After several of my articles about the car sharing, people (car rental companies) started asking about how car sharing can help in the car rental business. Although the Internet is buzzing about self driving cars, car manufacturers and large car rental companies already have their “pocket” car sharing outlets; local and smaller car rental companies, constituting the major share of the market in any country, just start asking, and not yet fully realize that car sharing is not something out of this world, and maybe it will not affect the car rental business.

If this is what you are still thinking, it is time to sell your business until the car sharing did not eat your pie. I performed the survey of car rental companies in October, and here are the results:

Many owners and managers still don’t understand what car sharing is all about. Therefore, I’ll try to explain it as simply as possible. 

You must know one thing – the car sharing is the upgraded version of car rental. It is not another service or product, but a transformation of the car rental service that every car rental company will have to face.

To put it simple, car sharing (advanced car rental) has two aspects. 

1.      Diversification or expansion of the customer base. Car rental clients are tourists; advanced car rental clients are locals as well. And as you know, there are hundred times more of them. Wouldn’t you be happy to discover this new array of clients?

2.      Advanced car rental offers the self-service opportunity to clients. The client sees a free car on his phone, books it, unlocks, drives for 10 km or 15 minutes, and drops it in your designated place, locking with his smart phone. All contracts, inspections, payments are processed on the Qwekee platform. 

So, as a businessman, you will notice two things: 

1. It boosts your turnover (new clients)

2. It reduces your costs (self-service)

And together, they… bingo, increase your profit. You can read more about Qwekee here.

Even though the Internet is buzzing that we are all going towards this, and everyone understands it, the stagnation in traditional businesses is still viable, and although innovations are available to everyone, only a few will be able to use them. 

Strangely, customers ask me why Canada is called the homeland of car sharing. I have no answer, but for some reason, the first fruits ripe there. For example, the Discountcar network, as a traditional car and truck rental business, announced about its advanced car rental options in Québec, Canada. It is called Discount Self-Service.

Quote: Ironically, the success of the program could drive the transformation of the entire company. “This decentralizes the rental fleet and puts it where the need is,” Lazaroff says. “As we grow self-service and expand our base of users, we’re offering our customers new and innovative ways to satisfy their transportation needs.”

Is advanced car rental more profitable than traditional car rental business? You will find answers here.

And, last but not least – how much it will cost? You won’t believe me – you need no initial investment if you have GPS on your cars. The Qwekee platform only charges the success fee from the money charged from clients. No monthly or starter fees. 

Of course, one can write a lot about it, but connect one car and try it out – it will be quite an experience, it will generate genial ideas on how to use it for the expansion of your business.