Rent & rave about it!
This platform allows Bengalureans to rent out items of their choice that will be delivered to their doorsteps
By : sneha k sukumar
Update: 2015-09-23 23:02 GMT
Ever wanted a barbeque station, a PS3 or some tents to camp out but would rather rent than buy it? You’re not alone in your thinking. A group of Bengaluru-based youngsters tapped on this and are now creating waves in the rental sector with their GrabOnRent. This platform allows you to discover and rent out a number of items, within a couple of hours at your door step!
Like most young entrepreneurs, it was their own experiences that served as their brainchild. “While expanding our previous venture, we needed quite a few things – ACs, furniture and projectors but it was cumbersome to rent them out whilst complying with various policies. Even when we tried to rent out a barbecue grill for a party, it was next to impossible and we resorted to buying it. Thankfully, saner heads prevailed that day, making us aware of hassles people face if they need to rent things out,” says Manish S Sugandhi on how he kickstarted the idea with his IIT graduate buddies, now fellow co-founders, Shubham Jain and Aditya Sharma. Having come into existence only last month with catagories like gaming, adventure, appliances, party, sports and furniture, they are expanding to more exciting avenues like drones, fashion, books, toys and vehicles.
With a board game or a charger for about Rs 39 a day, PS3 at Rs 550 to a leather sofa for Rs 1,500 a month, one might ask why rent instead of buy. “Consider this, by choosing to rent instead of buying, you don’t have to invest time, money and space to maintain and preserve the object, or, worry about having to spend a fortune to enjoy using it. In addition to this, you don’t have to fear it becoming obsolete and the investment being wasted. It also helps out people who like to try a product before actually buying it,” says Aditya, quipping that Indians are always “last minute”.
Having earlier worked on numerous projects with giants like Flipkart, Snapdeal, Jabong, Art of Living, Line, Viber etc, it was always their calling to be an entrepreneur. “Our parents have always been very supportive of our endeavours and have been the pillars of our mental strength,” says Shubham, who is “trying” to become a fitness freak when he isn’t all into their startup. Like most youngsters, it’s not all work and no play with these 23-year-olds. “We all enjoy playing cricket on a Sunday morning. But each one of us is different,” says Aditya, adding that while he loves to swim, Manish is a bookworm.
As they work on the convenience (the rented product is now dropped off and picked up from your doorstep) to quality and its availability it only pushes us to ask this – Who wouldn’t want to be discouraged from that petty, impulsive buy, to declutter your surroundings or wouldn’t want to save precious bucks? Not us!