You don’t always have to start big when creating your rental business, it’s okay to start on a smaller scale. Namarial Hurd started renting out cameras to his friends from his home over 10 years ago. Throughout the past decade, he has grown the business massively and implemented Booqable to assist with expanding his business and ensuring operations are streamlined.
IE Photo Rentals
Namarial started IE Photo Rentals from his home in Pomona, California, with just a few cameras and lenses. He rented them out to his friends, who worked on photo and video shoots in the surrounding area. As word spread, the business quickly became a staple in the local area. This allowed him to grow the company from just a few items to everything someone could need.
Since then, he has expanded the range of cameras and lenses and expanded into lighting, audio, support equipment, and accessories. IE Photo Rentals can provide everything needed for a photo or video shoot. Of course, with all this equipment, Namarial required a bigger space to store it, and he moved the business to its own premises in central Pomona.
As a result of all this effort, IE Photo Rentals have served over 8,000 customers in the past decade, which grows daily. As customers increased, the business invested in higher-quality equipment to help more people. In addition, they have had to invest more in the systems they use to run and manage their business to ensure optimal efficiency.
Processing orders
One of the team’s most significant issues while growing the business was processing orders. Despite having a website, they had to verify each order by email manually. This was a time-consuming process, and as the volume grew, it became more and more challenging. So, Namarial sought out a software solution that would allow them to streamline order processing.
While looking for a solution, he found that much rental software had an outdated user interface that was difficult to understand. Until he came across Booqable, which made processing orders simple while being easy to learn and modern, they could quickly integrate it with their website and start accepting online bookings instead of orders via email.
By implementing Booqable, the team has saved a massive amount of time. Orders are now placed online and automatically reserved in the Booqable backend. It is now easy to search, process, and prepare orders for customers without being in contact. It has also improved the booking experience for customers as they can do it themselves via the website.
Continuing to grow
Booqable has played a significant role in helping Namarial and IE Photo Rentals achieve their goals. They have been able to streamline their booking process and inventory management significantly. Meanwhile, the mobile app makes it easy to process pickups and returns and pull orders from the stock room to prepare for outgoing rentals in advance.
They plan to expand their inventory and grow their market base in the coming months. Namarial looks forward to continuing to grow alongside Booqable as more features are introduced to improve his business workflow for the better.
