Your Collection will directly flow from your Story. In fact, your product is much more about your Story than it is about pieces of silverware. Your customers aren’t just renting from you, they are paying to be part of your Story. Your Collection should reflect that.
For instance, if you are in the event rental business because you want to provide beautiful chairs to brides on a budget, your Collection will be full of moderately-priced chairs that you love.
If, however, you started your event rental company to breathe new life into forgotten vintage treasures, your Collection will consist of antiques that you’ve lovingly refurbished.
Unconventional decor and unusual furnishings might make up the Collection of an event rental business that’s story starts with providing powerful new environments for the fundraising events of their favorite charities.
When you begin to build and curate your Rental Inventory Collection, focus on three things: Consistency, Accessibility, and Taste.
Consistency:
Buy pieces that are consistent with your Story and cohesive together. After all you’re building a Collection, not a hodgepodge of unrelated pieces. The more consistent you are, the more you’ll become known for doing that one thing with excellence. Much better to be first person everyone thinks of for exceptional Art Deco Rentals than to be forgotten as a jack-of-all-trades but master of none.
Accessibility:
Your rental inventory provides customers with the ability to access your Story. If your Story is about sourcing linen made by women pulling themselves out of poverty in Asia, your Collection should emphasize the craftsmanship of your tablecloths. If your Story focuses on heirlooms passed down through generations, your Collection should be full of unique meaning-filled pieces that can’t be found elsewhere. As an Event Rental Business Owner, you give customers access to pieces, decor, and a style they couldn’t otherwise achieve in their celebrations. Even more, you allow them to be support the Story that inspires you and your business.
Taste:
If you don’t love it, it won’t rent. Period. Your customers come to you because they love your Story. They love your perspective, your values, your dreams. They love what you love. If you don’t love a piece in your collection, they’ll recognize it doesn’t fit. I’m not suggesting that you purchase every single thing that catches your eye. Rather, if you’re looking for new side tables to go with your lounge vignette, don’t buy something that “kinda works but isn’t quite right.” If you don’t believe in it, your customers will see that. You won’t be able to convince them that it is perfect for their celebration if you can’t convince yourself.
