We are publishing an interview of Mr. Harsh Dhand, Co founder & CEO of RENTSHER.
About the founders:
Harsh (CEO) has transformed from being a research scientist postgraduation from IIT-Delhi in 2004-05 in CSE, he was a batch topper and first job in computer Science applications in Healthcare & Lifestyle to leading ventures on the business expansion path from seed stage to market entry and expansion. Last 5 years, he has headed Business Development activities for new technology initiatives in both B2B and B2C space, with hands on experience in managing the complete sales cycle from pre-sales, marketing, negotiations, contracting and execution / delivery of projects. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/harshdhand)
Vaibhav is a management consultant turned Entrepreneur with 12+ years of experience in strategy, business development, operations transformation and leadership. He is based in Dubai and currently the CEO of RentSher Middle East – an online marketplace for rentals for events, electronics, medical and tourism products and services. Previsouly, Vaibhav has worked with leading organizations such as Dubai Government, McKinsey and Company, Philips Healthcare and Tata group. He has led various challenging assignments and set-up of new business units in the GCC, Turkey and Africa along with leading various initiatives for Government entities in KSA, Bahrain and Qatar. Vaibhav holds an M.B.A from Oxford University, UK and an Bachelor in Engineering from RGTU, India. https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshivaibhav/
What is the problem you are trying to solve? Can you share with us any insights that led you to believe that this is a big enough problem?
RENTSHER is a leading online product rental marketplace and an aggregator for event service providers, electronics and medical equipment. RENTSHER is an one-stop shop for all rental requirements. It recognized the high demand for renting products during several events such as parties, school and office functions, training programs, travel, medical emergencies or temporary activities as rental items are available at a fraction of the cost of actually buying them
What is the uniqueness about your Startup?
RentSher is managed rental marketplace. It provides opportunity to businesses as well as individuals to put their products on rent and earn extra. It allows renters to browse products, see the prices like on daily, weekly, monthly basis where possible, book them online for required dates and checkout. With RentSher, renting products is as easy as booking a bus or a movie ticket.
RENTSHER has short term rental services on their platform, also they has a wide varieties of IT products at an affordable rental cost. The platform also provides medical equipment’s like wheelchairs, medical beds etc for rental basis.
What is the revenue model? Explain your thought process.
Main source of income is the commission for the value added services we provide such as product listing, order placement, delivery & pick up. The owner of product pays commission of 25% and the renter pays for the delivery charges. Enterprise business or tie-ups with schools, hotels, and event places are also good sources of revenue. Future sources of income could include premium/sponsored listings, cross promotions and more
Who are the consumers that you are targeting? How is this going to affect them?
RENTSHER has the Logo, Every Life event, simply Rent; which means that its customers span from children to Millenials, to parents and aged people. Millennials are the targeted consumers for RENTSHER. Renting is the new buying, why should one pay the MRP when you can avail the same on rental basis if the usage is short term.
What is the big picture of your startup? Will it lead to something bigger? If so, how?
RENTSHER is part of the large $15B Re-commerce industry and enabling the integration of the rental market via a seamless platform online. Scaled up operations and business synergies across geographies would lead to much profitable enterprise.
What is the success story of your startup in your own words?
RENTSHER has a fairly Positive unit economics and overall business revenue strategy. Being a market place, its fairly achievable to scale up the revenues by acquiring more customers and vendors.
While there is competition in the Rental Market, RENTSHER has survived and thrived by building a clear value proposition in rentals, a good word of mouth and customer experience leading to a steady revenue stream, allowing it to expand gradually to other cities and also geographies.
Any other information about your startup that you would like to share with us.
RentSher is perhaps the only Seed stage startup which has spanned across and opened operations in UAE, this is achievable due to the net unit economics being positive and a clear focus on short term event rentals, which are big not only in India but in other developing countries.
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Thanks Harsh. Best of luck!
