Starting an online rental business involves a lot of moving parts. However, it doesn’t have to be as complex as it first seems, and there are plenty of tools that can take some of that stress away. From website builders to payments and marketing, there are tools specifically for each purpose that are designed to make your daily life easier.
Luckily, there are plenty of tools and services that are free or very affordable to get you started. This allows you to spend as little time as possible on these tasks and more time focusing on nurturing the areas of your rental business that need the most attention. So, let’s take a look at seven essential types of tools you need to start an online rental business.
Essential tools for rental businesses
1. Website builder
There are many website builders to choose from that allow you to create a website quickly from a template. The most recommended website builders are WordPress and Squarespace. Both tools don’t require any coding knowledge, and you can easily edit the content when you need to. There are also many developers who can use them to create an affordable website.
2. Online booking platform
You will generally need dedicated rental software to accept online bookings and manage your rental inventory. Booqable provides easy integration into any website, so you can quickly get started with online bookings. In addition, you can manage your entire rental inventory, orders, customer, and payments with this all-in-one software.
3. Payment service
Of course, you can’t start making money if there is no way for customers to pay you. Generally, most online payments are made through either Stripe or PayPal, which can be easily integrated with tools like Booqable. Adding either of these to your online store will open you up to accepting payments from all major types of credit and debit cards.
4. Social media planner
Remembering to post on social media often can be difficult and add unnecessary stress to your day. Fortunately, tools like Later allow you to schedule your social media posts ahead of time. Allowing you to prepare them once a week or even once a month, so you’re not constantly trying to remember to post something.
5. Graphic design software
Creating graphics for your website and social media can seem daunting, especially if you have little knowledge. Thankfully, Adobe’s free content creation tool Express provides an easy entry point. It has thousands of beautiful templates to choose from to inspire your social media posts, and they’re super easy to edit and swap in your images and text.
6. Video editing software
Again, creating video content for social media and your website can feel like an impossible task when you’re unskilled. However, Canva’s free video editing tool allows you to quickly and easily create professional videos without special skills. It’s a great way to start creating video content and will enable you to pick up skills as you go forward.
7. Analytics tools
Finally, it would be best if you had a way to keep track of your website’s performance, and Google has a couple of free tools for that. The first is Search Console, which allows you to track how people find your website through the search terms they use. The second is Analytics which gives you a deeper look at your website visitor’s behavior on your website.
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Taking it further
So, there you have it, ten tools that can help you start your online rental business for the most minimal cost and skills. Once your business grows, you can decide if you want to invest in more tools or even hire people to deal with these specific tasks for you. However, you should be able to get started yourself with the tools listed in this blog post. Good luck with your business!
