with Cam Petty

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To have a rental company, you have to stay on top of your inventory. It is the backbone of your business. It also doesn’t matter what kind of rental company you are (traditional, photo moments, seating areas, niche rentals, etc.), if you are renting inventory out to clients and that is your main source of revenue you have to stay on top of what products are coming in and going out of your warehouse.

Without your inventory, you don’t have a business.

Cam Petty, Render Founder and CEO

Understanding Your Business Location When It Comes To Buying Inventory

Depending on where you are in the world listening to this episode, your ability to buy inventory and have it arrive at your HQ may vary. Make sure you understand what would work with your situation the best. Sometimes when you buy inventory pieces, you are required to set up an appointment or have a loading dock in order to receive it from your seller. If you are at a location that doesn’t have that ability, that may affect receiving inventory. 

This is something we wanted to share first before going into the rest of our episode because we wanted to ensure you can receive any new inventory you find as a result of this episode.

Some sellers have the criteria to only sell to customers with a loading dock. Or they may charge a fee if you don’t have one at your office. Is there somewhere else you may need to have your pieces delivered? Be mindful of this moving forward! Hopefully, none of you have encountered this issue before.

Where We Buy Inventory

There are a few different options when it comes to sourcing new products and adding them to our company. We look in the following places for pieces that align with our brand, follow emerging trends, and our client’s style and desires:

• Buying retail (Target, garage sales, estate sales, etc.)
• Buying wholesale
• Buying overseas
• Building new (custom projects in-house)
• Outsourcing building (custom projects out-of-house)

Buying Retail

Buying retail is simple… while shopping for anything in your life, you go into a store or selling location, look for products you like and decide which or how many to purchase. That’s really all there is to it! You can watch for deals when buying mass quantities of certain items, or find great steals at estate sales, but this method remains the easiest way to source ready-to-go inventory.

Buying Wholesale

Buying wholesale can require a few hoops to jump through before you get to pick your product and take it home. Some of these hoops are listed below:

• Business license – necessary to start your own business in Texas and to purchase items through wholesale. Click the link to learn how to apply for yours!
• Tax ID – almost like a state ID, your business Tax ID is assigned to your business by the state. Click the link here to access the online application.
• Wholesaler Referrals – before your initial purchase, some wholesalers require a referral before you can use them. We highly recommend using referrals as a way to ensure a good product.
• Minimums for opening orders and minimums for reorders – exactly as it sounds. Your wholesaler may have minimum costs for you to meet for your first purchase and maybe even purchases after that.
• How payment is received – Another thing that will vary by wholesalers is how they prefer to receive order payments. These could be NET payments, deposits, or paid in full before receiving.

If you are unsure about any of these points, ask your wholesalers questions! “Where does the product come from?” “What’s the timeline for it to get to me?” “Is the item currently available?” “What are other details about my order that I should know?” Get ahead of these conversations now so there are no surprises down the road.

Buying Overseas

Most of the time you have to be willing to wait on any product that has to literally be shipped to you. It takes time. A downside to having to wait lengthy periods for your product is that often trends can shift in the time it takes to get products in. If the market in your area allows your trends or inventory to last long enough, go for it!

Building New

If you have the tools and people, this is a great solution! It’s also a great way to ensure you are getting exactly what you want because you are creating it! At Render, we practice this most through custom orders for clients. We are able to include the cost of the materials in the client quote. Doing so has helped us make this a cost-efficient way to add inventory as we don’t have to cover the entire cost.

However, saying yes to custom projects all the time can be tricky. You have to ensure you have the manpower for the labor and the time to take care of the building before your client’s event. Additionally, you have to ensure your team is capable of whatever project you add to their building schedule. If they do not have the skillset needed, then you outsource.

Outsourcing Building

Outsourcing your custom projects can be expensive but it is so worth it when you have a product you really want, and if you don’t have the time or expertise. Here in Dallas, there are a ton of options for us to outsource almost any project. If you’re in the DFW and need suggestions, please ask us! If you’re not in Dallas or Fort Worth, consider asking people in your network if they have any recommendations for a piece you’re looking to add.

Quality and Quantity With Your Inventory

We want to encourage you to remain up to date on trends and the quality and quantity of your inventory! Look at what styles and pieces are popular and make smart decisions when adding pieces to your warehouse. As stated at the beginning of this blog, your inventory is your backbone! Be sure to set yourself up for success by having a quality selection of inventory, and enough of it to really meet your client’s needs!

Here is a sneak peek of what this episode consists of:

[2:49] Want to learn more about what we do?

[2:36] The #1 Thing You Need To Thrive

[8:33] The Ways We Source Product

[14:59] Understanding Shippment Timelines

[19:29] Creating Custom Pieces 

[25:37] Always Get Referrals For Contractors 

Product or Affiliate Links

RBA – Render Educate has over 600 students worldwide who participate in Rental Biz Academy, online resources, and listen to our podcast. Want to learn more than what we share here? Consider purchasing RBA today to expand your rental company!

Podcast Blog – Did you know that we release a blog for each podcast episode? Find those here!

Free Rental Community Facebook Group – A group for creatives to ask any questions they may have to pertain to the rental and event industry. 

Next week we will drop an episode about juggling a busy schedule… always. 

Joyfully,

TJ White | Content Manager