Have you ever had a dream that you've just been hesitant to pursue fully? Maybe it was out of fear, time, motivation, or fill-in-the-blank. Sometimes, we need another human to come along and push us to make it happen.
That is the story of Starting Line Communications and Hoosier Network Rentals - an unlikely coupling of start-up businesses that found a way to be mutually beneficial.
It began with a hike on a winter Sunday afternoon. My family had been invited to join our friends, the Matterns, for lunch after church, and the unseasonably warm afternoon called for a walk to the Salamonie Reservoir. Here, Austin Mattern told me about the vision he and his cousin Ben were creating for a unique equipment rental business. The concept was brilliant. Personal owners could offer their equipment for rent to others. They would make money from renting what was already sitting around their house/barn, the customer would get a discounted rental fee compared to rental companies, and HNR would be the middleman that would take a cut of the transaction.
Austin had seen my Country Corner Farm website and asked if I could create a website for this new business. Of course, I said yes, but I also shared that I had long had a dream of running my own side business offering services like this. After starting a few businesses of my own, I knew how much my heart came to life while creating all the details of a business start-up. What feels daunting to most brings my soul to life!
Austin and Ben had priced other website options, but to get one that would work for their vision of complex booking options, the price tag would be around $30,000! I knew the project would be a massive amount of work, but felt pretty darn confident I could do it for less than that! And I did... a lot less!!
Over the course of six months, we collaborated not only on their website design but, more importantly, on the backend functionality. As a side business of their own, automation was essential. Each element I built into the backend helped them determine their business processes and policies. We brainstormed elements over and over again until we found the best option.
Ben and Austin were so much fun to work with! We laughed a lot. They energized my vision and passion for continuing this pursuit of working with other clients. Because we're farming friends, we found some creative bartering payment substitutions, which may or may not have included building cow fences, a winter's worth of hay for our cows, and packaging butchered chickens.
As HNR grows, I'm really hoping they ask me back to keep building out the site. And if you live in north central Indiana and need a trailer, yard work equipment, or other items, you better check out hoosiernetworkrentals.com!
Creating a business from the ground up is a huge undertaking. Including a communications professional on your team from the start will set you up for success in all sorts of ways!
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