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Finding Locations and Using Your Software

July 1, 2016
Despite the degree of consolidation in the equipment rental industry, it’s always encouraging to see the still vibrant regional independent companies out there and Aaction Rents, based in Windsor, Calif., is one of them.

Despite the degree of consolidation in the equipment rental industry, it’s always encouraging to see the still vibrant regional independent companies out there and Aaction Rents, based in Windsor, Calif., is one of them. Aaction is not a cookie-cutter rental company where one size fits all, and Aaction is very much part of the unique communities in and around Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, although general manager Ken Dern is a transplanted Southern Californian.

President John Grill and Dern met when they both worked for Big 4 Rents, which was a “top 10” listee of the RER 100 and one of the leading independents of its era. Big 4 left a lasting mark on the rental culture in Northern California and Aaction certainly was influenced by Big 4’s way of doing business. 

One of Aaction’s philosophies, one that also was part of Big 4’s m.o., was to own as many of its facilities as possible. Nobody wants to set up shop in a growing area and just when things are really rolling, the owner decides he can get more for his property by selling it to somebody who wants to build a shopping center or apartment complex. 

As many equipment rental industry executives have said, one of the biggest challenges in the rental industry is finding suitable properties. They are not so easy to find. Aaction has found it very challenging to find locations because so many municipalities don’t want rental companies around. Even though the image of the industry has changed dramatically from the early days, when rental centers tended to look junky with old rotting shells of machinery dotting the landscape, many municipalities want to project a different image. In much of Northern California, economies are dependent on tourism and wine tasting, atmospheres that are far more idyllic than rental centers. And in so many cities all over the country, there are issues with zoning, there are difficulties finding places where trucks can come in and out, where the fluids needed to operate and service equipment cannot be used, and many other issues.

Some companies, Aaction among them, either have someone on staff looking for facilities or retain real estate agents to help them find suitable land. 

You can tell by the name that Aaction got started back in the Yellow Pages era when people started with the letter “A”. In this Internet day and age, you don’t see a lot of companies with the old “A” names. 

So yes, location, location, location is very important, but sometimes in the world of equipment rental, just finding a location is challenging. So of course you want to find the most advantageous location and there are many factors that go into that. Sometimes finding any location available and making the most of what’s out there is the name of the game.

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I hope you enjoy our interviews with software manufacturers. I’m often amazed when I read or hear about new features and capabilities of some of the software that’s out there. I’ve said, “I didn’t know you could do that!” more than once, and I am sure that many of you, if you took the time to think about it, would say the same thing. It’s easy to be intimidated by technology. I don’t know if any of you ever experience that. Sometimes I am obliged for whatever reason to learn some new software system, and I’m initially resistant. I’ve been assured, by some smart people, that this reaction is not unusual. 

So that is my challenge for this month. Take a read through our interviews or even if you don’t, try to find some new aspect of the software system you have that you haven’t taken advantage of and see if it can improve your business. No matter what software system you use, there are aspects of it that you don’t know are there, capabilities you aren’t aware of. See if you can find something that will bring a new level of knowledge or efficiency to your business, or even some report that you aren’t using that might give you some useful information. It might be more than worth whatever time it takes.