by maurice
5. June 2010 23:25
With all of the moving parts that go into the management of a tent and party rental business, many things can get in the way of running an efficient and profitable tent rental business. The following are four (4) simple considerations related to improving labor efficiencies as well as effective equipment utilization.
- Fleet Management – Depending on your city surroundings and business model, smaller trucks may be a better fit for your business than larger trucks. Why?
- Smaller trucks normally require no real specialized license to drive; most employees can drive a smaller vehicle without much difficulty.
- Smaller trucks can offer the ability to send a small crew to the site to do prep work so that when the rest of the crew shows up they can assume working immediately. Things like, greeting the customer and spending time with him/her, marking out the site (placement of stakes, tent), start driving stakes, get tops in place, etc…
- Smaller trucks are often better suited to tow trailers. And buying multiple trailers can offer the ability for a crew at the warehouse to load a trailer the day prior to the job so that the crews can simply hook up and go the next morning.
- For the weekends where the jobs tend to be smaller but more in number, you will have more trucks available to send many small crews out to manage those jobs.
- Early Job Preparation – Identify early in the process that you have all the parts you need. Early planning will allow time for a crew member to start the process of gathering up missing parts and getting them to the jobsite while the balance of the work crew is working instead of discovering it at the last minute and having to have the work crew literally sit while the missing parts are being delivered.
- Plan Well & Know Set-up Times – Know the time required for setting-up different tents on different surfaces. You may discover for instance, that it is better to send a crew of two out early to drive the stakes in an asphalt job, because that part of the job for that style and size tent is always the part that the entire crew gets behind on.
- Work Crew Training – Make sure that all tent installers know how to properly fold tents. As long as everybody in the company folds tops the same way there is no question or time wasted when placing a bundle on the ground to unfold. As an experienced tent rental operator, you know that unfolding a top to find it is in the wrong position in relation to the overall construction site makes for lost time and dollars.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to planning the work and working the plan. If you have some ideas on improving operating efficiencies in the tent rental business, I’d like to hear what you have to say. Respond to the blog or visit our website at https://www.teecosolutions.com.
6/5/2010