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Written by: Carolyn Young
Carolyn Young is a business writer who focuses on entrepreneurial concepts and the business formation. She has over 25 years of experience in business roles, and has authored several entrepreneurship textbooks.
Edited by: David Lepeska
David has been writing and learning about business, finance and globalization for a quarter-century, starting with a small New York consulting firm in the 1990s.
Published on May 25, 2022
Investment range
$16,050 - $32,100
Revenue potential
$101,000 - $203,000 p.a.
Time to build
1 – 3 months
Profit potential
$40,000 - $81,000 p.a.
Industry trend
Growing
Commitment
Flexible
Essential factors to keep in mind when beginning your wedding rental business:
Starting a wedding rental business has pros and cons to consider before deciding if it’s right for you.
Trends in the wedding rental industry include:
Challenges in the wedding rental industry:
Startup costs for a wedding rental business range from $16,000 to $32,000. The largest expense is the items that you’ll rent, so costs depend on what you decide to purchase. You’ll also need to rent a shop space or at least a storage space for items, and a truck or van to transport items to the wedding venue.
| Start-up Costs | Ballpark Range | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Setting up a business name and corporation | $150 - $200 | $175 |
| Business licenses and permits | $100 - $300 | $200 |
| Insurance | $100-$300 | $200 |
| Business cards and brochures | $200 - $300 | $250 |
| Website setup | $1,000 - $3,000 | $2,000 |
| Shop or storage space rental | $1,500 - $3,000 | $2,250 |
| Items to rent | $10,000 - $20,000 | $15,000 |
| Truck or van to transport items | $3,000 - $5,000 | $4,000 |
| Total | $16,050 - $32,100 | $24,075 |
The average amount spent on wedding rental items is $650, but that number can be as much as $2,000 or more, depending on the items. Your profit margin after your rent and overhead costs should be about 40%.
In your first year or two, you could rent items for three weddings a week, bringing in $101,000 in annual revenue. This would mean $40,000 in profit, assuming that 40% margin. As your business gains traction and you get referrals, you’ll add more items to your inventory, and you might outfit six weddings a week. With annual revenue of $203,000, you’d make a healthy profit of $81,000.
There are a few barriers to entry for a wedding rental business. Your biggest challenges will be:
Now that you know what’s involved in starting a wedding rental business, it’s a good idea to hone your concept in preparation to enter a competitive market.
Market research will give you the upper hand, even if you’re already positive that you have a perfect product or service. Conducting market research is important, because it can help you understand your customers better, who your competitors are, and your business landscape.
Research wedding rental businesses in your area to examine their products, price points, and customer reviews. You’re looking for a market gap to fill. For instance, maybe the local market is missing a wedding dress rental business or a wedding décor rental business.
You might consider targeting a niche market by specializing in a certain aspect of your industry, such as party tents or wedding arches.
This could jumpstart your word-of-mouth marketing and attract clients right away.
There are a number of items you can purchase to rent for weddings including:
You’ll also be able to rent some of your items for corporate events or other special events so that you’re not limited to just weddings.
Prices for wedding rentals vary by item. A tent might rent for about $300 while dinner place settings might rent for $6 to $7 each. Check prices in your area to make sure you’re competitive. After the cost of shop or storage space rent and overhead, you should aim for a profit margin of about 40%.
Once you know your costs, you can use this Step By Step profit margin calculator to determine your mark-up and final price points. Remember, the prices you use at launch should be subject to change if warranted by the market.
Your target market will not only be people getting married but businesses for corporate events and basically anyone who might hold other special events. You should spread out your marketing to include sites like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
You could also partner with wedding planners to get referrals.
In the early stages, you may want to run your business from home to keep costs low, but you may need to rent a storage space or want to open a shop at some point. You can find commercial space to rent in your area on sites such as Craigslist, Crexi, and Instant Offices.
When choosing a commercial space, you may want to follow these rules of thumb:
Here are some ideas for brainstorming your business name:
Once you’ve got a list of potential names, visit the website of the US Patent and Trademark Office to make sure they are available for registration and check the availability of related domain names using our Domain Name Search tool. Using “.com” or “.org” sharply increases credibility, so it’s best to focus on these.
Finally, make your choice among the names that pass this screening and go ahead with domain registration and social media account creation. Your business name is one of the key differentiators that sets your business apart. Once you pick your company name, and start with the branding, it is hard to change the business name. Therefore, it’s important to carefully consider your choice before you start a business entity.
Here are the key components of a business plan:
If you’ve never created a business plan, it can be an intimidating task. You might consider hiring a business plan specialist to create a top-notch business plan for you.
Registering your business is an absolutely crucial step — it’s the prerequisite to paying taxes, raising capital, opening a bank account, and other guideposts on the road to getting a business up and running.
Plus, registration is exciting because it makes the entire process official. Once it’s complete, you’ll have your own business!
Your business location is important because it can affect taxes, legal requirements, and revenue. Most people will register their business in the state where they live, but if you’re planning to expand, you might consider looking elsewhere, as some states could offer real advantages when it comes to wedding rental businesses.
If you’re willing to move, you could really maximize your business! Keep in mind, it’s relatively easy to transfer your business to another state.
Business entities come in several varieties, each with its pros and cons. The legal structure you choose for your wedding rental business will shape your taxes, personal liability, and business registration requirements, so choose wisely.
Here are the main options:
We recommend that new business owners choose LLC as it offers liability protection and pass-through taxation while being simpler to form than a corporation. You can form an LLC in as little as five minutes using an online LLC formation service. They will check that your business name is available before filing, submit your articles of organization, and answer any questions you might have.
Choose Your State
The final step before you’re able to pay taxes is getting an Employer Identification Number, or EIN. You can file for your EIN online or by mail or fax: visit the IRS website to learn more. Keep in mind, if you’ve chosen to be a sole proprietorship you can simply use your social security number as your EIN.
Once you have your EIN, you’ll need to choose your tax year. Financially speaking, your business will operate in a calendar year (January–December) or a fiscal year, a 12-month period that can start in any month. This will determine your tax cycle, while your business structure will determine which taxes you’ll pay.
The IRS website also offers a tax-payers checklist, and taxes can be filed online.
It is important to consult an accountant or other professional to help you with your taxes to ensure you’re completing them correctly.
Securing financing is your next step and there are plenty of ways to raise capital:
Bank and SBA loans are probably the best option, other than friends and family, for funding a wedding rental business. You might also try crowdfunding if you have an innovative concept.
Starting a wedding rental business requires obtaining a number of licenses and permits from local, state, and federal governments.
Federal regulations, licenses, and permits associated with starting your business include doing business as (DBA), health licenses and permits from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other intellectual properties, as well as industry-specific licenses and permits.
You may also need state-level and local county or city-based licenses and permits. The license requirements and how to obtain them vary, so check the websites of your state, city, and county governments or contact the appropriate person to learn more.
You could also check this SBA guide for your state’s requirements, but we recommend using MyCorporation’s Business License Compliance Package. They will research the exact forms you need for your business and state and provide them to ensure you’re fully compliant.
This is not a step to be taken lightly, as failing to comply with legal requirements can result in hefty penalties.
If you feel overwhelmed by this step or don’t know how to begin, it might be a good idea to hire a professional to help you check all the legal boxes.
Before you start making money, you’ll need a place to keep it, and that requires opening a bank account.
Keeping your business finances separate from your personal account makes it easy to file taxes and track your company’s income, so it’s worth doing even if you’re running your wedding rental business as a sole proprietorship. Opening a business bank account is quite simple, and similar to opening a personal one. Most major banks offer accounts tailored for businesses — just inquire at your preferred bank to learn about their rates and features.
Banks vary in terms of offerings, so it’s a good idea to examine your options and select the best plan for you. Once you choose your bank, bring in your EIN (or Social Security Number if you decide on a sole proprietorship), articles of incorporation, and other legal documents and open your new account.
Business insurance is an area that often gets overlooked yet it can be vital to your success as an entrepreneur. Insurance protects you from unexpected events that can have a devastating impact on your business.
Here are some types of insurance to consider:
As opening day nears, prepare for launch by reviewing and improving some key elements of your business.
Being an entrepreneur often means wearing many hats, from marketing to sales to accounting, which can be overwhelming. Fortunately, many websites and digital tools are available to help simplify many business tasks.
You may want to use industry-specific software, such as Good Shuffle, EZ RentOut, or InTempo, to manage your bookings, inventory, schedule, and invoicing.
Website development is crucial because your site is your online presence and needs to convince prospective clients of your expertise and professionalism.
You can create your own website using services like WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace. This route is very affordable, but figuring out how to build a website can be time-consuming. If you lack tech-savvy, you can hire a web designer or developer to create a custom website for your business.
They are unlikely to find your website, however, unless you follow Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices. These are steps that help pages rank higher in the results of top search engines like Google.
Here are some powerful marketing strategies for your future business:
Unique selling propositions, or USPs, are the characteristics of a product or service that sets it apart from the competition. Customers today are inundated with buying options, so you’ll have a real advantage if they are able to quickly grasp how your wedding rental business meets their needs or wishes. It’s wise to do all you can to ensure your USPs stand out on your website and in your marketing and promotional materials, stimulating buyer desire.
Global pizza chain Domino’s is renowned for its USP: “Hot pizza in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed.” Signature USPs for your wedding rental business could be:
You may not like to network or use personal connections for business gain. But your personal and professional networks likely offer considerable untapped business potential. Maybe that Facebook friend you met in college is now running a wedding rental business, or a LinkedIn contact of yours is connected to dozens of potential clients. Maybe your cousin or neighbor has been working in wedding rentals for years and can offer invaluable insight and industry connections.
The possibilities are endless, so it’s a good idea to review your personal and professional networks and reach out to those with possible links to or interest in wedding rentals. You’ll probably generate new customers or find companies with which you could establish a partnership.
If you’re starting out small from a home office, you may not need any employees. But as your business grows, you will likely need workers to fill various roles. Potential positions for a wedding rental business include:
At some point, you may need to hire all of these positions or simply a few, depending on the size and needs of your business. You might also hire multiple workers for a single role or a single worker for multiple roles, again depending on need.
Free-of-charge methods to recruit employees include posting ads on popular platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, or Jobs.com. You might also consider a premium recruitment option, such as advertising on Indeed, Glassdoor, or ZipRecruiter. Further, if you have the resources, you could consider hiring a recruitment agency to help you find talent.
Wedding days are special events, and people want their wedding venue to be beautiful as well as functional. Wedding rental businesses contribute to making the venue meet the needs of the bride and groom. If you have a passion for making dreams come true, you could build a lucrative wedding rental company.
You’ve checked your business homework off your list now, so it’s time to go shopping and get your successful wedding rental business off the ground!
Yes, a wedding rental business can be profitable. You’ll just need to select desirable items to rent and provide your customers with an excellent experience, and you can be successful.
To effectively market and promote your wedding rental business, focus on building relationships with wedding planners, venues, and other vendors in the industry. Utilize social media, email marketing, and paid advertising to showcase your products and services, and offer special deals and promotions to attract new clients.
To manage the logistics of delivery, setup, and pickup of rental items for weddings, create a detailed schedule and checklist for each event, and communicate clearly with clients, vendors, and staff. Hire experienced delivery and setup crews, and ensure that they have the necessary equipment, tools, and resources to handle any challenges that may arise.
You can easily start a wedding rental business as a side hustle, since most of your time will be spent on the weekends. It may, however, take some juggling to handle new client appointments.
To handle contracts and agreements with clients for renting out items, create clear and detailed contracts that outline the terms and conditions of the rental, including payment terms, delivery and pickup dates, and any special requirements or restrictions.
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