This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Oh, hey there. Thanks for tuning in today. Welcome to Sidal School. Today we've got Sarah from Los Angeles on the line. She has got a big idea brewing.
Well, I guess the idea is in the works. I don't know if it's brewing. We're not talking about coffee, but we are talking about sustainability. Sarah has noticed that people are looking for more eco-friendly transportation options. And specifically, she's thinking about starting a car rental business, but with a twist.
Instead of gas guzzlers, she wants to focus on EVs, electric vehicles, or other alternative energy vehicles. So of course at Sidal School, we're interested in the individual, not in some big startup, not in some like, how do you get lots of financing? How do you build a company? But how can you do something for yourself? That's all we have to ask.
Is there room in the market for a small sustainable rental car brand, or even just for the average person doing this? Could you possibly do it as a side hustle? Let's chat with Sarah and see what we can come up with. Her detailed question is coming up right after this quick break. [Music]
Hi, my name is Sarah, and I'm calling from Los Angeles.
I'm a big believer in sustainability, and I think there's a growing demand for eco-friendly transportation options. Of course, public transit is best, but that's not always possible. Therefore, I'm considering starting a car rental business that focuses on alternative energy vehicles. I'd love to hear your advice on the best way to get started and what to consider when launching this kind of business. I know I can't compete with companies like Hertz or Enterprise, but is there room to do something smaller?
[Music]
All right, Sarah, thanks for the question. Thanks for sharing your idea. I do think it's really fun and interesting. Let's talk about some practical tips that could help you get started. I think the key point is gonna be your very last sentence about how you know you can't compete with companies like Hertz or Enterprise.
Okay, so as mentioned in the introduction, on side hustle school, I'm all about helping individuals start something quickly without spending a lot of money, so not the traditional startup way, right? Our model is like, how can you as a person who doesn't have a lot of resources necessarily or access to angel investors or all that, like how can you move forward, right? So I think it's really key to like just, you know, not try to compete with a big company, but to be, you know, deliberately smaller, more specialized business that caters to a specific audience. So in fact, that's my first practical tip, you know, think about who your target customers might be and why they might want to rent, you know, from a very small business, right? So for example, you could focus on serving eco-conscious travelers to the Los Angeles area, or you could target local businesses, perhaps, that want to promote sustainability to their employees.
Again, you're not Hertz, so be the anti-Hertz, or it could be any other large rental company, nothing against Hertz per se, but you know what I mean. And next, you really wanna think a bit more about the brand, like the brand itself. We've got your target customer, so your brand. You know, your brand should reflect your commitment to sustainability and eco-friendliness, right? So just make sure your messaging website, overall image, it's all consistent, you know, with those kind of values.
And I guess you also need to, at some point, get your vehicles, right? Because to launch a car rental business, you're gonna need a fleet of vehicles. Now, you know, here's a key point. Who's to say you can't have a rental car brand with just one vehicle, right? Like people do that all the time on Turo, for example.
So Turo.com, or Turo, the app, that's what individuals use to rent out the cars that they own, you know, to other individuals, kind of like, you know, peer-to-peer Airbnb style, but for vehicles, that could be an easy entry point as well. You know, we've had stories in the podcast of people that do multiple vehicles, sometimes 10 or more, you know, specifically, or exclusively, I should say, only through Turo. Now, you may not wanna use that platform or you might wanna do something differently, but the point is, you're gonna need to acquire your vehicles and you don't have to start with a ton of them, okay? So I would say, how can you start with one or two, you know, EVs or other alternative energy vehicles, some kind of either electric or hydrogen or hybrid in some fashion, whatever it is you're trying to do and try to get that vehicle or those vehicles rented out, you know, at least 20 days a month or whatever you need for it to be profitable. So I think that's the starting point and then where you go from there, you know, there's lots of different pathways forward, but if you wanted to get started within 60 to 90 days or so, that's pretty much how you would do it.
So I wish you the best, Sarah. Listeners, I wish you the best. I'm cheering you on. I hope you're thinking about different ideas and taking action to turn inspiration into action. And of course, I hope you'll join me again tomorrow for a new episode.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
