A few years back, when I was living with my uncle, I was once asked to go and hire a ladder from a neighbor. When I got there I saw some other people there and on enquiry, I discovered that they all wanted to hire the same ladder. Unfortunately, the owner was nowhere to be found.
That opened my eyes to another business opportunity.
Renting at N200 per day was quite affordable for the normal cheap ladder. If your ladder is hired twice a week, you have 200x2= N400 and in a month N1600. In a year you will have made 1600x12 = 19200. So assuming you bought your ladder for 15k, you would have made a profit of 4k. It is not a big business but if you multiply it....in 3 locations....with costlier types of ladders..or if your in a very high construction area....it could really pay off. Why I love it is, it is a business you can just start and the business runs on its own.
Requirements
A good ladder. You could ask a carpenter to make one for you or you could buy an industrial type of ladder like the one used by fire men or for climbing Electric Power Poles. The cost ranges from 15k to 75k.
Premises Set-up -You just need a space to keep your ladder. If you cant find a warehouse or where to shield the ladder from the weather (rain, sun etc) you need to also get ready to replace the ladder soon.
Personnel
One person is required to make sure the customer fills a form(giving his full address phone numbers, email, guarantor) and signs the hiring/lease agreement(this is necessary to ensure u don't get into trouble with injuries and insurance) before releasing the ladder. It could be necessary for your members to register with you first with a security deposit in case your ladder disappears. If don't do this, you may have to make sure you know each person you lend your ladder to.
Total staff 1
Getting Customers
Advertise in your local church bulletins, posters by the road side(very effective), flyers, having a sign outside your door, Talking to people at construction sites around you. etc
Other strategies
Make sure you collect your money before the Ladder is hired
Get ready to buy different types and sizes of ladders to serve different customers
This business thrives well in areas with a high level of development
Keep the price cheap
and in the long term
You could consider renting more related equipment to customers.
The best part of this business is that the ladder could last for as long as 7 years.
