Life often comes with surprises, especially when a global event impacts your business. Emily and David Watson moved premises following the pandemic, inspiring them to catalog their equipment and rent it out as a side to their primary business. While growing their rental company, they started using Booqable for online bookings and inventory management.
Emily Tallulah Flowers
16 years ago, Emily Watson started a wedding and events floristry company, Emily Tallulah Flowers. She has enjoyed a lot of success over the years, and her business has grown significantly. While she would lend equipment out on an informal basis, she hadn’t fully dived into rentals. Following the pandemic, she and her husband, David, moved the business to new premises.
During this move, David began cataloging all the event equipment they had gathered through the years. He realized that they had accumulated a huge amount of stock and props over the years. While cataloging everything, he had the idea to rent it out to wedding planners, event planners, and other florists to supplement their primary income.
This idea became a success as where they are located, in Cambridge, UK, they are the only rental business of this kind. They have made money from equipment that would otherwise have been sat on a shelf. They are now investing in more equipment from the money they earn from renting everything out and are excited about the future.
Inventory management and online bookings
When David started formalizing the rental side of the business, he ran into issues keeping track of stock, managing bookings, and taking payment for their equipment. He began looking for rental software that would help him get these under control and integrate online bookings into the business’ existing Squarespace website easily.
He found that Booqable was the best solution both from a management and customer-facing side. David has been able to gain full control over the inventory and know exactly what he’s got, where it is, and when it is needed. He has also utilized real-time availability to ensure stock is never double booked or unavailable when someone needs it.
Meanwhile, adding online bookings to the business’ Squarespace website was quick and easy. This lets customers view, book, and pay online, so he isn’t chasing people for payment. Finally, with better stock management and online bookings, he has been able to grow the customer base and even encourage repeat customers who return time and again.
Growing customer base
Now that the management side is under control, David wants to focus on cataloging and photographing the rest of his stock. This greater range of equipment should encourage a more extensive customer base, and he hopes his “side hustle” will begin to generate a healthy income. He Booqable will help him to achieve these goals as he continues to grow.
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