Evaluating Your local RV Rental Market Potential

In the latest episode of the RV Rental Secrets Podcast, host Stacy Maxon delves into the crucial task of evaluating the potential for RV rental businesses in local markets. Aimed at those intrigued by the prospect of starting or expanding their RV rental ventures, Maxon offers a roadmap for assessing market viability. The episode kicks off with the fundamental step of researching local campgrounds via platforms like Goodsam.com, emphasizing the importance of availability for RV delivery within a specified radius. This initial check acts as a litmus test for gauging demand for RV rentals.

Further exploration involves identifying local events such as music festivals, fairs, and horse shows, which may necessitate RV rentals. State parks, national parks, and private campgrounds also emerge as potential demand hotspots. Maxon underscores the significance of RV storage and repair facilities, suggesting that their prevalence indicates both the popularity of RVs in the area and potential business partnerships. These facilities not only provide logistical solutions but can also be sources for expanding rental fleets through connections with RV owners.

Additionally, the presence of RV dealers signals a healthy interest in RVing within the area, potentially translating to a receptive market for rentals. Maxon shares her personal experience of starting in a rural setting, demonstrating that distance to attractions, while a factor in determining delivery fees, should not deter potential business operators.

The episode also stresses the importance of identifying tourist destinations and attractions that could drive rental demand. Websites like TripAdvisor.com become valuable resources for uncovering what draws visitors to the area. Maxon encourages listeners to think beyond their immediate vicinity, considering attractions within a broader radius that could influence the success of an RV rental business.

A critical aspect of market evaluation involves analyzing competition through platforms like RV Share and Outdoorsy. Maxon advises on examining the number of listings, their activity level, and differentiating factors that can set a new rental business apart. Assessing rental rates and booking patterns provides further insights into market demand and competitive positioning.

Concluding with a valuable offer, Maxon invites listeners to request a market research report, compiled by her team, to assist in their market evaluation efforts.

https://www.firesidervrentalfranchise.com/researchreport

As the RV rental season approaches, she motivates her audience to capitalize on the opportunity to launch or grow their RV rental business, promising more insights in next week's episode.

Episode Transcript

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Welcome to the RV Rental Secrets Podcast.

(00:02):
.999I'm your host, Stacey Maxson, and I'm thrilled to guide you through the journey of launching, growing, and managing a profitable RV rental business. 3 00:00:09,330.9977324263 --> 00:00:11,870.997732426 Welcome to the RV Rental Secret Podcast. 4 00:00:11,940.997732426 --> 00:00:16,820.997732426 This week we're going to talk about evaluating your local RV rental market potential. 5 00:00:17,490.997732426 --> 00:00:21,160.997732426 So you may be interested in starting an RV rental business. 6 00:00:21,280.997732426 --> 00:00:31,990.997732426 Maybe you've even started out renting your own RV and have seen some success, but you don't know if an RV rental business will actually be good in your area or not. 7 00:00:32,490.997732426 --> 00:00:42,980.997732426 So today we're going to go through some Tips and things that you should research to see if you are located in a good area to start an RV rental business. 8 00:00:42,980.997732426 --> 00:00:48,440.997732426 So the first thing that I suggest you do is to research campgrounds in your area. 9 00:00:48,440.997732426 --> 00:00:54,661.997732426 You wanna make sure that there is a place that you can deliver your RV to and. 10 00:00:54,661.997732426 --> 00:00:56,951.997732426 Obviously, that would be campgrounds. 11 00:00:57,231.997732426 --> 00:00:59,521.997732426 So I suggest going to GoodSAM. 12 00:00:59,561.997732426 --> 00:01:08,981.996732426 com and you can enter in your city and state and choose how many miles you would be willing to deliver to. 13 00:01:09,241.996732426 --> 00:01:14,411.996732426 It could be anywhere from 25 or 50 miles, maybe even more. 14 00:01:14,771.996732426 --> 00:01:19,541.996732426 And you're going to want to see how many campgrounds are in that area. 15 00:01:19,541.996732426 --> 00:01:25,421.996732426 If there are campgrounds in the area, that's a good indication that there could be a demand for RV rentals. 16 00:01:25,771.996732426 --> 00:01:29,111.996732426 You can also search for events in your area. 17 00:01:29,661.995732426 --> 00:01:32,171.995732426 So it could be music festivals. 18 00:01:32,171.995732426 --> 00:01:39,611.996732426 If you have a fairgrounds in your area, often times there are horse shows, fairs. 19 00:01:39,931.996732426 --> 00:01:43,631.99673243 other events where they could need RV rentals. 20 00:01:44,141.99673243 --> 00:01:49,721.99673243 So you just want to see what locations in your area may need RVs delivered. 21 00:01:49,721.99673243 --> 00:01:54,581.99673243 And that can include state parks, national parks, private campgrounds. 22 00:01:54,581.99673243 --> 00:01:58,581.99773243 The next thing you want to look for is RV storage facilities. 23 00:01:59,61.99773243 --> 00:02:06,781.99673243 So I suggest going to Google and search RV storage near me or RV storage and your location. 24 00:02:07,241.99773243 --> 00:02:11,321.99673243 And you want to see how many RV storage facilities are in your area. 25 00:02:11,321.99673243 --> 00:02:24,426.99673243 Again, if there's RV parks and then there's RV storage, that's showing you that RVs are popular in your area, and you're more likely to have success with an RV rental business. 26 00:02:24,426.99673243 --> 00:02:28,806.99673243 You're gonna do the same thing with locating RV repair facilities. 27 00:02:29,136.99673243 --> 00:02:37,836.99673243 Not only is this showing you that there's a need for RV rentals in your area, but it's also showing people that you can partner with. 28 00:02:37,836.99673243 --> 00:02:39,141.99673243 So if you have an rv. 29 00:02:39,141.99673243 --> 00:02:43,981.99673243 Rental business, you're going to need a storage facility to store your RVs. 30 00:02:44,81.99673243 --> 00:02:47,101.99673243 You're going to need someone to repair your RVs. 31 00:02:47,591.99673243 --> 00:02:54,451.99673243 So finding, you know, RV storage facilities and repair facilities in your area is going to be very helpful. 32 00:02:54,751.99673243 --> 00:02:57,351.99573243 And you want to build relationships with those people. 33 00:02:57,761.99673243 --> 00:03:12,501.99573243 If you get into RV rental management, Those can also be good places to get leads for units that are not being used and you could possibly, get to meet those owners and start renting out their RVs. 34 00:03:12,501.99573243 --> 00:03:19,11.99573243 So the next thing you want to look for, and you can do this on Google as well, is to locate RV dealers in your area. 35 00:03:19,341.99573243 --> 00:03:29,491.99573243 So if there's RV sales, Again, it's a good indication that RVing is popular in your area and that RV rentals may do well. 36 00:03:29,491.99573243 --> 00:03:32,61.99673243 So that's kind of the first section I like to look at. 37 00:03:32,651.99673243 --> 00:03:38,301.99573243 I have yet to find a place where RV rentals won't work. 38 00:03:38,931.99573243 --> 00:03:42,451.99673243 Personally, I was in a very rural area when I started. 39 00:03:42,861.99673243 --> 00:03:45,291.99673243 We're about 30 miles from the closest. 40 00:03:45,291.99673243 --> 00:03:46,321.99673243 campgrounds. 41 00:03:46,371.99673243 --> 00:03:59,931.99673243 We did have a fairgrounds that was closer, but as long as you're willing to travel the extra mileage to deliver to those campgrounds that might be a little bit further away, it shouldn't be a problem. 42 00:03:59,931.99673243 --> 00:04:12,921.99673243 Obviously, you want to take that into account when you are Thinking of delivery fees obviously the delivery fees could be higher because you have to travel longer but just something to think about. 43 00:04:13,551.99673243 --> 00:04:16,971.99573243 The next thing that you want to research is tourist destinations. 44 00:04:17,491.99673243 --> 00:04:22,431.99673243 So obviously there's got to be something that's going to draw them to the area. 45 00:04:22,821.99773243 --> 00:04:27,351.99773243 Like I mentioned, that could be festivals or fairs, horse shows. 46 00:04:27,811.99773243 --> 00:04:48,316.99873243 If there is a national park in your area, Those are usually a big draw, or it could be, other events like sporting events, NASCAR, football games where people like to tailgate, or even just a different amusement parks, museums, Think of what you have in your area. 47 00:04:48,376.99873243 --> 00:04:50,326.99873243 You can also go to tripadvisor. 48 00:04:50,376.99873243 --> 00:04:59,316.99873243 com and search the location and just see what's in that area for tourist draws that bring people in. 49 00:05:00,16.99873243 --> 00:05:16,216.99773243 And Again, it doesn't have to be the exact town that you're in, but it could be,, within 50 miles, if that's where you're willing to deliver to for instance, in the location I'm at We're in a very rural area. 50 00:05:16,266.99773243 --> 00:05:28,826.99773243 There's really nothing here to do, but there is Lake George, which is about 50 miles from us, and that's a huge tourist attraction in upstate New York. 51 00:05:29,346.99773243 --> 00:05:31,256.99573243 They have just about everything. 52 00:05:31,266.99573243 --> 00:05:33,696.99673243 There's, the Adirondack State Park. 53 00:05:34,206.99673243 --> 00:05:40,576.99673243 There's shopping and Six Flags so many other amusement opportunities. 54 00:05:40,756.99673243 --> 00:05:46,726.99673243 So that's where most of our rentals came from in the beginning before we made a name locally. 55 00:05:46,726.99673243 --> 00:05:56,196.99773243 So since we were able to deliver that bar or people could pick up an RV from us and then travel to the Lake George area. 56 00:05:56,196.99773243 --> 00:05:58,206.99773243 It helped us be very successful. 57 00:05:58,906.99773243 --> 00:06:27,931.99873243 And then if you're not necessarily looking at your exact area, think about, again, what towns that could be a little bit, even if it's over that 50 miles, is there something within 100 miles that would be a good location to start an RV rental facility? And then you could, use a storage facility and drivers in that area to help deliver for you. 58 00:06:28,271.99873243 --> 00:06:33,981.99773243 it doesn't necessarily have to be out of your home or directly in your hometown. 59 00:06:34,341.99773243 --> 00:06:39,191.99873243 It could be in other areas and you could just operate it out of another location. 60 00:06:39,191.99873243 --> 00:06:43,291.99873243 The next thing I like to do is to research the competition. 61 00:06:43,901.99873243 --> 00:06:46,561.99873243 So you want to go on RV Share or Outdoorsy. 62 00:06:47,341.99873243 --> 00:06:49,391.99873243 Those are two peer to peer. 63 00:06:49,776.99873243 --> 00:06:55,506.99873243 platforms that private RV owners can list their RVs to rent out. 64 00:06:55,506.99873243 --> 00:07:03,556.99873243 And what I like to do is search the area that I'm thinking about creating the rental business in. 65 00:07:03,556.99873243 --> 00:07:08,16.99873243 And first, You want to see how many RVs are in that area. 66 00:07:08,426.99873243 --> 00:07:29,566.99973243 So if you scroll down to the bottom of the page, like it'll say page one of You know 200 plus or page one of 1000 plus so obviously You don't want there to be too many RVs because it could be a saturated market. 67 00:07:29,616.99973243 --> 00:07:34,406.99973243 There are some areas in Florida that may be like that. 68 00:07:34,836.99873243 --> 00:07:41,406.99873243 So I think around, the 200 to 500 range can be a good indication. 69 00:07:41,696.99873243 --> 00:07:48,651.99873243 But you don't want to just go by that because There can be a lot of RVs on there that aren't necessarily active. 70 00:07:49,161.99873243 --> 00:07:53,451.99873243 The people post their RV and then they don't ever read it out. 71 00:07:53,531.99873243 --> 00:07:55,91.99973243 They don't respond to inquiries. 72 00:07:55,241.99873243 --> 00:07:59,261.99873243 So, they're basically like just dead listings. 73 00:07:59,261.99873243 --> 00:08:03,621.99973243 And there are other ways to differentiate yourself from the competition. 74 00:08:03,661.99973243 --> 00:08:10,91.99873243 So, if you see there are a lot of RVs in the area that can Also be a good thing because there is a demand. 75 00:08:10,131.99873243 --> 00:08:20,551.99973243 It's just how much demand there is compared to the supply You know basic economics so then I like to Start going into the details of the rvs. 76 00:08:20,861.99973243 --> 00:08:34,281.99973243 So especially if you have an rv that you're going to be starting with I like to see what the average nightly rates are of similar RVs, and then also go into their calendars to see how many dates that are booked. 77 00:08:34,711.99973243 --> 00:08:45,521.99973243 So if they are booked up for the summer, that's a good indication that there's more demand and that your RV may do well renting there. 78 00:08:45,521.99973243 --> 00:08:50,141.99973243 Again, this is just all preliminary things that you can look for. 79 00:08:50,161.99973243 --> 00:08:53,941.99973243 It's not a be all, end all of whether it's going to work or not. 80 00:08:54,471.99873243 --> 00:09:02,61.99773243 So those are the eight things that you should look for when trying to determine if an RV rental business would work well in your area.