Sometimes the best business ideas come from solving your own problem.
One of our long-standing clients, Buntingford Construction Services, owns a large collection of professional building equipment used across its construction projects. Like many established building companies, much of this equipment sits unused between jobs, while homeowners and DIY enthusiasts often struggle to find affordable, high-quality tools to hire locally.
The solution was simple: create an online equipment hire business that makes these professional tools available to both residential customers and trade professionals.
That’s where Marketing Zone came in.
Creating a New Brand
Rather than simply adding a hire section to the existing construction website, we developed an entirely new brand and website: Hiredit.
The new website provides a dedicated platform where customers can browse available equipment, check availability, and submit hire requests online. By separating the hire business from the construction company, the new brand has its own identity while still benefiting from the expertise and reputation built by Buntingford Construction Services.
Built on WordPress and WooCommerce
The website was developed using WordPress, providing a flexible and scalable content management system that allows the client to easily manage products, images and information.
For the ecommerce functionality we chose WooCommerce, one of the world’s most popular ecommerce platforms. Although traditionally used for selling products, WooCommerce provides an excellent foundation for rental businesses when combined with specialist booking software.
WooCommerce Booking & Rental System
To manage equipment hire, we integrated the WooCommerce Booking & Rental System plugin.
This powerful plugin transforms WooCommerce into a fully featured rental management platform with numerous advantages, including:
- Customers can browse equipment available for hire in one convenient location.
- Rental periods can be selected using an intuitive booking calendar.
- Availability is managed automatically, helping prevent double bookings.
- Individual products can have their own pricing rules and hire periods.
- Rental inventory is tracked efficiently.
- Booking requests are stored within WooCommerce for easy administration.
- Confirmation emails can be generated automatically.
- The system can easily expand as more equipment is added.
The result is a much smoother booking experience for customers while significantly reducing the amount of manual administration required by the business.
An Ideal Stage One Solution
The initial launch focuses on making it easy for customers to request equipment hire.
Visitors simply browse the available products, choose their preferred hire dates and submit a booking request. The Buntingford Construction Services team then confirms availability and arranges payment offline before the equipment is collected or delivered.
This approach allows the business to establish its rental operation quickly without introducing the complexity of online payment processing during the initial launch.
Looking Ahead to Stage Two
One of the major benefits of building the website using WooCommerce is its ability to grow alongside the business.
As Hiredit expands, the website can be enhanced to include:
- Secure online card payments.
- Deposits and balance payments.
- Automated invoicing.
- Customer accounts with booking history.
- Digital hire agreements.
- Delivery and collection scheduling.
- Additional equipment categories and locations.
Because the foundations have been built correctly from the outset, these features can be introduced without rebuilding the website.
Supporting Business Growth
This project demonstrates how businesses can unlock additional revenue from assets they already own.
Instead of expensive equipment sitting idle between construction projects, Buntingford Construction Services now has a professional online platform that enables those assets to generate income throughout the year.
For customers, it provides convenient access to quality equipment. For the business, it creates a new revenue stream while making use of existing resources.
At Marketing Zone, we enjoy helping businesses identify opportunities like this and turning them into practical, scalable digital solutions.
Whether you’re launching a completely new business, expanding an existing one or looking to generate additional income from your current assets, we can help design and build a website that supports your long-term ambitions.