Canada’s heavy equipment rental industry is expanding with earthmoving, forestry, and mining being the leading sectors. As per statistics, the industry is expected to reach annual growth figures of $14.59 billion by the end of 2029. Currently, it employs over 23,000 workers and has an estimated market value of $9.9 billion. The primary growth factors driving Canada’s heavy equipment industry are government infrastructure development projects, commercial development projects, increasing preference for sustainable business practices, and more.
However, to support the growing needs of the industry, contractors require more reliable sources for procuring heavy equipment. Their demands can be easily matched by launching a new online equipment rental website that can be accessed throughout the country, or by taking the digital leap for your existing offline equipment rental business. You can establish a network of contractors by launching your online equipment store and helping them complete diverse projects to boost the country’s growth.
In this article, we have thoroughly covered how you can launch an equipment rental store in Canada. Let’s take a closer look at the growth factors and business model before moving towards the development approach.
The heavy equipment rental industry in Canada has stayed relatively stable and resilient because of certain factors. Some of those that validate the industry’s potential and growth prospects are:
The exorbitant costs of purchasing heavy equipment have always been the primary deterrent behind heavy equipment sales. Even if a contractor or construction company considers financing the heavy equipment, the interest rate of the finance is way too high. These interest rates have only amplified in recent years. Thus, renting out heavy equipment seems to be a more capital-friendly option than both direct purchasing and sourcing.
To control carbon emissions, the entire heavy equipment industry is drifting towards sustainable practices. One of which is rental as it relies on the sharing economy that does not produce any additional carbon emissions. Moreover, the rental model aligns with Canada’s carbon-neutral goal which the government aims to achieve by 2050. The entrance of renewable energy sources and electric vehicles in the heavy equipment rental industry further aids this goal.
The Canadian government is working to improve the public infrastructure including roads, bridges, railways, airways, and more to provide the public with superior facilities. It has also launched several plans such as the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) which pledges $33 billion for infrastructure development and the Ontario 30-year Transit Plan which pledges $65.7 billion toward transport network development. All such plans are positively impacting Canada’s heavy equipment rental industry. As the government is also allocating around 5% of its GDP every year towards infrastructure development, the equipment rental industry will benefit from a continuous demand.
Along with public infrastructure development plans, there are several commercial project undertakings in the country that are facilitating growth in the heavy equipment rental industry. These include the development of large establishments such as shopping malls, corporate buildings, stadiums, innovation work, and more. A few projects to name are The Bow, The Edge office building, 11333 Yonge Street offices, Absolute Towers, Royal Ontario Museum, New Etobicoke Civic Centre, and the SmartMill Head Office.
The mining sector of Canada contributes about 6% to its entire economy. Canada is also the leading provider of potash and supplies other minerals such as gold, diamonds, aluminum, titanium, platinum, palladium, and uranium. The extraction of these minerals on a large scale requires diverse types of equipment including drills, excavators, graders, loaders, and trucks. Due to the huge demand in the mining sector, the equipment rental industry is also witnessing growth.
As said earlier, to capitalize on the opportunity, you can launch an online equipment rental store. Here’s an exemplary workflow for your online store:
Workflow of Equipment Rental Website
Step 1: The business owner adds equipment listings on the website
Step 2: The customer browses the website and selects equipment
Step 3: To place an order online, the customer selects the rental dates and makes payment along with the security deposit
Step 4: The business owner fulfills the order via the selected fulfillment method (delivery or self-pickup)
Step 5: On return, the business owner inspects the equipment for any damages and reimburses the same from the customer’s rental security. The remaining security amount is returned.
For smooth business operations, a heavy equipment rental store requires several rent-centric features. These features assist the admin in automating day-to-day operations and bringing efficiency to the entire business. When selecting a heavy equipment rental solution to build your online store, you can look out for these features.
Developing a business solution used to be a highly cost-inclusive task because of hourly development rates and long project delivery timeframe. However, readymade software solutions have solved this problem. Readymade solutions are tried and tested software that come with all necessary features out of the box. In most cases, you are only required to deploy them and configure your store. As these solutions are readily available and exclude long delivery time frames and hourly payments, they are highly cost-effective for all entrepreneurs. To support any additional requirements, some readymade solutions are also fully customizable.
Benefits of Using Readymade Equipment Rental Software:
Although there are several rental solutions available in the market, Yo!Rent emerges to be unrivaled with state-of-the-art and user-friendliness. It comes with all essential and advanced features to keep your business running 24/7 and streamline even the most complex operations including managing inventory, returns, taxes, rental agreements and more. Unlike other solutions, Yo!Rent is also a self-hosted solution that provides you the flexibility to select your own hosting server, making your rental website more secure and easily scalable. Going a step further, Yo!Rent provides you with complete pricing control, helps in damage recovery, automates paperwork, streamlines inventory and also assists in marketing and preparing business reports.
Setting up a heavy equipment rental store allows you to establish a network of reliable equipment dealers and capitalize on their rental inventories. In Canada, as the growth projections for the industry are high and also backed by numerous government and private development programs, launching an equipment rental business can reap impressive returns. However, for a successful launch, you will need to keep in mind a few important things that include the business model, development approach, launch time and your Go-to-Market strategy. To keep a clarity in all these, you can devise a business plan which will assist you in execution and cost savings.
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Abhishek Kataria is a business consultant at FATbit Technologies. He assists entrepreneurs and business owners in developing viable digital touchpoints and marketplaces. Abhishek is curious about exploring and analyzing new business trends and has a keen eye for the latest developments in the eCommerce sector. Apart from consulting, you can find him practicing French and exploring his creativity in Photoshop.
