Business Idea: Your thoughts

[Jets4Life]

Since CP has never let me down before, I wanted your opinion on an idea I came up with. My idea?

Buying a couple of trucks, a few quads, and sleds, and possibly other material, and going up to Northern Alberta and renting them out at a daily rate. I heard of a person who was making good money doing this.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[jar_e]

If by northern alberta, do you mean fort mac? Only place I could see there being the disposable income/interest/demographic.

[MrMastodonFarm]

It's a good idea and would probably work. So many transient workers, especially from the East Coast, who might have a day or two off and miss their Quad sitting back at home.

[Hans Landa]

As long as you charge a hefty, refundable, damage deposit... sounds good to me.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Obviously make sure you got a nice solid business plan (for the loan mostly) and get everything you need (insurance, training etc..). But I could see why something like that would do well in Fort Mac or those areas. Not like there's anything else to do around there anyways.

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by jar_e

If by northern alberta, do you mean fort mac? Only place I could see there being the disposable income/interest/demographic.

I think it could fly in the Grande Prairie area too.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Obviously make sure you got a nice solid business plan (for the loan mostly) and get everything you need (insurance, training etc..). But I could see why something like that would do well in Fort Mac or those areas. Not like there's anything else to do around there anyways.

Except coke and booze...Which is exactly what they'll be doing right before going for a spin on a quad.

[hmmhmmcamo]

My first thought is general maintenance will probably be very costly. A damage deposit will only really be good for actual damage that someone does, and not the everyday stuff that everyone contributes to over time.

[Tron_fdc]

There are a million resources you can find on the web that screen potential business ideas before you ever get to a business plan stage.

Google "Barringers first screen" and go from there.

[topfiverecords]

Got private land to ride on?

[Hans Landa]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

Got private land to ride on?

Does he need it?

The OP isn't starting a tour company with ATV's and Sleds to rent.
It sounds like he'll rent them out of a home base, people pay the fees, insurance, deposits, sign a waiver, load up the equipment on their trucks and #### off for a day or two to wherever they'd go if it were their own machines.

Enterprise doesn't own the land I drive on when I rent a car from them. I'm sure the OP could protect himself through by means of the waiver if they were used on prohibited/protected land.

[surferguy]

I don't think many people are getting the idea of letting these out to businesses that need to access the bush for well site work and such. Maintenance is your biggest foe, stay on top of that and you should do well.

That said you are moving to Ft. Mac to handle everyday logistics and such, so there goes most of your profit.

I used to rent quads all the time when I worked in O&G. This is a viable business.

[moon]

There are a ton of questions that come to mind.

Are you renting these out to guys for personal use, looking to rent them out for business use or you don't care either way.

I think there certainly is a market for each but as with any business you always have to ask if money was so simple to make by just bringing product a to place b how come guys who make money hand over fist in the area haven't done it first?

Not saying there isn't a market but there would seem to be guys doing the same thing and what is going to make you different from the guys doing it or what is the market you are tapping into that isn't being met already.

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by surferguy

I don't think many people are getting the idea of letting these out to businesses that need to access the bush for well site work and such. Maintenance is your biggest foe, stay on top of that and you should do well.

That said you are moving to Ft. Mac to handle everyday logistics and such, so there goes most of your profit.

I used to rent quads all the time when I worked in O&G. This is a viable business.

Thanks for the tips. Would it be cheaper to live in a town like Lac La Biche? Or would that be too far from my intended customer base?

[surferguy]

Those are questions you would have to research. I'm not really sure

[metallicat]

Lac La Biche probably would be cheaper than Fort McMurray, but Google says it's 3.5 hours away. That's a long drive.

[schteve_d]

I know someone, not very well mind you, who looked into this a few years ago. If I remember correctly the insurance was a big roadblock.

[GP_Matt]

Hey, a few thoughts. In GP, there is a company called Majors who have the market on rentals andgas station sandwiches. (If you have ever worked in Grande Prairie you know what I am talking about, they are delicious).
They rent units out for about 150 a day and take a 1500 damage deposit. It anything isn't perfect you pay for it.

There is a big market for rentals up north but I would hazard a guess that there is more on the NW side than the NE side. The Ne of the province is a lot more heavy oil which means site based work. If you are looking to rent to the patch then the west half of the province has more exploration and remote access sites than the east. Central is also heavy if you are looking at something like Slave Lake or more remote like Swan Hills or Wabasca.

Anyways, feel free to give me a shout tomorrow if you any questions and I might be able to provide some insight. All of our crews run two sleds or quads on a daily basis so I have some idea of the market.

[GP_Matt]

Reading further in the thread I think you need to decide if you would want to rent for recreation or industrial use. There is a huge difference right up to what kind of machines to buy and where to locate. For industrial you can get away with renting. For industry you can rent a tundra profitably, but for recreation you will need something like a Summit E-Tec.

[dubc80]

As someone who manages contracts in O&G, there is definitely a market for these services.

From what I have seen suppliers charge us for trucks, quads and other misc field consumables and supplies, we could of outright bought the units many times over.