharmaceutical corporation), I was responsible for marketing and advertising. Strategy development, advertising planning and promotion, filming in Moscow, promotion in pharmacies, the work of pharmaceutical representatives - all this was on me. In 2015, during my maternity leave, I was offered a job in the 2GIS franchise network. I have always wanted to work for this company. I coordinated everything with my family and went to work. Half a day in the office, half a day at home worked. Too much from the child did not come off. And when I had to go on a business trip to Tyumen, I took my daughter Valeria with me, who was eight months old.

“Why didn’t this happen in my childhood?”

And here we are in Tyumen, in a rented apartment. Needed a high chair. I was told that it can be rented. And when I found a company where I could take this chair, I saw that they also provide services for renting toys. For me it was a discovery. I looked at the range. There were cool educational toys there, I didn’t even know about many of them and had never seen them in stores.

I delved into the topic, learned about the leading toy manufacturers - about a dozen American and European manufacturers, global brands such as Fisher-Price, VTech, Little Tikes and others, they make very cool educational toys.

For example, large developmental centers for the development of fine and gross motor skills. There is a large tower with balloons, it has about 20 melodies, great acoustics, it works as a music center, it stimulates the child to get up, put balloons in certain places, dance, learn music. This is a cool toy that will interest the child for a month or two. It really stimulates development, and I observe this with my children.

The railway, on which the train itself travels, transports animals, and at the same time teaches the alphabet, shapes, colors. Kitchens, supermarkets, autotracks... Various role-playing toys: a workshop, a kitchen, with a bunch of small parts made of very high quality plastic, non-toxic, durable. There are a huge number of such toys that we cannot even imagine! When I saw it, I thought - why didn’t this happen in my childhood?!

Of our toys, play centers for babies are very popular among mothers with children from 6 to 9 months. They are interesting, cool, but if you buy it yourself, it costs 20 thousand rubles, even used - 10-15 thousand. And this is for a child for three months, and then he starts trying to walk, and this game center immediately becomes uninteresting to him. Even wealthy parents will not buy such toys for their children. It takes up a lot of space, you can only sell at least three times cheaper. Therefore, stores do not carry such toys - there is no demand. On the Russian market such toys never appeared.

“It was both joyful and scary”

The idea of creating a rental of children's toys hooked me from a business point of view - this is an unusual service, there was no such thing in Novosibirsk, and as a mother, I wanted to provide my child with all the best. While I was in Tyumen, I talked to the owner of the business, and she told me which categories of goods are in the greatest demand.

By October 2015, we were ripe. Together with her husband Artyom, we decided that for a start we would invest in the free 200 thousand rubles. For this amount, we made our first purchase, a dozen and a half items - walkers, jumpers, electric swings, sun loungers, playpens, scales, electric cars, slides, trampolines. On average, the price of toys from our first purchase was 5-7 thousand rubles.

We decided to promote through social networks - VKontakte and Instagram. On October 8, 2015, the first announcements were posted - and on the same day we received a request for walkers. We went to take them with my husband. We were very happy - the process has begun! And at the same time - we washed these walkers, packed them, took them away, spent so much time on one client ... We immediately figured that if there were a lot of orders, we would not be able to handle it ourselves.

It was both joyful and scary. What if we can't? After all, everyone has a serious job that brings in income much higher than expected from the rental. When orders came in, the first week, the first month took a lot of time and effort, we thought that we would not be able to simultaneously run a business and do our main work. In general, there were doubts. But we didn't quit. They didn’t quit for a month, the second, the third ...

The first year my husband and I worked together. I collected orders during the day, and Artyom delivered them in the evenings after work. Novosibirsk is a huge city, from six to seven in the evening and at least until ten in the evening it delivered orders.

Every day, no weekends, no free evenings at all. He is the boss in his office, and in our business he is the driver. From time to time he rebelled, saying: “Yes, why all this, it’s hard, there are a lot of costs, there is little return.” But we got over it. We liked to see happy parents, children happy because they were brought a toy, it motivated us. We were charged with this energy, it helped us to develop.

The money isn't that big. But you bring joy to the house. Every day you are like Santa Claus, and this warms you first of all. This business brings enormous emotional returns. That is why I am still doing this.

“There is a prospect and a demand”

In 2015, we determined the prices for the rental of toys, focusing on the experience of Tyumen, our calculation of payback and the reaction potential clients. On the one hand, we understood that the toy should pay off before it becomes useless. On the other hand, the service is new for Novosibirsk, people reacted ambiguously. We supplied an electric swing for 400 rubles a week, they were not taken, and a week later we reduced the price to 250 rubles. We had to expand the audience so that they were taken at least just for the sake of interest, and told to friends.

In the first three months, it became clear that there is a prospect and demand, and that this needs to be developed. It is clear that our potential clients are all families with children in Novosibirsk, and these are thousands of people. But at the same time, when at a certain moment it seemed to us that we could do nothing, and people themselves would come thanks to word of mouth, this quickly turned into a decrease in flow. That is, here you need to constantly do something to promote, look for new places, a new audience, and then it will bring new customers. But I think it's everywhere. Now you just have to quiet down, and they immediately forget about you.

We have marketing plan. IN our VKontakte group now more than 3 thousand people. We carry out promotions, discounts. We participate in events where there are many parents with children, we distribute flyers, leaflets.

There is a seasonality in our business: fewer calls in summer, more in winter. On average - from two to ten calls per day. At least sixty per month.

The average rental period is two weeks. The child manages to play enough during this time, it is not necessary to take away the toy with tears. He doesn't get attached to a large toy the way he does to some teddy bear or doll. If, very rarely, the child has not played enough, then the rental of the toy can be extended. But, as a rule, parents take another toy instead of one, so the child is generally satisfied.

After the rental, we disinfect each toy: remove visible dirt, wash fabric parts with hypoallergenic powder, wash plastic parts with soapy water or a hypoallergenic baby product. Then we process the toy with a steam generator, disinfect it with an antibacterial solution, and finally put it under a quartz lamp. And only after that we pack. When there are epidemics of colds in the city, the processing of toys is carried out according to an enhanced program.

With clients, we sign an agreement providing for the responsibility of the tenant. Toys are toys, but business is business. The toy can be broken, spoiled, filled with something electronic part. There were cases when clients paid compensation. There were no hopeless breakdowns in two years, but the toys had to be repaired. If even after repairing the toy does not have the proper appearance, we remove it from the assortment and sell it cheaply.

"Our kids love our business"

First employee, a courier, appeared with us a year later, in the fall of 2016. Now, besides the courier, we have an administrator and a toy processing specialist.

We just recently moved to the office, and for almost two years the entire business was at our home. This was not a problem - some toys were brought in, others were taken away, it did not take up much space. But our children were very happy. They love our business. Although they have already studied everything inside and out, but when there is an opportunity to bring a free toy home, children always play with pleasure. They know which button to press, which chips are in each toy. Now we have moved the toys to the office, and my three-year-old daughter Valeria asks to go there, for her to go to the office is a joy: to see the toys, what's new.

I myself still tear when I see a new toy. Until now, I myself first collect it, play enough with the children as it should, and then I give it to work ...

Toys are divided into categories depending on the age of children, we develop each category and update the assortment. Each category has its own "pyramid of popularity", its own hits. An absolute hit is the Little Tikes playhouse for children from 8 months to 2.5 years. There are real windows, a door, a music panel, it can be expanded, or it can be assembled as a house. By itself, it costs 12 thousand rubles, and we have 450 rubles for a week of rental.

Now the prices in "It's time to play!" are. Tolokar train (training steam locomotive wheelchair) - 300 rubles per week, 400 rubles for two weeks, 600 rubles for four weeks. Game center "Zoo" Bright Stars - 500 rubles for a week, 700 rubles for two weeks, 950 rubles for four weeks. Slide and swing "Elephant" - 700 rubles for a week, 1000 rubles for two weeks, 1500 rubles for four weeks. Smoby Tefal Studio kitchen - 400 rubles for a week, 600 rubles for two weeks, 800 rubles for four weeks. One of the most expensive toys - a children's sports complex with a slide, rings, a net, a swing - will cost 1300 rubles for two weeks, 1800 rubles for four weeks.

Now we have about 200 different toys. We are still investing in the business, until now the assortment is expanding every week by several positions.

We live on the salaries that we receive at the main places of work, and everything that we earn at the box office is invested in it. We are constantly looking to buy more. We know which toy is better to buy in terms of demand, payback. We order most of the toys in America. Air delivery is fast, but more expensive. By water - cheaper, but two months. Customs clearance is all in Moscow. Sometimes there are questions required additional documents. But I haven't personally traveled yet. All toys immediately upon arrival go to work.

Based on my experience, I can say that toy rental as a business is great for mothers with small children, pregnant women, and housewives. I have three children: the eldest daughter Alena, the middle Valeria (with whom we were together in Tyumen), the youngest son Maxim, he is now nine months old. When people ask me how pregnancy and the birth of a son combined with business, I answer: “Great!” As an administrator, I did everything. If there is someone to deliver toys and someone to process them, then everything is successfully combined.

With an initial investment of 200-250 thousand rubles, at the box office with a good assortment of toys and high-quality marketing and promotion, you can earn about 30 thousand rubles a month.

After us, several more toy rentals appeared in Novosibirsk, but this is from the category home business: they have an assortment of two dozen toys, and they are not ready to invest a lot of money in development. And now we are designing our service "It's time to play!" as a franchise - we develop documentation, determine the cost, I think everything will be ready by December.

The career of an entrepreneur on Maria Popova, the mother of three children, fell almost from the sky: for family reasons, her friend Galina had to leave Moscow. In the capital, Galina still has a business - the rental of children's toys, which Maria has been successfully developing for a year now.

“It’s like I adopted another child”

Maria immediately makes a reservation - the innovative idea of renting toys belongs to her friend - Galina Voronina, who brought them from Tomsk in 2012. “I practically adopted a child, because for Galya this business was a child. She started from scratch with 20 toys and three clients.”

However, life turned out in such a way that Galina had to return to native city with two children - her husband died of cancer.

“Initially, Galina had the idea that she would take all the toys to Tomsk in order to rent them there too. I needed to purchase the entire assortment, which I began to do with her help. Maria recalls. - We were looking for rare toys on Avito - something that can no longer be found in stores, because it is out of production, but at the same time it was in demand at the box office. We also ordered through Ebay, from her suppliers with whom she works.

Maria's total investments in the business amounted to 800 thousand rubles. “500 thousand rubles were spent on the purchase of toys,” comments Maria, “then it turned out that Gali’s husband died, she didn’t open the rental, she had another idea. And Galina's toys also remained with me. We subsequently sold some of it. As a result, if we are talking about the amount that I gave, it is 800 thousand.”

"Children's" money - for children's business

decision to open own business was not easily accepted. On the one hand, Maria argues, being an entrepreneur is the dream of most residents of the capital. Round-the-clock work for the "uncle" in an intense rhythm is so exhausting that over time the idea of "working for yourself" turns into an American dream.

“I am an economist by education, a bank employee,” says Maria. - Five years before that I worked in a bank - it was my very first job. And then I had a baby. With him, we became rental customers, made friends with Galya. Then Maria immediately gave birth to twins. It was not possible to go to work from the decree. In addition, the understanding came that working in a bank is not what I would like to get from life. “I understood that my options were as follows: either I go to work as a cashier in the nearest store in order to be closer to the children, or to McDonald’s, or I sit further on my husband’s neck, which is also not very possible with three children.”

Mary had only a week to think about opening a case. “It was hard for me to decide, because I had to invest money.

At that time, Maria had savings, which consisted of "children's" money. “I am a mother of three children. There was money for the first child, then for two more. They piled up and we had an idea to invest in a subsequent mortgage or something. Still 500 thousand. But it was decided to invest in the business because it worked. It was clear that Galya was her own person, she was my girlfriend and it was unlikely that she was just “pushing in” her business.

A friend helped Maria to decide, who said - in order to understand whether it is yours or never again in your life to associate yourself with entrepreneurship, you need to try. “Now this is our business,” Maria sums up.

The business is truly “ours”. Mary's husband is directly involved in its development. On it - the repair of toys, "on weekends he comes to solder and twist." In addition, thanks to the spouse, it is possible to implement the second pickup point. “He works at the other end of Moscow, and in the contacts we indicate that self-delivery from the place where he works is possible.”

"We had to flounder somehow"

Despite the fact that Maria had a well-established and working business idea and a demanded product in her hands, she had to develop toy rental from scratch. “In this business,” explains Maria, “when there is a gap of a couple of months, it drowns everything out. I had to work all over again, then I had to develop my skills. Initially, Galya promised me support, but she could not give it, and I ended up in the state of a child thrown out of a boat who is being taught to swim. And it was necessary to flounder.

“Initially, we invested a lot. However, at the end of the year, my investment probably paid off.” There are more customers, but there are nuances in this matter. “From the moment I have been in this business, the client base is unlikely to have grown, because while I hesitated, several more rentals opened in Moscow. And the clients were distributed geographically.”

However, compared to other rentals, Maria's rental has a clear competitive advantage- the widest assortment in Moscow.

Today Maria has more than 300 unique toys for children from 0 to 5 years old. The rental price starts from 200 rubles. per week and 500 rubles. per month for one toy.

Toy rental is being promoted on the Vkontakte social network and will soon appear on Instagram. The rental site is under development. “Leaflets are also working, which are distributed throughout the district,” says Maria. - We have high hopes for delivery. Previously, there was only pickup, which stopped potential customers.”

“There is a seasonality in this business,” Maria explains. - I have slides, swings, large complexes, which people take to the country in the summer. We raise prices for them a little in the summer, because using them in the country increases depreciation. Starting in September, people come for the usual toys they play at home.”

Today, according to Maria, in the "good" months, the net profit from rental is 60 thousand rubles, in the "bad" - 30 thousand rubles.

How emotions saved from McDonald's

Life experience has shown that the main thing in Maria's business is customer focus. “I had a moment when the landlord behaved ugly. I moved into the premises, and a month later they drove me out of there, because another tenant was found. I had to re-arrange the move.

I stood with my hands down and thought: “I’ll sell everything to hell, I’m tired, I’ll go to work at McDonald’s and I won’t think about anything.” And then a girl comes in, returns the order to me - she organized her son's birthday - enthusiastic, tells how great and cool it was. And I understand that for the sake of these emotions you need to work. When you make people happy, it's great. When you understand that children can play all this thanks to you.

Theory of reasonable consumption

Maria believes that the main problem of business is that people do not know that toy rentals exist in principle. In addition, all consumers are divided into two categories - the first is ready to use toys that were in use.

“These people calmly wear things for someone, finish playing with toys,” says Maria. But there is also a second category. People who belong to it are deeply convinced that children should wear only new clothes and shoes, play only with new toys. “I myself am from the first category,” notes the hostess of the rental. - This is, which is finally coming into fashion. Because there is no point in littering both the house and the nearby garbage dumps with broken toys. In addition, Maria is sure that it is better to rent a toy worth 5-7 thousand rubles for a child than to buy a cheap analogue that will break in a week.

“If we talk about bias, cleanliness, etc., then we provide everything,” says Maria. - Each toy that comes in is washed, washed, treated with special solutions used in operating rooms, and quartzized. We are for cleanliness!

Toys "live" for a long time

When renting a thing, there is a risk of getting it back broken. However, Maria's solution to this problem is debugged.

“When a person comes to me, we draw up an agreement with him, which specifies the estimated cost of this toy. This estimated value changes downwards over time. There are different types breakdowns. When I see that the toy has broken because it is old (the contact has gone somewhere, the button has failed), then I don’t charge anything from the client for this. If I see that it has been filled with juice, or, for example, the entire bottom of the trampoline has been torn out, then the clients pay the estimated cost specified in the contract. There are times when a toy needs repair or some part is lost - here we amicably agree. There were cases when people behaved inappropriately, but these are the risks that you take in any business. For a hundred normal people, one abnormal one will fall, you need to be prepared for this.

Toys really loved by rental customers surprise with their durability.

“We have one table,” says Maria, “which has been out of production for a long time, it was bought on ebay already used. He is 7-8 years old, but he is amazing. Both children and parents love him, he blows air, very funny. The term is not so much determined by the quality of the toy, but by how it will be used. Almost all toys at the box office more than a year, some - 2-3.

"Let everything go as it goes"

Maria does not seek to actively expand her business today. The hostess is satisfied with the current stage of development. “When everything was just beginning, my husband and I dreamed that now we would open a network, here we would have five outlets, five more here, and so on. However, when you rest on the fact that it takes exactly a year to find a normal sane courier for adequate money, and to work on the network you will need to find a lot of adequate people, and also not very expensive premises. Everything is complicated, and specifically I am not capable of it. Maybe when I have more free time and experience, it will turn into a network.”

Maria believes that the network is not a cost-effective idea. In her opinion, those same 5-6 rentals in Moscow completely calmly covered her and so far there is enough for everyone.

“I used to live by this saying:“ If you want to do well, do it yourself. Therefore, I do not see the development of business territorially. I will not be able to work simultaneously at three points, but to find sane conscientious people - a big problem. However, we develop from within and work with the loyalty of our customers. Now we are introducing bonus card programs, i.е. a person rents toys and receives bonus points for this on a virtual card.

Ludmila Bulavkina, co-founder of the Rentmania.org rental service:

Our service appeared in the middle of 2014 and at first half consisted of rental offers for children's goods. Two years later, we also see toys and children's products as the second most popular in both the offer catalog and the number of orders.

The situation is similar throughout the country: children's goods are a popular segment for temporary use, exchange and rental.

The cost of children's goods is growing every year, families are oriented to have more than one child, and in anticipation of the second, they are not ready to part with strollers forever.

During a break between children, renting out things is the best way to keep the house clutter-free and make money on property. Some of our users have seriously abandoned the idea of selling a bored car seat, and prefer to rent it out, as the benefits are greater, and the thing does not lose its usefulness and returns to the family.

A long-awaited joyful event happened in the family - a baby appeared. However, the birth of a new person is always accompanied by expensive expenses. The baby needs - a stroller, an arena, a crib, clothes and toys, and a lot of useful and necessary things! With this you can work and earn money and tell you how to do it.

To purchase all the child needs things will need a lot of money. However, the baby grows “by leaps and bounds”, and many of the things acquired by caring parents will not be needed in a few months. What to do?!

Given the fact that many young parents cannot always purchase all the necessary goods at once, several forgotten service- rental of goods.

The idea of a new line of business lies in the rental of various children's goods. The interesting thing is that this business can be started almost from scratch. If, for example, you are a young neat mother and you have quite a lot of children's things left, children's furniture or toys in good condition, it is very profitable for you to rent them.

Toy rental as a business

So, starting your business with only the things of your own child at your disposal, you can gradually expand the range of goods and services. Having collected additional funds, you can offer young parents in the future already 2, 5, and then 10 prams.

The same conditions apply to the rental of walkers, car seats, baby cots, playpens. By successfully growing your business, you will constantly increase the number of items offered for rent.

A special place in the business of children's things for rent is occupied by children's toys.

Toy rental

Young mothers are well aware that babies quickly get bored with even the most expensive toys. Therefore, it is very relevant and rational not to spend money on expensive toys, but to rent them for a child, then replacing them with others. Practice shows that it is much more interesting and effective!

To begin with, you can buy a small number of toys: musical toys, a small trampoline, an electric car, a tent with a tunnel, etc. It is reasonable to check the relevance of any toy on your own kids - if they play with enthusiasm, then other parents will successfully rent these toys for their babies.

Toy rental business for children

Of course, not everything will immediately turn out the way you want. You will have to declare yourself through social media and through advertisements in local newspapers. It is wise to order flyers or business cards from a local print shop. You can distribute them through mailboxes, in children's development centers, where there are many young mothers.

Then you can already intuitively feel what will be in demand and what should not be purchased. Working at home, a young mother does not overwork at all, she always remains a “full-fledged” mother!

In the future, you can order toys monthly in Europe and America, in China. It is more profitable to expand the range of toys at the request of parents. Agree, it's so nice - having time to do everything, to remain the most popular, successful and happy!

Is the toy rental business profitable?

This idea is very good, but is it beneficial for the entrepreneur? After all, the toys offered for rent are expensive (about 3 thousand rubles). Their cost pays off, perhaps, not earlier than in six months, and only then they generate income. However, in practice, the payback of toys is much less than six months.

Many parents keep a toy for a couple of weeks, then come back for a new toy. It is beneficial if the mom-entrepreneur works at home. It can serve customers almost always - on weekends, holidays, in the evening.

Toys are stored in one of the rooms, most of them are with customers. All toys must be disinfected without fail. After the return of each of them, the toy is washed or washed, and additionally it is also quartzized with an ordinary quartz lamp.

Documentation of toy rental

First of all, you should register your IP in tax office and work quietly.

Since rental is not a sale of goods, in the legislation of Russia it is included in the category of services to the population. The activity of an individual entrepreneur engaged in the rental of toys is checked only by the tax office.

In addition, for the correct accounting of toys, customers are given a contract, an act of acceptance of the toy. Instead of cash receipt a strict reporting form is offered.

The approximate payback period for a toy rental business is about one and a half years. It is also interesting that this type of business is just beginning to gain momentum. Developing this project today, you have every chance to acquire a stable client base. When there are many competitors, you will have a whole army of young parents who will be happy to recommend you to their friends and acquaintances!

Good luck with your toy rental business!

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