All businesses / Tool and equipment hire

Fingerprint: capital · hours · speed to income · margin · ceiling. The dashed line is mid-scale.

Start a tool and equipment hire: the real numbers

Renting kit to trades and the public. Below is what it actually costs, how long before money arrives, and the part most guides leave out.

Startup capital

€25,000–€90,000

Hours / week

20–45

First income

~14 wks

Net margin

50%

Saturation

medium

Realistic ceiling

€900–€4,000+

This ceiling is not a wall

The figure above is what this earns in the shape described — you, running it. Past that it keeps going, but by hiring people or adding units, not by you working more hours. That is a different job from the one you would be starting, and worth knowing before you start it.

What nobody usually tells you

The same machine earns its purchase price several times over, which is the whole appeal. But capital sits in the yard whether it hires or not, and things come back broken more often than the business plan assumes.

The route, in five steps

  1. Buy the ten items that get hired weekly, not fifty that do not
  2. Take a deposit and photograph condition every time
  3. Weekend rates are where the money is
  4. Service kit on a schedule or it dies mid-hire
  5. Trade accounts beat walk-ins for reliability

What you'll need to buy

These are the categories every tool and equipment hire pays for in the first month. We break down what each one actually costs at this size on the tools page.

equipment stockyard or unitinsurancebooking systemvan

Does it hold up for you?

These numbers are the average case. Whether this business clears your target depends on your capital, your hours and how long you can wait — put them in and see.

Run my numbers → See the tool stack