Car rental and franchising: why internal process management is no longer scary!
In the last few years, there has been a noticeable increase in entrepreneurs expanding their rental business by starting a franchise business.
Putting aside fears about the competitiveness of the market, we can think of a fundamental truth: the costs of buying and running cars are rising significantly. It is precisely for this reason that the demand for rental, be it short-term rental or long-term rental, is increasing for those who prefer not to bear the running costs of a vehicle and perceive some savings in this solution.
It quickly becomes evident that a franchised rental business, if well-established and structured, can translate into a very profitable business. The opportunities are within everyone’s reach, but those already in the rental business will surely find everything concerning the general and bureaucratic paperwork for starting a business easier.
Why is investing in franchising an opportunity for the renters?
Having several locations gives you the possibility of intercepting a varied and, above all, broader customer base.
Irrespective of the head office, several other locations spread over a given territory permits concentration on several sectors at the same time: tourism (a highly profitable field), corporate use or private use. The possibility of acquiring a broader range of customers would increase the likelihood of increased revenues, while at the same time facilitating the amortization of franchise start-up costs in the shortest possible time.
The starting point is the choice of the target group: choose it well, diversify it as much as possible and focus appropriately on communicating the offer to that target group.
Are too many locations difficult to manage?
In operational terms, the management of multiple locations, entrusted to different ‘administrators’, represent for many a weakness, a kind of alarm bell.
The fear of locations failing to function in a unified manner, or the thought of having to be omnipresent to have everything under control, greatly hinders the growth of a business through a franchise strategy.
Being able to choose and train one’s resources is obviously a central point.
However, another element that attracts the attention of the hirer who wants to go further and expand his business territorially is: how do we manage many locations, situated in different areas, and how can we keep everything under constant and effective control?
It is precisely here that the importance of relying on the rights systems comes into play. Technology is on the entrepreneur’s side, all you need to know is what to select to support your goals.
The importance of relying on the right systems
Software such as MyRent, makes it possible to manage the organizational processes of the rental business, bookings, the creation of quotations and the management of even the trickiest procedures like fines or damages, from a convenient and intuitive web application in a completely automated and digitized manner.
The strength of this system, when it comes to multiple locations, lies in the hierarchical level that can be set on MyRent, for the different users associated with the various locations. That concerns the possibility of appointing different types of users with more or less practical authorizations at our discretion.
There will be someone who, on an administrative level, can manage contracts and quotations, payments and invoicing, and someone who can also create vehicle lists and groups and enter new vehicles into the system. Other users, on the other hand, will be limited to blocking vehicles following a booking or managing movements.
It will be possible to keep track of everything that happens on the other sites, always being able to intercept the user who has performed a specific action or change within the system.
An extra value.
If we wanted to talk about the growth opportunity that such a management system provides, we could refer to the possibility of offering added value to the end customer. The customer belongs to that specific niche, who, for pleasure or necessity, needs to rent a vehicle in a specified city and return it in another.
If the locations are in the planned localities, it will be possible within MyRent to determine the vehicle’s exit location and entry location as different. This option makes it possible to keep track of the vehicle’s movements and easily manage internal movements (for instance, when you decide to return the vehicle from the city of release to the city of departure once the rental is over). It also facilitates the provision of a valuable service to a typical customer, who has a certain need, with no room for error or internal disorganization in the management of these movements.
Now you can imagine it applied to hundreds of vehicles to understand the scope of a complete management system specifically programmed to support the hirer in the growth of his business.
