Adding inventory such as rental items and decor pieces to your planning business may sound like an ideal way to add more income to your bottom line. However, there are various details to consider before investing in inventory and expanding your planning business in this manner.

Here are 5 things to consider before adding decor or rentals:

1) Storage

Do you have a place to store decor and rental items or will you need to invest in storage or studio space? If you do not currently have storage space, how will you afford to pay for the space necessary?

You can start with small items to test the market before investing in inventory that requires more space than you currently have.

2) Delivery, Installation & Pick Up

How will you handle the logistics of delivery, set up, and pick up for your rental items? Will the client be responsible for picking up the items at your office or storage space? Will you be the person to meet the client when they pick up and return rental items?

If you plan to offer delivery, will you rent a truck each time you need to do a large delivery? Or do you have the budget to purchase and maintain a truck for your business?

3) What Type of Inventory Will You Have

Before purchasing inventory, consider what items and styles will be rented frequently. Do you plan to start with small rental items and slowly build your inventory? Or do you prefer to make large purchases such as tables and chairs to start with?

Will you focus only on decor items or will you carry a variety of decor and standard event rental items? Will your inventory be focused on a certain style such as vintage rentals, holiday items, or beach themed decor? Will you create custom decor for clients?

These are all questions to consider before making the leap into event rentals. Instead of having a random selection of styles and items, you can choose to have a curated collection of rental items that fit your business and brand.

4) Hidden Costs

There are other costs to consider if you choose to add rental items to your planning business. You will need extra liability insurance to cover the cost of the items in your inventory. You will need to plan for potential damage to rentals from events and do regular maintenance on rentals (such as repainting chairs and replacing broken vases).

You or your team may spend a significant amount of time managing the details of rentals such as fielding inquiries, providing quotes, following up with potential clients, managing payments, inspecting returned rental items, and keeping track of damage deposits. As your rental business grows, you may need to invest in a rental management software program to stay on top of all the details.

5) Who Will You Rent To

Will you rent only to your planning clients as part of your event design services? Or will you rent your items to anyone, including other local event planners? Either one is perfectly fine but it’s important to decide whether the rentals are solely for your own planning/design clients or if you are building a decor and rental business that you will market to the public.

If you are on the fence about building a rental or decor inventory, consider whether it would be more appealing to build relationships with local rental, floral, and decor companies who have showrooms (or at least catalogs) that you can choose items from for your weddings and events. This may be much less hassle than the small amount of income you will generate with building and managing your own rental and decor inventory. Also, consider whether you want to be an event planner who assists with event design or if you want to expand into offering full event design services.

In addition to local rental and decor resources, there are also many online resources for purchasing custom decor products. Etsy.com is great for smaller custom items such as table numbers, signage, and favors. Event Decor Direct, Koyal Wholesale, and Save on Crafts have huge selections where you can purchase larger items such as fabric for draping, lighting, and hanging decorations. Those websites are also great for purchasing large quantities of candles and vases.

Do you maintain an inventory of rentals and decor for your planning business? If so, has it worked well for your business? Share your experience with us in the comments!

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