Many entrepreneurs start businesses solely with revenue in mind, but when Basecamp was founded it also had the aim of creating a community. They wanted it to not only be the go-to place for ski equipment, but also a spot for like-minded people to meet. Since starting in Sofia they have expanded to Plovdiv and swapped their complex rental system for Booqable.
Creating a community around your business is incredibly smart as it means word of mouth quickly spreads. Your store becomes the spot that everyone wants to visit to buy and rent equipment while talking with like-minded people. It ensures that customers always come back to rent and meet others with the same hobbies and lifestyle as themselves.
Basecamp
The first Basecamp shop was opened in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2010 to offer high quality ski and mountain equipment to adventurers. The idea behind the shop was to create not just a sale point, but a spot for like minded people, who love the mountains and the outdoor sports. It is positioned as “your spot in the mountain” and certainly lives up to that description.
Basecamp offers high quality equipment from the leading outdoor brands like Scarpa, G3 Genuine Guide Gear, Mammut, Black Diamond, Madshus, MSR and ABS. Their customers can rent skis, ski boots, skins, poles, avalanche airbags, avalanche beacons, probes and shovels. Giving their customers the ultimate selection of outdoor activity rental equipment.
Over a decade later, Basecamp is now a chain of stores in Sofia and Plovdiv, Bulgaria. It now has a strong online presence across Europe with its online store where customers can buy and rent equipment. Its team is made up of outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers who are passionate and knowledgable to provide their customers with the best gear for their adventures.
A long climb
Of course, the mission of creating and growing a business with this much ambition wasn’t easy. The team behind it had to adopt a relatively complex rental system to manage the volume of bookings they were receiving. These order would come in the form of rental requests and inquiries which required the constant attention of the team to ensure each one was booked in.
This left the door open for error to creep in. The Basecamp team found themselves becoming overwhelmed with requests and organizing bookings and equipment became somewhat of a juggling act. As the company grew, these opportunities reared their head more frequently, until the team decided that enough was a enough and there had to be a better way.
Finally at the summit
In their search for rental software that could meet their requirements and scale alongside the business, Basecamp’s team came across Booqable. They knew instantly that it was the solution for the issues they had been facing, while offering a much more simplified experience. In addition, it opened them up to accepting bookings through their online store.
Now, the team is able to get insights into their inventory, ensuring everything is where it should be. They no longer face the possibility of double bookings and their isn’t the chance that they will miss anything. Recently, they were able to launch their dedicated rental website where customers can browse, see live availability, book and pay for their equipment rentals.
Further adventures
Basecamp has successfully become the place people go to get gear, get advice, meet like-minded people, share ideas, and build their own adventure. It has scaled from a single store to a chain of stores in both Sofia and Plovdiv, Bulgaria in a decade and its team is showing no signs of slowing down this growth any time soon.
Since adopting Booqable for their inventory management and online store 2 months ago, Basecamp has seen revenue increase by 45%. In addition, the mobile app has allowed them to faciliate a faster process for giving out and taking in the products customers rent out. The culmination of this has been very positive customers who a happy about the improvements to the experience.
