Ever dream of driving an exotic sports car? How about having a dozen of them parked in your garage, all being paid for by your rental customers? This week Shannon and Dave meet two entrepreneurs who have built a fast-growing and successful Small Business using the Turo car rental platform. If you’ve ever dreamed of that new Porsche or Jaguar, but couldn’t figure out a way to pay for it, this is the show you don’t want to miss!

Gurjit Singh and Kevin Chou started The Gentleman’s Garage about two years ago and have expanded it to a dozen sports cars with availability in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vegas. The guys share their story today, talking about the challenges of getting started, dealing with problems and removing obstacles to growth.

You’ll learn about managing risk, protecting yourself (and your cars) and the importance of having a strong platform that backs you up with insurance and background checks. We discuss how Gurjit and Kevin divide up their duties and how they have fine tuned their rental business to insure that each car is profitable – removing older, slower performing vehicles and adding newer models to keep their fleet fresh.

One key aspect becomes clear during the interview, Singh and Chou are focused on creating and managing the customer experience for customers that value convenience over price. By distinguishing there rentals with concierge style service, they have built a strong reputation with continued plans for growth.

Join us today to learn about these topics and more, then join the discussion on the Small Business Support Group!

Chapters/Timestamps:

00:00:00 Small Business Show #141 October 18, 2017
00:01:36 Gurjit Singh & Kevin Chou – Using Turo as a Small Business platform
00:03:46 It all starts with two Mustangs … and a BMW
00:04:25 Turo covered the repair!
- Shift – online car buying and selling
00:05:36 Beware the damage claims
00:06:47 Think about how people will drive your vehicles
00:07:58 Turo manages the risk
00:08:46 Turo valet service
00:09:20 Each car makes 2-3x monthly payment
00:11:31 The logistics of management
00:13:34 One-way fee
00:14:41 With affluent customers, you’re managing an experience
00:17:17 If you’re going to rent it out, don’t buy new!
- Certified Pre-Owned works very well for Turo
00:20:23 Managing the fleet – new cars, selling cars, registrations
00:21:38 The bankers slow you down!
00:24:46 Did making it a business ruin your hobby?
00:25:44 “The cars are still a thrill to drive”
- Converting to a membership business
00:27:45 Visit Gurjit and Kevin’s The Gentleman’s Garage on Turo … and Facebook
00:28:57 SBS 141 Outtro

The post Building a Rental Car Small Business on the Turo Platform – Small Business Show 141 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Colum McCann