Need opinions of Computer Rental Industry.

[Joemoney]

I am considering purchasing a computer rental business in my hometown. Since many of you are very familiar with computers and many may even work in the computer industry, I would be interested in hearing your opinion on the Computer Rental industry. Do you think it has long term stability? Are lowering PC prices going to drive companies like this out of business?

Opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Joe

 

[D1gger]

I would see a very limited future for rental computers. It is becoming so cheap to buy a computer, why would anyone rent? Even if a business or individual needs another PC for short time period, there are so many slightly obsolete pc's floating around, it is possible to borrow one, rather than rent. Your inventory of PC's also has a relatively short lifespan, with technology moving fast enough that no-one is going to want to rent a six month old PC.

I personally wouldn't want to pay very much for that business.

 

[Zepper]

I would be quite skeptical myself. If it was a regular computer business which possibly takes in trades and did the rental thing with the trade boxes or other used gear, then maybe it would be worth considering.
. As others have mentioned: what is the age of their rental equipment (will it need to be replaced soon or is it still up to most common business uses for PCs? - do they have a verifiable history of good positive cash flow in the business? etc. etc.). All very iffy from here...

.bh.

:moon:

 

[imported_Nacelle]

I was at a cell phone programing company a few months ago. They spent thousands on rented computers for a big job they had. When the job was over, they returned the computers. They saved all kinds of money. Because they didn't need them all for that long.

 

[BriGy86]

if some one needs a computer im sure it would be very easy for them to use a friends or family members. and if i were to rent a computer i would want it to be one of the latest ones out there... do you see what im saying?

 

[comp101]

I'm not sure if people need to rent a computer.

If they are playing games, they will buy one.

If they need one for word processing/web browsing they will buy a cheap Dell or pick up a used PC. I could even play non-graphic intensive games on my Windows 98 SE Celeron 466 (264 RAM mind you), 13 GB hard drive and GForce MX200 video card until my power supply blew up. Even though the PC was perfectly fine for Internet and word processing, I doubt I could have sold it for more than $25.

Who is your target market?

 

[Joemoney]

Hello, thank you all for your replies.

The company I'm considering purchasing rents large volume rentals to businesses. They also rent to everyday users on the side, but that's only a side business. Their main customer base is businesses. They also rent LCD projectors and other presentation equiptment.

They are the largest company who do such work in my city and have a long history of success. The guy started the company in 1985 and is still making a decent living from it, but wants to retire because he's getting old.

 

[huypham]

actually, laptop rentals have a future

so many conferences/computer shows like to rent laptops for delegates. i see a bright future for that possibly, but not in desktop computing rental as it's so cheap

 

[vegetation]

There's a lot of potential with rentals to conventions and such but you'll need to do more than just renting the equipment out, such as actually setting up the machinery and software applications. Make sure you hire the right people who know what they're doing and wont steal from you.

 

[Corporate Thug]

damn, computers are so cheap these days i would be skeptical about a rental place

 

[ponyo]

As long as all the books look good and business generates good cash flow, I see why not. I would hire an accountant to go through the books. I'll buy any business as long as it's profitable and the selling price is cheap. If it's really good deal price wise, you could flip it after a short time.

 

[Brian48]

Leasing out hardware is generally not as profitable as providing support services. You can rent out the PC's for xxx dollars, but I think you'd do better if you sell the "business product" as an IT/desktop support contract with the actual PCs as an included option.