First, before I say what I say below, I have no interest in being part of a rental system for tools. No offense.
But, if I were going to put something like that together, here is what I would do:
1. Determine who your typical customer is. I don't think it is the professional builder or the serious hobby builder. Those folks are going to buy their own sets of the specialty tools you are thinking of. I think the customer you are trying to reach is someone who is building their first guitar (or maybe second or third). "What is the minimum stuff I need to build a guitar" is one of the most common questions you hear from first time builders. They are the ones who feel the pain you are trying to alleviate. Meet their need, and you might have something.
2. Determine what specific tools you will include in the box that you rent out. There are some obvious things: a 3 or 5 degree reamer, nut files, fret files, etc. Lots of the Stew-mac doo-dads. The Dremel router base, the Dremel circle cutter, the Dremel binding ledge router, all that stuff. You can't send big, heavy stuff. You might have to have separate kits for separate tasks.
3. Determine how to charge (daily, weekly, whatever) and how much to charge. This should include all costs (initial cost of the tools, shipping, repair and replacement, whatever) and some profit for your trouble.
4. Determine how to enforce the rental agreement. The best way is probably with some sort of actual cash deposit paid via PayPal, held until the safe return of the kit.
I bet there are first time builders who would take advantage of your service. However, I doubt you would ever get rich off providing such a service, and advertising (i.e., reaching the intended customer) will always be a struggle.
If you are instead thinking of this as a public service or as a tool cooperative, I wish you luck, but I predict lots of headaches. Again, no offense. Somebody has to buy the stuff to begin with, and that person will rightly feel like she/he should get something for the trouble and expense of buying the stuff. The "I don't want to own anything, I just want to rent it for a day" way of thinking is cool and progressive and I support it, but it only works if someone else takes on the burden of actually buying the stuff and providing it for occasional use by others. Who is that person going to be in your scenario?
|
