The Future of Rent-to-Own: Ethics, Innovation, and Customer Experience

Send us a text

What happens when an industry's competitive landscape shifts from serving customers to wooing dealers? In this eye-opening conversation, Josh and Justin from Shed Geek Rentals join Shannon to pull back the curtain on today's rent-to-own industry and the sometimes troubling direction it's headed.

The team dives deep into how the rent-to-own sector has transformed from a customer payment option into a high-stakes game of dealer incentives, with companies offering increasingly generous premiums to secure partnerships. "Competition in general is good," Josh notes, but questions arise about whether current practices truly put the customer first or merely maximize short-term profits.

Most fascinating is their frank discussion of a potential industry disruption – what if rent-to-own companies adopted a direct-to-consumer approach like traditional banks? By building customer relationships first and then facilitating shed purchases, could the industry refocus on what matters most? This thought-provoking concept challenges the status quo and imagines a world where the renter, not just the dealer, becomes the center of the business model.

The conversation doesn't shy away from difficult truths. From dealers who discourage rent-to-own because they don't understand its value to companies that fail to adequately educate customers on contract terms, the team examines where improvement is needed. "The renters are our customers and I don't think we're doing what's best for them," Justin candidly admits, highlighting the moral dimension of these business decisions.

Whether you're in the shed industry, involved in rent-to-own, or simply interested in how business models evolve, this conversation offers valuable insights into the tensions between profit, partnership, and customer service. Join us for a transparent look at an industry at a crossroads and the innovative thinking that might just transform its future.

For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.

To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.

To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at [e-mail].

This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Union Grove Lumber

Newfound Solutions
Solar Blaster
Shed Hub
Shed Suite
Identigrow

Episode Transcript

Shed Geek (00:07):
Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Shed
Geek podcast.
And I got my favorite guys heretoday and it's been a little
bit since we've needed to dothis podcast Because we just
haven't and I will take theblame for it, but also, I will
say it's because we don't wantto use the podcast just to

(00:29):
constantly talk about theservices that we offer.
Right, who's going to tune inand listen to that all the time?
But had you been here for thelast five minutes, it's very
entertaining and very fun.
But introduce yourself, guys.
I to start, even before youintroduce yourself, by saying I
just don't think the industryknows you guys like I do, and I

(00:53):
really appreciate you.
But like, really like you, LikeI've had the few people that's
come up to me and said, hey, man, you've got really good
partners there.
I really like those guys.
I'm like I know.
I just think that people need toknow them more, but you guys
are kind of, uh, not bashful,but you're just you're not loud

Josh Hosey (01:14):
Working in the background, just getting it

Shed Geek (01:15):
busy and but.
But who are you?
How about that?
Who are you?

Justin Lepage (01:19):
take it away, Josh

Josh Hosey (01:20):
all right, I'll start it out.
Um, my name is Joshua Hosey.
Thanks for having me on the pod.
Of course it's fantastic.
Anyways, yeah, so I have workedin the industry for ever since
I graduated college.
I went to Clarence Universityin Pennsylvania.
I went there for accounting,got my four-year degree in that.
When I was in my senior year, Igot a call from, from a guy.

(01:43):
He was in some part-time work,and it was some bookkeeping.
So, I thought, well, that couldgo hand in hand with accounting
, might look good on the resume.
So, it was a rent-to-owncompany.
I knew nothing about theindustry at all, but anyways,
when I told him I was in schoolfor accounting, he was like,
okay, when can you start?
Let's go.
So, I met him.

(02:04):
That started there as apart-time gig and then I
graduated, and he offered me agood, good offer to stay on.
And so, yeah, I've been in theindustry ever since I graduated.
It's all I've done, which is 10plus years.

Shed Geek (02:18):
Yeah, we're about.
I think we're going on it's 11.

Josh Hosey (02:20):
Yeah, yeah, it's 11 years now.
So going on 11 years, we'regoing on, it's 11.
Yeah, yeah, it's 11 years now,so going on 11 years, and I just
handled, like, the customerside and the books for so much
of it.
That is weird.
I was in the industry forprobably five or six years,
maybe even seven, but yet Iwasn't in the industry, like I
didn't know the players.
I literally just dealt withcustomers and numbers all the

(02:41):
time.
I wasn't a face to dealers andtalk to them much.
So, anyways, it's just been,you know, recently starting to
get more immersed in theindustry.
It's been very interesting tolearn more about it.
But anyway, yeah, that's whereit started and so, yeah, I've
been involved in rent to own mywhole career.
At this point, that's awesome.

Shed Geek (02:58):
And then ended up somehow connecting with this guy
.
I don't know, did you guys?
It seems like the story waslike you guys was in the back of
a police car and I don'tremember the whole story, but
you guys can probably tell itbetter than me.

Justin Lepage (03:12):
It was close, Close to that.
We just married the same in thesame family.

Shed Geek (03:18):
Well, I mean, we're close, Pretty close.

Justin Lepage (03:21):
Yeah, no, we are brother-in-laws, we married
sisters close, pretty close.
Yeah, no, we, uh, we arebrother-in-laws, we married, uh,
sisters.
So, um, that's kind of how Ibecame associated with the
industry, obviously just talkingbusiness between two guys and
you talked about his job.
That would be fascinated and Iknew nothing about rent to own
and it was a very intriguingconcept, um, so just over the

(03:45):
years we just kept talking aboutit and then eventually, after a
series of events, I joined theteam, um, initially just a part,
on a part-time basis, and thenkind of developed in full time,
and that's where I am now.

Josh Hosey (04:02):
Here we are me interject?
I remember the day that thisall really culminated and
happened, and you know we alwaystalked a little bit.
He was just curious about thecompany I worked for and how it
all worked.
But yeah, he worked in thecorporate world, and I won't
mention any names.
But he had a manager there.
He'd be on Zoom meetings andsometimes he would get off the

(04:23):
meeting.
And he'd had a manager there.
He'd be on zoom meetings andsometimes he wasn't.
He would get off the meetingand he'd be a little frustrated.
And so, I remember I was, wewere hanging out here in Newport
, Kentucky, at their apartment.
I was working on my stuff.
He was working from home, causeit was during the COVID craze,
and so he was working from homeand he got off a meeting and he
was just fuming, pacing aroundthe room and he's like you said

(04:48):
that you guys kind of neededhelp on like collections, right,
and I'm like, yeah, it's likethe, the main owner, he'd love
to get that off his plate.
He's like I'm calling him rightnow I'll see if he's a
part-time help and that was whenit started, and he just started
helping out with actually thecollection side of it and took
that off the owner's plate.
And then, yeah, after somemonths it developed into a

(05:09):
full-time role, and he went it'sbeen years now like you've been
in it for almost four years up.

Shed Geek (05:14):
A little over four years maybe, yeah yeah,
corporate world goodbye and saidhello to the shed industry and
our first connection wasactually with Justin, which is
unusual because, like you guyshave been around so long, but
like Justin, come in gunsblazing, right, he comes in the
company.

Josh Hosey (05:27):
He's like hey, he called the pod, right, yeah it's
like next thing you know, weconnect I.

Shed Geek (05:31):
You might have seen that I was going to be in the
area.
I don't remember what it was,but we connected.

Justin Lepage (05:34):
Maybe I bet it's been three years ago I think
that's when I was on my old highhorse about the hauling the
hauling side of the industrywhich I don't know.

Shed Geek (05:44):
We won't get into it, but it's still not been
resolved much, I think, me andSam were coming through, I want
to say, and like, we met and wehad like breakfast or lunch or
something, and then most peoplewould know you because, like,
not only are we in the sameplace where we did the previous
podcast, but from the previouspodcast where you were talking
about rent on and and-own andyou know, so, like we connected

(06:06):
and already done, we'd done this, but that relationship, you
know, moved into other areas.
I mean, it's been cool.
There's been a lot ofopportunity for me at the Shed
Geek podcast.
I don't like hide that.
It's been really cool and I'mthankful, I'm blessed, all of
those things, because, trust me,10 years ago there's zero
opportunity right for me in lifeand it was just like.

(06:26):
So, uh, I had, uh, well, myfriend, uh, you know, Joel, over
, you know, at j money says, youknow, a pastor has once
preached a message that saidthere's no greater burden than a
good opportunity.
And I've been like riding withthis, like, uh, yeah, I've been
riding with that like for Idon't know a month thinking
about that, because I'm like youknow, I'm gonna get a little

(06:48):
deep here, forgive me, but likeJohn Bevere's got a book called
like, like "Good or God, andit's, you know.
It says not every goodopportunity is a god opportunity
.
You know, even talks about likein genesis where, like you know
, eve saw that the fruit waswhat she ate.
She saw that was good, so ate.
But she had a commandment or adirection that said God said

(07:08):
don't do that.
She saw it was good.
You got to be careful when youget into that business world to
be like do I take everyopportunity?
And when you've been starvingfor opportunity, but this turned
out really fruitful in myopinion.
Just this connection, thisrelationship, at least on my end
.
I hope you guys feel that way.

Josh Hosey (07:30):
It's been fantastic.
Fair answer.

Justin Lepage (07:34):
That's fair.

Shed Geek (07:36):
No, it's, it's.
It's been good.
I really like working with youguys and like we sat and
brainstorm about like what rentto end can look like and of
course you know I've dealt withall the personal jabs that I
don't tell the industry about.
You shouldn't be doing Renton.
You're doing the podcast andit's like hey man, we even
invite our competitors on.
We even let them advertise onthe network.

(07:56):
Why?
Because we don't fearcompetition and we also believe
that there's a greater good thatwe're trying to accomplish in
the industry and you can do thatthrough communication,
conversations, evendisagreements right like you
know, like my, me and my wife'srelationship's been strengthened
more by our disagreements thanby our agreements.
So, like it's, you knowperseverance, and once she

(08:17):
acknowledges she's wrong, youslick it through it.

Justin Lepage (08:21):
Okay, we're good, good to work through now.
Shots fired right She'll editthat out.

Shed Geek (08:27):
But no, in all reality, like we're just on a
mission right To be successfulas men, to be successful in the
industry that we're in.
We think we can do that andwe've put our heads together to
try and help create good ideas.
But Shed Geek Rentals is on therise.
Right like we're doing goodthat's exciting, yeah yeah, it's

(08:48):
been good.

Josh Hosey (08:49):
Yeah, that's why we're not like you said earlier,
that's why we're not on the podlike every week, because it's
not just self-promotion yeah butuh, yeah, we just like to try
to serve the industry and do thebest we can.
So, but you know it's beengreat.

Justin Lepage (09:00):
but if you're looking for a rent-to-own
company, come on over.
Come on over, we'd love to haveyou.

Shed Geek (09:05):
Nothing wrong with the conversation.
Always be selling, absolutelyAlways be closing ABC, yeah.

ADVERTISEMENT (09:12):
Running a business can feel like trying to
balance a dozen plates, exceptnone of them are actually plates
and one of them's on fire.
Enter Newfound Solutions.
Think of us like your businessBFF, always.
Enter Newfound Solutions.
Think of us like your businessBFF, always ready to lend a hand
with whatever you need.
Have you always wanted to startyour own rent-to-own company,
but don't quite know where tostart?
Rto Partners is here to help,overwhelmed by all the moving

(09:34):
pieces and running your ownrent-to-own program, rto Smart
is a software that encompasseseverything you need on one
platform.
Or leave the rent-to-own up tous and focus on what's more
important to you.
Newfound Rentals has youcovered with traditional rent to
own options for your customers.
Shed Connect understands thecomplexity of the digital

(09:55):
marketplace.
We take the hassle out ofonline sales and unlock the full
potential of your brand.
With co-creative, we'll makeyour brand look so good your
audience won't be able to lookaway.
Newfound Solutions fivepowerful sub-brands helping you
succeed across every aspect ofyour business.
Visit newfoundsolutions.
com today and let us do thebalancing so you don't have to.

Shed Geek (10:16):
No, I agree.
Well, it's been fun and,truthfully, I think I've talked
about this on the podcast beforeyou know, like one of the
things that we ran up againstimmediately was we were like wow
, we realized that, like youknow, the rent on game was like
the capital game, like, in somerespects, right, like you're,
you're raising capital, you'realways trying to stay ahead, you

(10:39):
know being able to.
No one plans for success.
You ever notice that, like whenyou're growing up, what does
everybody tell you?
Better have a backup plan,better plan for when you fail,
for the fail.

Josh Hosey (10:54):
Don't say what's going to happen if you succeed.

Shed Geek (10:56):
What's going to happen if you succeed?
Better plan for success.
It's almost kind of like well,if it happens, we'll figure it
out.
It's like, yeah, but I, I meanlike you, you know we're, we're
doing good and like our biggestwoe right now is like, yeah,
let's go find more, it's acapital, it's a capital game
it's trying to kind of stay outof it, because I mean, yeah,
you're putting a lot of moneyout, getting it back over four

(11:18):
or five years.

Josh Hosey (11:20):
It's hard to actually scale and grow quickly,
you know, unless you haveaccess to a lot of capital.
That's a big part of the game,a major part of the game.

Shed Geek (11:28):
Systems and processes beyond that.
We've created a lot of that,even over the last couple of
years.
I'll start with Josh.
You've been 11 years.
How does it differ now thanwhen you started?
Like what, what does a customer, um, the customer experience,
look like?
That's.

(11:49):
That's different now than whatit did before the customer
experience, the customerexperience like I.
You talked a little bit aboutlike how you were kind of in the
grind for five or six yearsbefore you really got in the
industry.
But like, how is it differentnow for like a customer?

Josh Hosey (12:08):
Um, I think they have a lot more options to
choose from now.
I think when we first startedum, you know well, I guess this
isn't the customers, the dealerside, but we didn't even have to
try to grow.
The dealers were just sopleased that we were coming on
because they would say, oh, thecustomer, just the.

(12:28):
I have customers come in andthey want to be able to buy a
shed on payments and I can offerthat.
So, yeah, if you'll offer rentto own, this is wonderful.
So, you know the owner of mycompany.
He always talked about like Idon't even have to try to find
new, new dealers, they just comefind me.
So I mean the customerexperience.
They have rent to own whereverthey want to look and, honestly,

(12:52):
due to competition andsaturation of RTO companies, et
cetera, I think their downpayments are actually getting
cheaper.
When I first started, wecollected a whole lot more down
right out of the gate and nowit's just becoming more like
well, the guy down the road,he's offering $15,000 one month

(13:17):
down.
What do you think about that?

Shed Geek (13:19):
Came in to buy a shed .
He brought me lunch, so we gothim a shed.

Josh Hosey (13:23):
That's exactly right .
Buy a shed.
He brought me lunch, so we gothim a shed, that's exactly right
.
So, I mean, in that front, Ithink the customer experience is
it's got a little bit easierbecause they can bring less uh
to the table, a little less skinin the game to have a shed
delivered in their backyard whatdoes that?

Shed Geek (13:37):
what does that do long term?
Just in like the way that justcontinues to decrease the the
competition increases.
What does that do?
As to decrease the competitionincreases?
What does that do as a wholefor the industry?
We can't like you guys havebeen in business 13, 14 years
you know like that so it's notas though you're new.

(13:57):
I mean, I got in an industry 12years ago.
I probably worked rent on itfor about five years.
So, I mean, like you know,we're not just new guys
necessarily sitting here at thetable, but so, even though, like
SGR is a sort of a new companyconcept or whatever the bones to
it I've been around for so long.
Uh, my question is really likethat increased competition, what

(14:22):
, what is it?
What does it do overall for theindustry, is it?

Speaker 4 (14:25):
good Is it?

Shed Geek (14:26):
bad, I don't know.
Give me some thoughts.

Justin Lepage (14:30):
Competition in general is good.
That's great to see.
It's just, I would argue maybeit's not always the current
trend of the industry, maybeisn't putting the customer first
, if you could say that.

Shed Geek (14:52):
It's been said before For a number of different
reasons.

Justin Lepage (14:55):
Josh touched on one.
Even with it being easier toget into a contract with lower
down payments, more favorableterms, I've had people look on
to the kind of nature ofrent-to-own as kind of loan

(15:19):
sharky very anti-customer bestinterest very high.
You know, I know it's notcalled interest, but like that's
from outside, looking in,that's what they see.

Josh Hosey (15:32):
Look at us as like thieves.

Shed Geek (15:35):
And so.

Justin Lepage (15:35):
but many in the industry you know justify the
nature of it by saying thingslike you know, it's cheaper than
doing self-storage, and then aslew of different things they'll
justify, but yet they continueto let customers into contracts

(16:04):
that maybe shouldn't be enteringinto those contracts.
They're not looking out for aparticular party's best interest
I know that's probably businessis business and sometimes you
do what you've got to do.
But it kind of doesn't resonatewith me where I'm at as far as
looking out for certaincustomers' best interest when a
rent-to-own contract would notbe that for them, and I don't

(16:27):
think that an example is setfrom rent-to-own companies down
to dealers to vet for that, andI understand it.
But it's not necessarily thedealer's responsibility to vet
for that.
I wish that particularly wasbetter thought through

(16:47):
throughout the industry.

Shed Geek (16:48):
I think you know I told somebody recently, like
anytime, that you speak and holdan opinion on anything,
especially if you put it out, ifyou don't think it, but you
actually speak it out into thepublic.
Here we are doing it on apodcast that goes out to a
thousand people every week.
Right, you do that.
You're super vulnerable.
You're super vulnerable becausesomebody can sit back and be
like I disagree with thatadamantly or whatever, and it's

(17:11):
like, but then I won't sayanything about it, I'll just you
know or I won't challenge youon it or whatever, and it's like
, man, we need that challengingconversation because somebody
recently addressed this reallyon the podcast, was saying like
you know, it started as apayment option to help the
customer.
But in some regard, I think youcan say I don't know if we're

(17:31):
on a mission to change anythingor stop anything.
We're on a mission to talkabout things you know and then
change.
Sometimes maybe happens when youbring conversation to the table
but, um, you know, it's itturned into it seemingly, at
least from our perspective, orwhatever.
Um, it's not just a paymentoption to help a customer

(17:53):
anymore.
It's now.
You know it was reallylucrative, especially when there
was less people in it, you know, and it's like, well, how can
we make the argument it'slucrative, but then it's also
not uh, uh, um, I don't knowHow'd you say it, josh, like you
know, like um predatory, orwhoever said it.
You know what I mean.
Well, it makes good money.

(18:14):
So, then it's, therefore it'spredatory and it's like well, I
think that I think that it'sassessing the risk.
You know, it's like wheneversomebody says rent, owns
expensive, like, my naturalresponse is like, at this point,
to be like okay, compared towhat?
Like where?
What are we comparing it to?
And they're like no just on itsown.
I'm like well, let's, let's walkdown that rabbit trail, a
little bit like if you justbought a brand- new lawnmower or

(18:37):
Harley Davidson motorcycle andit's sitting in the rain.
I would make the argument thatlike protecting it would be, as
opposed to letting it set in therain and rust.
Yeah, so it's, it's, it's.
It costs a lot in comparison towhat.
Letting that, that and peoplewill be like, well, they should
be better at their money.
Shouldn't go buy those thingsif they can't protect them.
And you're like Whoa, whoa,whoa.
When did we get in theconversation money?

(19:06):
That's not where we're at.
I'm not trying to spendpeople's money for them.
I agree with you.
Should anybody be responsiblewith their money and the
decisions that they're makingand consider you, buy, guess
what?
Buy an RV.
Maybe you need to think aboutprotecting it with an RV cover.
But that's not like I'm not afinancial advisor either.

ADVERTISEMENT (19:20):
Hello, shed builders.
I'd like to grab your attentionfor just a moment.
As we look ahead, ahead to 2025, one thing is clear Customers
will have higher expectationsthan ever before.
Shed consumers have anunprecedented access to
information.
To stay competitive, you needto create sheds that are not
only high in quality, but alsorich in innovation.
You might recall my friend, DanRheaume, one of my early podcast

(19:44):
guests, who introduced SolarBlaster fans, specifically the
Solar Roof Blaster.
Dan has been busy handlingorders and he's eager to speak
directly to shed builders abouthis groundbreaking products.
What stands out to me aboutDan's products designed
specifically for sheds, like theSolar Roof Blaster and the
Solar Light Blaster, is how theyenhance the shed owner's

(20:07):
experience.
With the focus on quality, it'stime to start thinking about
adding features and benefits forthe end user.
Here at Shed Geek, wewholeheartedly recommend Solar
Blaster as the solution.
My favorite thing about theentire line of products the
support you'll receive from Dan.
Not only is he incrediblyknowledgeable about these

(20:28):
products, but he's also one ofthe most customer-focused
individuals I know.
He truly stands behind both hisproduct and his service.
We're searching for companiesready to elevate customer
satisfaction to the next level.
To learn more, just visitsolarblasterfans.
com and fill out some basicinformation for a callback, or
connect directly at 480-747-7097.

(20:52):
You can also check out the ShedGeek newsletter, where a click
on the Solar Blaster ad willguide you to a form for more
information and some cool videosshowcasing the products.

Josh Hosey (21:09):
Let's power up innovation and elevate customer
experiences together.
Well, and yeah, I mean, andJustin already mentioned about
self-storage units, but that'salways used, but like people pay
on self-storage units for yearsand years and years and never
take ownership, yeah, no, equity, rent to rent, not a dime yeah
while our percentage may beslightly high.
Um, you know, at least you takeownership in three to five years

(21:30):
, two to five years.
But, and the other thing that I, I think you know we'll have
customers call in that, yeah,just demand they're going to
turn us into the better businessbureau and we're thieves and
crooks.
Um, and some of that comes downto just like dealer education,
potentially on not pointing itout.
Um, if they are aware of thecost and, you know, even like to

(21:54):
use as a selling point, like ifyou, if you could pay this off
six months, eight months, you'renot going to pay that much
because it's a flat rental feethe whole time, so you're only
paying, basically like six oreight months of rent.
Like, if you look at a mortgageor you settle into a credit,
sale, a traditional loan, youlook at your first repayments.
You've got a lot more going outin interest than you do going

(22:17):
to principal because yourbalance is high, so your first
repayments aren't doing much.
So, the good news with this isit's doing the same thing right
at the outset.
So, if you think, hey, I think Iprobably could pay this off in
six to eight months, hey, that'snot too bad.
You pay six or eight months ofrent and then you can pay it off
, pay what's left of theprincipal, basically paid at the

(22:38):
EPO discount, and then youreally didn't spend that much
and it even gave you time to seedo I like the shed, does it
work well for what I need, andreally not that much out.
But yeah, they just look at the, you know, since it's not
interest, they just look at a60-40 split or 53-47 or whatever
and they're just like, wow,this is highway robbery.

Shed Geek (23:01):
Yeah, it comes down to an educational, like in most
cases, that's with anything thatyou talk about.
I mean, that's why I reallylike the tagline whenever we
started the podcast, like it'seducation through entertainment.
The whole goal is to be notjust serious conversation all
the time here, but funny, fun,something enjoyable, something
that you like, and also try tohave guests on that talk
intelligently about different,whether it's product, whether

(23:26):
it's services in the industry,and even the occasional like
person that has nothing to dowith sheds, that kind of talks
about their story and cultureand how that relates to business
and you know so, like all ofthose things.

Justin Lepage (23:39):
But education with dealers is but why would a
dealer educate a customer on theintricacy of a contract,
risking them not doing a salebecause of the intricacies of
terms, when they are, when it'smore profitable to sell a
rent-to-own contract?

Shed Geek (23:58):
I'll even go farther to say, like, by law, we all
have to disclose a certainamount of information.
Keeping your rent on contractsjust legal, you know.
So, like, you have to disclosethat to the customer.
But anybody who's boughtanything in the last year, I
would venture to say there'sonly a handful of people who,

(24:20):
like, actually set and read thefine print.
And I don't know about you guys.
But if, like, you're selling atv and you're working for best
buy maybe, and all of a suddenit's like oh, you know, you want
to put this down on our creditcard or whatever, I I feel like
the portion is so low of peoplewho are like I need someone who
can explain this contract to methoroughly.
It's like sign, move on, andthat kind of works for the

(24:44):
dealer too, because I don't haveto explain all this, but it's
all disclosed right here.
So now you have your technical,legal contract, yeah, that's.
Yeah, you know some of them,some of them are like hey, I
want to take a little differentapproach.
I want to make sure youunderstand this, make sure you
see this.
I've run into this, I think,for years.
I've run into, you'd have moresatisfied customers.
Yeah, I've run into dealers.

(25:05):
There are dealers,manufacturers, whoever you're
signing up for rent, to own orsomething to ask this question
all the time.
Can you get that down to onepage?
I just need all that down toone page.
Just make it really simple.
And you're just like I'm notgetting it to one page because
I'm really trying to make itdifficult for your life.
I just want to make that clear.

(25:25):
I didn't sit back and schemeand be like you know what this
thing could use.
It could use about six pages ofgovernment oversight.

Josh Hosey (25:32):
What else can we throw in here?

Shed Geek (25:33):
Yeah, yeah, what's your favorite color?
You know what I mean?
It's like well, why do you putthat stuff in about?
You know, about what am Ilooking for?
Like whenever you have toarbitration, yeah, and you're
like I have to put that in therebecause you've got to disclose
that.
And they're like just take thatout.
And you're like, oh, there'sonly that part about it being

(25:54):
illegal.
That's disrupting thisconversation and I'm being
cynical, but that's a reality.
It's like hey, get that down toone page.
I can make that easier for the.
It's like no one's making itmore difficult for you.
I promise you Nobody.
These are things that have tobe disclosed, but what they know
and what we know is, at thepoint of sale, people are like

(26:15):
gosh, I've got to initial everypage.
Why do I have to do this?
Because the customer's like Idon't care right now, I'm
impulse buying.
that's what they're doing I cameto the point where it's an
agreement.
It's the amount that you toldme and I'm good with it.
It's not until like month 29where they're like is this thing
ever going to get paid off?
Like, how much have I beenpaying on this?

Josh Hosey (26:34):
I'm going to call someone.
They, yeah, they call in 12months later like I think I've
paid more than what the cashprice on the shuttle yeah, did
you think?

Shed Geek (26:41):
how do they do that?
How does it go?

Josh Hosey (26:43):
I don't know if I can remember the exact quote I
mean and it's like you reallythought we were going to take
the time to handle the contractlend you money for a year just
and have a free you know, norental charge whatsoever.
I mean we wouldn't be inbusiness very long if we try to

(27:03):
do that again.

Shed Geek (27:04):
Education it.

Josh Hosey (27:05):
There was no, yeah, there wasn't education like I
didn't know that's not what theytold me at the beginning.

Shed Geek (27:09):
I had somebody call me the other day contract I sold
five years ago and they werelike they're like.
It didn't show up on my creditand I was like, no, it's not
gonna show up on your credit,you know.
And it's like you didn't tellme that.
I'm like, oh, we did, wedisclosed all that.
Like you know, it's rent to own, it's not.
But like it doesn't matter,cause when a when a customer
shopping on impulse and then youthrow in the mix of, like the

(27:29):
dealer once that sale, it's verytempting to not go through this
contract in detail because, asJustin said, you may, but
they're signing, you'redisclosing as much as you can.
I don't have an answer for that, at least right now.
Maybe I need to brainstorm onthat, I don't know.

ADVERTISEMENT (27:51):
Introducing Shed Hub your ultimate shed
marketplace.
Are you in the shed businessand looking to connect with more
buyers?
Look no farther than Shed Sub.
Shed Hub is a game-changingtwo-sided marketplace that
brings shed sellers and buyerstogether in one easy-to-use
platform.

(28:11):
Think of it as the Amazon ofsheds.
Shed Hub isn't just anyordinary marketplace.
It's a powerhouse that ranks onthe first page of Google search
results in 91% of US cities,with over 1.2 million
impressions on our website lastmonth alone.

(28:32):
Shed Hub is where you want to beto showcase your sheds to a
wider audience.
And here's the best part, for alimited time, you can join our
exclusive Next 500 plan for just$39 per month.
Simply head over to geek.
shedhub.
com to sign up and startattracting more shoppers to your

(28:57):
shed listings.
As the Shed Geek, I am here toendorse Shed Hub and invite you
to join me on this journey toboost your shed business.
Whether you're struggling withwebsite visibility or simply
want more eyes on your product,Shed Hub has got you covered.
Don't miss out on thisopportunity to supercharge your

(29:21):
shed sales.
Visit geek.
shedhub.
com today and make your mark inthe shed industry with Shed Hub.

Josh Hosey (29:31):
Well, let me even jump on the other side of the
education.
There's the one of notdisclosing.
Had a buddy that was gettingready to actually brother-in-law
, so it's all in the family sonot a buddy, Anyways he's a
buddy, we're good

Justin Lepage (29:47):
friends.

Josh Hosey (29:47):
But he's also a brother-in-law, but anyways,
he's getting ready to start hisown shed lot and so he was just
trying to learn a little bit.
And so, he drove to a lot thatwas um in the area, and he had a
friend with him and he's likehey, he said I just want to see
how he sells rent to own, to seehow that process works.

(30:08):
So, they walk in looking at ashed and his friend's like, so I
was just curious, you know, doyou have any payment plans,
payment options?
And the dealer's like well, wehave rent to own, but it's
extremely expensive.
It's so expensive I would notrecommend it.
Like you should try to findanother way.
You could do a credit card, dosomething.
It it's really expensive.

(30:29):
I wouldn't do it.
It's like okay, so then theyjust kept looking at more sheds
and then they're like let's,let's revisit it, you know.
So, then a little bit later,like I really do want a payment
plan though.
So, you know, could I do rentdown?
Well, yeah, you could, I dohave it, but I really would not
do it.
It just charges you so much Iwouldn't do it.

(30:49):
And it was like wow, like thatwas also a lack of education.
He was almost trying to talkthis guy out of a sale because
he didn't even understand that.
It does bring value and, yeah,it's something that does help a
customer to gain ownership.
If they can't handle their ownfinances and pay cash, it is an
option for them to be able totake ownership of it.

Shed Geek (31:11):
I understand this mentality.
It's a flawed mentality but Iunderstand it because there was
a time where I've done it.
I could laugh and joke aboutthis now with Dennis Fisher.
Any of you guys out there inthe audience knows Dennis Fisher
.
He was an RTO rep for me for atime whenever I was selling
sheds and me and him would spenda lot of time on the phone and

(31:32):
I love the guy, he's awesome.
We can laugh about it now.
But I was.
I was a really difficult likedealer to deal with because it
was just like challenge the RTOon all thoughts or.
But you know, I mean I'mprobably a bit of that abrasive
personality to challenge anybodyon anything at some point to be
like you know, I don't know,let me.
If I agree with your person,like your position, I'll change
mine, but if not, like I'll holdmine.

(31:53):
I tell people you know I likemy idea better because I thought
of it.
You know what I mean.
Like you got to convince me ofyours.
You know what I mean I'm goingto result to mine, naturally
because I'm like.

Josh Hosey (32:02):
I thought of it, I sold my idea to myself already,
yeah.

Shed Geek (32:04):
You know, once I see that yours is better, I'm like,
ooh, I'm going with his.

Speaker 4 (32:08):
You know what I mean.

Shed Geek (32:09):
Like that that deal out of the water.
So, it's just, you got to beconvinced.
But I I used to tell him thatall the time I was like, oh,
it's expensive, whatever.
And I would have customers comein and I'd be like, I don't
know, it's kind of expensive.
If you do this and I realizedthat, like, you're setting the

(32:29):
customer up for failureimmediately because if rent on
is the best option for them,maybe they've got stress or
strain credit, maybe they'regoing through a divorce, maybe
they got whatever the reason,maybe they've got credit, don't
want to use it because you'regonna buy a house, whatever it
is.
You know, whatever the reasonyou're, you're definitely
talking them out of it.
If they were thinking aboutdoing it because they're like,

(32:51):
oh, this guy's telling me I'mmaking a bad financial decision
and it it's like why even offerit?
Why even offer it?
Why not just take it completelyoff the table if it's that bad
of an idea?
Because you almost got to betalked in to the customer doing
it, where you can feel as thoughyou freed your conscious at the
end of it, to be like I tried,I tried and tried and tried not

(33:11):
to get you to use this service.

Josh Hosey (33:12):
that we offer and you made the bad choice and you
made the bad choice.

Shed Geek (33:16):
So now, what you know , what my conscious is clear, so
you can go and deal with it.

Justin Lepage (33:20):
And it's like man , if you're really in that place
, don't offer it well, aren't welike too far the other way now,
where we just push it onanybody when it's a very bad
decision for them.

Shed Geek (33:32):
We don't even try to vet that possibly, and I think
some of that comes from a lackof like, just conversation,
education, you know, uh, hey Ican structures well, I mean,
what's what's, what's?
you know what's the what's theanswer now?
To like it's not 2020, 2021,covid numbers, it's like five

(33:55):
years later, or whatever.
To where it's like, hey, lastyear everybody struggled.
I mean, we know companies thatdidn't struggle.
You know we, we consult acompany that went from that went
from seven million to ninemillion, nine six last year.
How did they grow in the face ofeverybody struggling?
Like some of it comes down tolike your business model, your
business plan, youraggressiveness, your marketing,

(34:16):
all of these different things.
Like not everybody's struggling, like some of it comes down to
like your business model, yourbusiness plan, your
aggressiveness, your marketing,all of these different things.
Like not everybody's struggling.
But a lot of people did.
And what's the answer to that?
Throw inventory out there.
Typically, let's go, we got 40lots.
Let's go open up 10 more, let'sput about 100 grand in each one
of them, and and and.
We're bound to sell.
But, like I want to make surethat I'm not bashing anyone

(34:37):
who's listening, I feel like I'mbashing them, but it's like you
throw a book at them and yousay do your best.
Here you go what's rent on?
that's payment option.
You figured out, here you goeducate them yeah, like, are you
receiving more than that, or isit?
Or is it like throw to thewolves, figure it out.
If you're a good dealer, wewe'll keep you.
If you're not see you, we'regoing to move that inventory

(34:57):
somewhere else.
Like, can that change?
Can we do something differentthere?

Justin Lepage (35:03):
Do you think that's the dealer's
responsibility to educatecustomers, or is that?

Josh Hosey (35:08):
rent-to-income companies.

Shed Geek (35:09):
It's a great question , one that, in complete
transparency, I don't have ananswer for you today.
Fair enough, because I wish Idid know the answer to that, and
someone probably has the answerand they're probably screaming
at me right now and saying ohit's obvious, you idiot.
But you know, like I think, thatyou do have a responsibility as

(35:30):
a rent-owned company to train,but we're so fragmented Like I
remember signing people up forrent-owned and they they're like
thank goodness you're here totalk to my dealers.
So we're so many hats that,like I only know what you tell
me or what I assume or hear fromother people, or what I've
experienced before, or they'llcall someone I didn't call a
rent on company that they'rewith and be like you know what's

(35:52):
your opinion on this and it'slike I think there's a lot of
good dealers who do have thebest customers, best interest in
mind, I do.

Justin Lepage (35:59):
Absolutely.
But on the flip side, I thinkit's very hard A lot of other
dealers to get to that point ofeducation and really have the
customers best interest in mindwhen they are inquiring about
rent to own.
When selling a rent to own-owncontract is more profitable due
to other incentive structuresfrom rent-to-own companies, like

(36:22):
premiums and all of the above.

Josh Hosey (36:25):
We even floated, I don't know a year ago or so.
A couple years ago, you talkeda lot about why don't we compete
on divisors.

Shed Geek (36:35):
That's what banks do on interest rates right.

Josh Hosey (36:38):
And you talked about it and it makes sense because
in that sense the customer'swinning, it should result in
potentially more sales if thecustomer's winning.
And so, yeah, I thought thatwas a good idea.
I liked what you were sayingand you know, we did float it
out a little bit and it justreally didn't gain traction.

(36:58):
We were like, you know, wouldyou be willing to, in lieu of
grabbing a premium off of thatsale, would you be in favor of
us lowering the divisors or, youknow, changing the divisors?
I should say so.
It lowers the customer'spayment.
That actually hit our marginsheavier than the premium.
But would it result in moresales and the customer winning?

(37:21):
And, um, it just really didn'tgain any traction.
We couldn't really get that.
It was like, well, 20 bucks amonth isn't really going to make
that much of a difference in acustomer signing up or not.
So, you know, it just didn'tgain much traction.

Shed Geek (37:33):
So we really never did it yeah, no, we, we floated
it to a few people and it's kindof like I don't know, will they
buy at $180 instead of $200?
Then we start looking at thebottom line and we're like man,
it's cheaper to throw thepremium out there than it is to
lose the overall yield, butwe're willing to go there.
We're willing to have thatconversation with somebody a

(37:53):
little bit.
What it does is it holds you incontempt if you're the
manufacturer to say are youreally after the best thing for
your customer, because a lowerpayment would be, but that means
you're going to lose this nicelittle payday of a dealer
premium.
Which where'd that come fromanyway?
Right?
Or like you have to startpaying, like people that you're

(38:17):
offering a service to yeah,originally it was just thank you
for the service thank you.

Justin Lepage (38:21):
Look at other by like financial service niches,
like the buy now, pay laterindustry or even other kind of
direct consumer lease to ownmodels and, like the furniture
and you know, consumer techspace or other types of
industries that they dolease-to-own option on, the

(38:43):
retailer does pay a basically afee to the financing company for
the service for offering thefinancing option for their
customers it's just.

Shed Geek (38:59):
It's just.
Obviously, it's crazy.
Now the finance company is likeyou know, it's it's like I got
a contract over here.
It's like here, here, we gotsome money.
We'll give you extra money ifyou send it with us, right?

ADVERTISEMENT (39:10):
Are you ready to elevate your shed business to
new heights?
Your pathway to success justgot a whole lot smoother with
Shed Suite's innovativemarketing platform.
At Shed Suite, we like to thinkwe understand the shed industry
at least a little bit, and overthe last seven years we've been
building awesome software forshed businesses.
We focus first on building easyto use software to help you

(39:32):
create and track orders, likethe point of sale and after the
sale, order fulfillment.
And now we're excited toannounce our full feature CRM
all things pre-sale you know,like prospecting and follow-up
all to empower your shed companyto market better and sell more
efficiently.
Our platform empowers you with amarketing toolkit designed to

(39:55):
amplify your online presence,engage your audience and drive
sales like never before.
Enjoy the ease of conversion,tracking, email marketing,
centralized lead communicationand so much more.
Oh, and guess what?
It even comes with an iPhoneand an Android app.
With Shed Suite's marketingplatform, crafting and deploying
effective marketing campaignsis a breeze.

(40:18):
The advanced reportingfunctionality allows your team
to analyze real-time conversiondata so you can make informed
decisions and watch yourbusiness flourish.
There's no better time than nowto join the community of Shed
business owners who are scalingup with Shed Suite.
It's time to turn yourmarketing efforts into real,
trackable results.

(40:38):
Visit shed suite.
com forward slash marketing toget pricing, explore the
features and book a demo.
Shed suite is committed tobuilding top quality software to
empower your shed business tothrive.

Shed Geek (40:52):
uh, but and is that?
is that an example of like thecompetitiveness, of like the
industry and just like whereit's gone to be?
Like there's so many companiesthat are offering this now that,
like the manufacturers have therun of the mill to just kind of
be like, well, if you won't payme five percent, somebody will.
Someone will, matter of fact,if you will pay me five, someone
will probably pay me six andseven and eight and nine I.

Josh Hosey (41:15):
I've heard all the way up to nine, so you're
willing to pay for theexclusiveness that like?

Shed Geek (41:19):
can we go on record and be like we'll never pay nine
?
Can we like do that on thepodcast and be like what?

Justin Lepage (41:26):
There's not much left.

Shed Geek (41:27):
Yeah, it's like how much money do you like?
You, you know, and they're like.

Josh Hosey (41:31):
It doesn't matter.
Like when you go to businesssomeone else 9% and then they
pay within 90 days, the same ascash.

Shed Geek (41:44):
That's a loss, yeah, that's a loss for the RTO
company heavy.
It gets to the point where,like, the business model doesn't
make sense because you're like,how much can I give away to
keep you?
So, you know, you've seen somecreative stuff.
Otherwise, you've seen peoplepaying for, like dealer
inventory.
That's a good way to keep you.
So, you know, you've seen somecreative stuff.
Otherwise, you've seen peoplepaying for, like dealer
inventory.
That's a good way to, you know,create some stickiness.
What we did in lieu of we'lljust throw this out there what
we did in lieu of, like,lowering the divisors, is we

(42:09):
tried to think of a creative waythat was service-based.
You know you write a milliondollars in in in contracts.
You know, five percent.
You get a nice little fiftythousand dollar check at the end
of the year or throughout thequarter or per contract.
However, you know, however youget it.
But we were like it's like.
You know, average marketingbudget in the United States is
about four to five percent formost companies.

(42:29):
So maybe we just take thatdealer premium, apply it toward
a good marketing plan.
Now, if you take your sales fromoh I don't know 2.5 up to 3.5,
you might not be getting thatnice little 50 000 check, but
you just increased your companyand is the goal to increase your
company or is it to increaseyour premium?
It's like that premium is likefringe benefit.

(42:50):
That's not meant to be anincome, it's meant to be a
fringe benefit and, if you like,focus on that more.
It's like, yeah, but I get thisnice little check and then we
go on a hunting trip.
It's like what's better,getting that check or going from
2.5 to 3.5?
Now you're putting more peopleto work, you're putting your
labor to work, you're gettingyour lumber cheaper because
you're ordering in bulk.
And guess what?
next year you're gonna go up to4.5 if you want to grow your

(43:13):
business like isn't that the wayto do it?
Yeah, and if and if rent-ownedcompany comes in and says, well,
we'll match their offer, it'slike you have to out serve me
now.
You have to do as good a job inthe marketing world right to be
able to infiltrate that yeah,and we hope that it's just a.

Josh Hosey (43:33):
It's a wheel that just keeps benefiting everyone
in that whole cycle, becauseit's like they're giving us rent
to own contracts, we're puttingthat into their marketing, the
marketing's helping their sales,they get more sales, we get
more rent to own contracts andthen there's more going to
marketing and it's just a, awheel that you know.
You hope it just continues towork marginally and growth, yeah
, it's worked marginally.

Shed Geek (43:54):
I won't say that it's been amazing and we've had some
hiccups along the way.
We've had to learn, like youknow.
Hey, are we gonna throw 50grand in right away to a company
?
You know what I?
mean it doesn't really have yeahit's like well, we need to see
some numbers and differentthings like that, and we kind of
expected to see some followsuit.
I mean, I've seen some rent onthings pop up here and there and

(44:16):
we welcome them.
It's like it's uh, hopefully wecan be the voice that's like
we're never going to be likeanything that we do.
Like you don't get to do it,like we'll never be that company
in any way.
To be like no, no, we alreadythought of this.
Go think of something else.
It's like you know, of course,people are gonna do it too if
it's working, but maybe it'ssetting the standard, if nothing
else yeah, so yeah, I don'tknow.

Josh Hosey (44:38):
I think it's a good value add it's a good value.

Shed Geek (44:41):
A lot of people benefited, I think, from it, and
some people are like, hey, justgive me the money, yeah, and
then eventually they're like wehad a down year and you're like,
oh, you ever thought ofmarketing?
What are y'all doing?
You know?
It's like, oh, we don't have awebsite.
We're like good place to start.
You know, Anyway, I don't know,I'm torn on premiums.
You know, I feel like, likeJustin said, you know, if he was

(45:09):
in the furniture world, theywould be like, you know, like we
will pay you a percentage ifyou'll give us a chance to do a
payment option and not in ourworld, in our percentage if
you'll give us a chance to do apayment option and not in our
world.
In our world it's like man, Igot 30 companies ready to knock
down the door.
I always laugh.
We've even made jokes.
You guys have probably evenseen it on the shed sales
professionals page, where weeven joke where somebody comes
on and they're like what rentdown company does this?

Justin Lepage (45:28):
and then it's like you know what I mean, it's
like, it's like call this guycall that guy and it's like
we're always thankful if someonementions us, but it's like it
call this guy, call that guy,and it's like we're always
thankful if someone mentions us,but it's like it's not
necessary because we don't wantto turn it into like a
popularity contest.

Shed Geek (45:40):
Or it's like we, you know you serve your dealer so
much that they're going to throwyour name out there.
I would tell you unequivocally,and maybe not everyone will
tell you this call them all.
Call them all and figure outwho fits what you want to offer.

(46:02):
Like I think it.

Josh Hosey (46:02):
I, I think, if we win a, a deal we want it to be
on our merit and our offer.

Shed Geek (46:05):
Yeah, yeah absolutely I don't want it to be, because
it's like well I'm not aspopular you know what I mean.
It's like ah, that's and maybethere's another company out
there that's better for you thanus, and it's like go with.
It's like, ah, that's and, and,and maybe there's another
company out there that's betterfor you than us, and it's like
go with them.
It's like, if that makes sense,that's what you should do.
It's a yeah, I don't know.
I mean not to.
I hate to say that and soundlike we're like we don't want

(46:26):
business.

Justin Lepage (46:27):
Right.

ADVERTISEMENT (46:36):
Here at IdentiGrow, we have been
providing custom nameplates forthe shed and furniture industry
for over 20 years.
We are so pleased to know thatshed manufacturers see the value
in expressing their shed brandto potential customers using an
IdentiGrow nameplate.
When you add an attractivedecal to your product, you will
more than pay for the cost.
With increased sales, clientswill not only be able to

(47:00):
identify the shed brand, but itwill help to brand and advertise
to potential customers, who caneasily see the nameplate and,
in many cases, find a phonenumber or website to shop for
themselves selves.
At IdentiGrow, we are happy tocontinue to serve and invite you
to visit our website atidentigrow.

(47:20):
com or give us a call at540-283-9193.
You can even fax us at540-283-9194 or visit our
website by clicking on the ShedGeek newsletter and then simply
fill out some basic informationfor a free catalog or free
samples.

(47:40):
Thank you, shed Industry, forallowing us to serve you in
identifying your sheds.
IdentiGrow Identify yourproducts, grow your business.

Josh Hosey (47:55):
We got deep, we got into the trenches.

Shed Geek (47:57):
How do you stop it, Justin?
How do you go a differentdirection and you say I don't
have to give you a premium orpay for your 3D configurator or
your POS, or how do I get to thepoint to where I say we offer a
good, valuable service and?

Justin Lepage (48:27):
we're not going to compete in how much we can
give away to keep you.
What is the alternative to that?
You're gonna try to get mestarted.
Ah, share it share what you want, I'll say no I don't have all
the answers, clearly I'm justspitballing most of tonight, but
I just I just keep coming backto what is best for a consumer

(48:48):
and how to rent your owncompanies.
Do what is best for theircustomers, which is ultimately
their renters, and it seems likerenters are now just a
byproduct of their business,which is trying to do the best
for dealers, which obviously youshould do.
We try to do our best at that.
We try to provide great serviceto our dealers and support them

(49:10):
in every way we can, butultimately, the renters are our
customers and I don't thinkwe're doing what's best for them
and they're our customer longerthan they are the customer or
the dealers.

Shed Geek (49:20):
That's the initial.
You know we share that customer, but we have them for 24, 36,
48, 60 months.

Josh Hosey (49:27):
But yeah, if we're thinking of marketing or
something, we're B2B, we'rebusiness to.
You know, we are rent to owncompany, to the manufacturer or
dealer.

Shed Geek (49:37):
We're not to the renters.
So how do you?

Justin Lepage (49:40):
change it.
What would it look like toshift more of a
direct-to-consumer model similarto traditional consumer finance
, personal loans, all that wherethe financial companies acquire
customers first?

Shed Geek (49:59):
Similar to a bank.

Justin Lepage (50:01):
Yeah, and they develop that relationship, have
them enter into an agreementwith the financial company or
the rental company in thissituation and then help
facilitate the retail process,the sale process, and help them
find the building, the shed theyneed, and let them go through

(50:24):
that process with already havingbuilt and established a
rent-to-own company to use,because, based off of a slew of
different services andpromotions that rent-down
companies could provide directlyto consumers, instead of
offering those on the back endto dealers after a sale has

(50:48):
already been made.

Shed Geek (50:50):
I'm going to go ahead and order you some body armor
for any rent-down companies thatare listening.
But it's true, you know torole-play the scenario, Josh,
you know I'm Mr Customer.
I come into your shed lot,hello Mr Shed Guy.

(51:11):
My name's Shannon.
I'm here to buy one of Josh'ssheds and I got about $9,000 to
spend because I went to the bankand they said you know, yeah,
we'll loan you on a personalloan nine grand.
Is your first question going tobe what bank did you go to?
Does that matter?

Josh Hosey (51:30):
No, the third.
I'm going to make the sale Iwent to.

Shed Geek (51:33):
Capital.
I went to you know wherever.
I don't use bank as long as I'mgonna get paid money's good I
want to sell you want to sellbut but you have no thoughts on
like what bank I went to doesn'tmatter.

Josh Hosey (51:45):
Yeah, you mean, I don't have an exclusive deal
with a bank so.

Shed Geek (51:49):
so, you're just gonna sell me a shed today and the
bank's gonna either write me acheck or write you a check
directly, and boom, there we go.
Everybody's satisfied.
I would take the sale any day.

Josh Hosey (52:00):
Yeah, it sounds good .

Shed Geek (52:02):
Scenario number two I walk in and I say hey, Josh, I
would like to buy one of thesesheds and I've been pre-approved
from a rent-owned company.
Pick one of your choosing.
Think of the first five thatcome to mind.
And maybe that company doesn'tdo rent-to-own with that dealer,

(52:25):
it's like.
But the rent-to-own companyfound that customer, sent them
in to you.

Josh Hosey (52:30):
You're going to make a sale.

Shed Geek (52:31):
Are you going to make the sale?
Are you going to demand thatthey go with the rent-to-own
company that they're with whodid not send the customer in
today, or that you have somesense of unequally yoked loyalty
to that company that you won'tmake a sale?
Because I don't support that?
Yeah, I don't support that yeah, it's interesting it's a cash

(52:54):
sale, it's essentially a cashsale and it's like, yeah, but
I'm concerned about who's goingto reap the benefits of it that
just hardly happens in any otherspace, but it's interesting,
it's interesting to think about.
I like we don't even reallyofficially have anything going
and we've talked about this.

Josh Hosey (53:11):
Yeah, this is all just and I mean, and it could
hit us.

Shed Geek (53:15):
I mean, if somebody rolls something out, I mean they
could start walking into someof our dealers and how much are
they gonna like it when we gotake?
One of theirs, and it's likewell then, it's free for the
goose for you know, good for thegood goose, good for the gander
.

Speaker 4 (53:27):
It's good, you know we can.

Josh Hosey (53:28):
We can go out and, like you know, find customers
with good marketing leads andsend them into uh I mean, and as
far as the dealers, as far asthe dealer is concerned, I mean,
why couldn't it just beconsidered like a cash sale?
They're, they're coming in withus.
You know they're going to getpaid and they could you're
letting our tail companies bringyou leads.

Justin Lepage (53:49):
Bring you they're .
They're spending marketingdollars on you.

Josh Hosey (53:58):
Like all you got to do is take the money.
Yeah, if somebody has theirwallet out and wants to give me
some money, probably, and it'slike.

Shed Geek (54:01):
But it's like, what is it, is it?
I guess the question is itunhealthy?
Or what are the reasons whythey would be like?
I can't do it because I have apledge to my current company?
Maybe because my currentcompany has me under contract?
Maybe because my currentcompany furnishes my you know,
like in inventory?
Maybe it's because of this,that or whatever the reason is,

(54:21):
it's like, man, it stilloperates as a cash sale.
And what if we were to callourselves something else other
than the rent down company thatwe are?
It would be completelyunalarmed and it would be like I
don't really don't care wherethe money comes from, as long as
it doesn't come from you or youor you, and it's like.
Would we encourage our dealersanyone that we work with, just

(54:42):
to be clear, would we encourageany dealer if a rent-owned
company brought someone in andsaid, hey, here's a check to not
sell that on a cash sale?
No, they should sell it.
They should sell it.
Yeah, of course you should sellit.
Like.
Do we want to argue on it of?
course do we have a relationshipwith you, of course, but are we
going to be like don't eithersell it with us or don't sell it
, don't just sell the shed.

(55:04):
What a strange position to take.

Josh Hosey (55:06):
Yeah, and I mean and we are a rent to own company,
so I mean, of course weappreciate our dealer loyalty,
of course, no, I mean, so yeah,what we're throwing out here, it
could hurt us as well, but it's, it just would make sense it's
just what's best for thecustomer makes the sale it would
.

Justin Lepage (55:23):
Yeah, it is what it is, because then we can
repeat on ourselves on our seton pure customer service and
just doing what is right b2cservice instead of B2B service,
exactly for the end renter.

Shed Geek (55:36):
Yeah, yeah.

Justin Lepage (55:39):
And again there's our intricacies.

Shed Geek (55:42):
There's things we haven't thought about too.
Let's point out that there'sthings we haven't considered.

Justin Lepage (55:45):
The contract and you know, on the back end, as
far as collections managementall that goes it's.
You know it's not as black andwhite as we may be making it out
to be.
Which?

Josh Hosey (55:55):
is maybe why it's not happening.

Shed Geek (56:00):
In a two-sided marketplace it's kind of hard to
so.
Like B2B, we sell advertisingto the industry of the podcast.

Justin Lepage (56:04):
Yeah.

Shed Geek (56:05):
Right, that's a little smaller barrel.
Those are easier fish tocapture because the industry
listens.
But unless we were and we'reconsidering this, just to be
clear starting a podcast that isdirect to consumer, that
involves the shed industry likecapturing 300 million, 400

(56:27):
million people in America'sattention is way harder than
capturing.
You know, the five to tenthousand people that I want to
capture in b2b, you know.
So, like a two-sidedmarketplace is hard to be clear.
I mean, and any company that isselling sheds knows that because
they're having to market to thepublic and anytime you market

(56:48):
to the public, it can getexpensive, especially now when
you consider not just the brickand mortar storefront but your
digital storefront, which isvery relevant but also very hard
and cost money.
And you got to think it through.
And websites and ads andanalytics and a lot of guys get
into sheds and they're like Idon't care, I don't care about a

(57:08):
CRM, I don't care about Googleads, I don't care about a GA
four tag, a meta pixel.
Anything that you're talkingabout is boring and I'll either
hire you to do it if I trust you, or I won't do it, or, if I
don't understand it, I'llcriticize it.
I've had that happen too.
It's like, oh, it's stupid.
And it's like, well, it'sworking in a lot of places,
though you know, it's like youknow, so it's like you know, I,

(57:37):
this is what I love.
It's like we're talking aboutdifficult things, vulnerable
things, and when you'revulnerable, there's going to be
somebody that's going to like,throw something to the radio
who's listening right now?
And be like that's terrible, oryou should never mention that,
or it's it's like man, hardconversation needs to happen in
order for growth to take place.

(57:59):
A year I can't take credit forany of this, just to be clear.
I want to because I'm like, oh,that would be nice, but like I
can't like full disclosure,Justin, like you were the one
that thought about it and we'rejust like maybe he's lost it
took a while to bring you guysaround, but then all of a sudden

(58:19):
, it's like maybe there's likesome genius in that I'm not sure
you know, but it's like, as youtalk about it, it's like, oh no
, we can't talk about it becauseit's taboo, it might offend
someone, and it's like I don'tknow, I mean like you can't.
You can't control what offendssomebody.
I suppose it's like, but I mean, it's a great idea.
It's not wrong to consider newideas, especially when your

(58:45):
focus is like exactly whatpeople talk about as
manufacturers, which is like howdo I help the customer more?
That's, that's where your,that's where your heart came
from, that's where yourintention came from.
I was like how do I help thecustomer more?
Anyway, we can get off of thatconversation um anything else
that you guys want to share.
I can't say enough about howmuch one like I enjoy working
with you guys, how people shouldget to know you and how, like
shed geek Reynolds Isn't justlike Shannon Latham out here

(59:08):
beating a drum.
It's not.
I appreciate all the peoplewho've called me, who've
responded, who've decided towork with us.
You mean the world to us it's.
You know we're, you know Idon't.
I don't feel worthy of beingable to, to be in the blessed
position that I've been in.
It all goes to God If I everbegin to consider any credit for

(59:31):
myself.
I told Deanna this on the caron the way up.
I was like I know it's over.
It's over the minute that Ibegin to take any credit for any
of it.
I've just been lucky enough,maybe even smart enough, to
listen to other people's advicewho say enough, maybe even smart
enough to listen to otherpeople's advice who say surround
yourself with people who aresmarter than you and you can be
successful.
And you guys are part of thatcrowd that I've surrounded

(59:52):
myself with and you have, I know.
Plus, you're super humble.
The humility is amazing,flowing, um it it's I.
I can live off of that.
I can live off the benefits ofthose relationships and I have.
And, uh, I think people shouldknow you guys more.
I feel like they should knowyou guys as the face of SGR more

(01:00:16):
.
I think a lot of people doalready, but still, they get to
know you.
They're gonna like you guyslike I do.

Josh Hosey (01:00:21):
That's my opinion so that's just my little
commercial for you guys Iappreciate it.
Yeah, we've enjoyed getting toknow you.
It's been great since we uhstarted working together and
weekly meetings and heart tohearts and all kinds of talks,
arguments going after it likeprobably some tears beating the
wall.

Shed Geek (01:00:41):
all of it combined has turned into like a cool
little relationship that I'msuper thankful for, see nothing
but opportunity in the future.

Josh Hosey (01:00:50):
That's exciting.
Yeah, there's a lot ofopportunity, even though you
know we've talked about beingvery saturated industry, but
there's still opportunity outthere.
It's amazing how big theindustry is.

Shed Geek (01:01:03):
Yeah, it's been good like everybody.
Everybody's been really cool.
Uh, anything you guys want toshare just with the industry?
Thoughts like we've hit itpretty hard here today.
We got pretty deep.
It was some wild trails notreally.

Justin Lepage (01:01:18):
I mean, I would just encourage anybody just to
reach out and just have aconversation with us, even if
you're not looking forrent-to-own.
Just love to get to knowanybody we can.
We'd be happy to help serviceyou, obviously, if we can, but
we're trying to grow our network.
Like you said, we haven't madebig personalities for ourselves.

(01:01:41):
We haven't put our names outthere a lot in the past several
years, so we just like meetingnew people, learning your story.
So, yeah, just reach out ifyou're inclined to.
I'd love to talk with each oneof you.

Josh Hosey (01:01:55):
Yeah, and I would say I've really enjoyed, since
we started working with you, alittle bit more exposure.
I mentioned earlier that I justworked the books and customers,
the renters, for years anddidn't really know much of the
industry so I didn't really haveany relationships.
And it's been really neat,especially since hooking up with

(01:02:16):
you.
You've brought so manyrelationships to the table and
I've talked to a lot moredealers now but I'm a little
more dealer-facing with thearrangement and so I've loved
some of the conversations and,yeah, it's been great.
So, I really enjoy therelationships that I've gotten
to kind of just to cultivate,because now I'm seeing them more
.
We're going to the Shed Expo andthen you bring multitudes of

(01:02:39):
people over to the booth becauseyou're the shed geek, and then
we get to talk though and thenit spawns a relationship and so,
yeah, I've loved therelationship.
So, you know, we kind of rippedon where business.
You know it's where b2b, butyeah, I enjoy that because it's
the businesses are our customersand we get to see them over and
over at shed expos and buildlong-standing relationships and

(01:03:01):
so, yeah, I have that.

Shed Geek (01:03:03):
I like to tell people , like, if you tell you people
that, like you're the shed geekoutside of the industry, it's
like that and a token, I get youa bus ride you know cause
they're like who?
I don't care whatever I was like.
So occasionally, whenever likeyou, you actually people like
they, they use their time tolisten in to the podcast.
They feel like they, they usetheir time to listen in to the

(01:03:23):
podcast.
They feel like they get to knowyou and because of that, like
they come over and talk to youor want to meet you or shake
your hand or whatever or say,hey, I appreciate the advice or
any of this stuff.
It's, it's humbling.
I don't think you guysunderstand how humbling it is
because it's like man, 10 yearsago, 10 years ago I had zero
opportunity, like nothing,nothing going.

(01:03:46):
And it was like man, I justpoured myself into networking
and collaborating and, like Isaid today on a Facebook post, I
was collaborating before.
It was cool.
I'll be doing it long afterit's cool.
You know what I mean.
Like that's what we were doinganyway, that's who I am and like
I genuinely find people andtheir stories interesting, so
that's like that's where itstarts for me, you know, it's

(01:04:06):
like oh, we do this right now,whether this would all that's
important to me, but it's alwayssecondary to the relationship.
I want to know you, who you are, what makes you tick, why, how
you got here, how you think.
You know what I mean.
Like I want to.
I'm just interested in peopleand we take a natural interest
in people.
There's something that can't berehearsed or taught or sold,

(01:04:27):
right?
You know what I mean.
It's like no, this guy reallygenuinely interested in people,
anybody who spent hours uponhours upon phone calls I could
start dropping names, dan, I cantell you I I would be
embarrassed if you guys lookedat my phone and said, like this
is your.
Your average weekly screen timeis like up to like nine hours
and something per day.
I'm not joking, that's notcounting any of my zoom, any of

(01:04:50):
that stuff.
It's like you spend nine hoursa day on your phone.
And no, I'm not talking aboutdoom scrolling Facebook.
I'm talking to people in theindustry constantly and it's
like I don't have thewherewithal to like ever tell
anybody, like no, or like Ican't talk, and I've got to like

(01:05:11):
do that work-life balance towhere it's like I'm with my
family, can I schedule a call orwhatever.
But it's like I gotta call thatguy back.
I mean I've got somebody Icalled tonight.
We got here.

It's 8 (01:05:21):
15 on a Saturday and I'm like I gotta call that guy
back.
I mean I've got somebody.
I called tonight.
We got here it's 8 15 on aSaturday and I'm like I gotta
call you know, um, and there'ssomebody that don't mind talking
late and I'm thankful thatwe're empty nesters.
Now my wife lets me do this.
Look, we'll wrap up here.
Same question to you guys thatI give to everybody else on
every podcast do you have anyquestions for me?
Since I've interviewed you heretoday, do you have questions

(01:05:42):
for me about podcasting, faith,family sheds, anything in the
world?
Just in complete transparency,that I don't mind answering and
if you don't find, if you do ask, I'll give you my best shot
should have prepped us for thisone I would have come up with a
couple zingers

Josh Hosey (01:05:59):
I could have gotten, I know wow on the spot, not
really if you got not.

Shed Geek (01:06:07):
I mean, you guys know me pretty good I know you
already.

Josh Hosey (01:06:09):
Yeah, I think that's .
That's what.
Yeah, we know you pretty wellwhat.
What's your take on theRadisson in Newport, Kentucky?
Oh?

Shed Geek (01:06:19):
that was good is it everything gets cracked up to me
, drove by it a million, amillion times, you know, on that
bridge and I'm like, look atthat cool circular looking hotel
there.
That just looks awesome.
You can get a view of the city.
That's neat and it's like oh, Ihope this doesn't make it onto
Look, you can leave reviews.
So, I guess this is fair.

(01:06:40):
I'm not looking to get any ofthe Radisson police after me,
but gosh, I don't know.
That elevator is just jank dude, Like we thought we were going
to die.

Speaker 4 (01:06:50):
Just spend the night in there.
Yeah, we were like look at thisawesome hotel.

Shed Geek (01:06:53):
And we're like I don't know.
It's like the street's lookingpretty comfortable right now.

Josh Hosey (01:06:58):
It's not that bad.
To be fair, it's not that bad.
Nice, a nice restaurant with acity view.
So, what are the?
What are their hours onSaturday nights?

Shed Geek (01:07:06):
well, let's just say the top floor restaurant's not
open on saturdays, and that'sreally a good business move.

Josh Hosey (01:07:13):
In my opinion Saturday nights are usually,
Saturday nights probably reallyboring, uh yeah.

Shed Geek (01:07:18):
So, we were like, oh man, we were, we were really
looking forward to like, yeah,but hey, we, we saved it.
We went to a nice littleItalian joint that was good.

Josh Hosey (01:07:25):
I would recommend that to anyone.

Shed Geek (01:07:27):
We had some really really good food yeah, that
spicy shrimp.

Josh Hosey (01:07:29):
I'd revisit that.

Shed Geek (01:07:30):
It was.
Look, it's not as bad as I makeit sound, but it just.
You know, some things aren'twhat.
What did you say?
Some things aren't what youexpect them to be.

Josh Hosey (01:07:38):
All things are as they appear.

Shed Geek (01:07:40):
Yeah.

Josh Hosey (01:07:41):
That's the Radisson.

Shed Geek (01:07:44):
That would be it.
Yeah, I was like that looksreally cool and now I'm just
kind of like I don't know,probably should have stayed the
whole day in.

Josh Hosey (01:07:50):
You'll think that every time you drive past there
now, like man, I thought thatplace was going to be legit.

Shed Geek (01:07:54):
Yeah, yeah.
Five years of driving by thereand being like it'd be cool to
really stay in there one timethere.

Josh Hosey (01:07:58):
There's no working elevators in there.

Shed Geek (01:08:03):
Well, if you guys don't have anything other than
the Radisson, we'll wrap it up.
But I will end it by sayingagain appreciate you guys,
everything you've done I'mhoping for this is a long-term
deal for us.

Josh Hosey (01:08:23):
In my mind.

Shed Geek (01:08:23):
It has been collaboration for success yeah,
I think it has.
It's been a good collab hey,man, let's, let's go do more,
let's get you know, maybe we'llget some.
Get you guys on here once ayear.
If I can get you on here morethan that, that'd be fine.

Josh Hosey (01:08:32):
But uh, Justin's always itching to get on.
It's the second one, so hehe'll be ready to come back.
I love it he said I love it.
He said I love it.

Justin Lepage (01:08:43):
I love it.
I'm just a natural podcaster, Ithink.

Shed Geek (01:08:47):
I think you guys have way more charisma than you
realize, and what I like is yeah, I don't know you do have
humility, and then you guys alsohave boldness.
You're just fun, you're fun tohang around with, you're fun to
be in business with.
I can't ask for more than that.

Josh Hosey (01:09:06):
Awesome.
Thanks for having us on.

Shed Geek (01:09:08):
Appreciate you guys.