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Publication: The Economic Times Bangalore;Date: Oct 25, 2010;Section: Corporate;Page: 9

Market, kids in the mood to play with rented toys

Sutanuka Ghosal KOLKATA

IT was the hunt for affordable toys to amuse their one year old that turned Manoj Kumar and Neeta Varma into start-up entrepreneurs. Stumped by the steep cost of branded toys, the Bangalore-based duo brainstormed for a day to come up with a plan for an online toy rental service, Rentoys, that allows subscribers to hire, use and return a range of branded playthings. An idea that software engineer Prajakta Kapure too honed in on while she quit work to raise her first child. Her online toy library Toys-on-Rent has built up a customer base of 200 within a few months of its launch earlier this year. Toddlers are proving to be the inspiration for a slew of such micro-enterprises as the demand for creative child rearing aids rises amongst urban Indian households. Currently, the organised toy market in India selling branded products is estimated to be at 1,500 crore, less than half the size of the overall market for toys pegged at 4,000 crore. For large toy makers keen to lure customers away from buying unbranded toys, the advent of start-ups such as Rentoys and Toys-onRent with their online model is seen as a positive boost. "The online toy rental business is in its nascent stage in the country. It has already started creating ripples in the market. It will help the toy industry to grow further," says R Jeswant, VP (sales and marketing), Funskool, one of the largest retail brands for toys. At stake for these branded toy manufacturers is a large unorganised segment for toys in the country that is pegged at 2,500 crore. "The online toy rental business will create awareness about toys and will translate into sales." says Ravindra Porwal, director of Olympia Games & Toys. The affordability of rented toys is the prime driver in this segment as customers buy into the convenience of picking up products from a range that includes global brands such as Lego, Fisher_Price, Simba, Hamleys and Funskool. I was shopping for a toy for our son Parth and found that it was priced at 4,000, thats when it struck me that there had to be a lot of parents like me looking around for affordable, ecofriendly and sanitised toys for their kids, says Mr Kumar, who with his wife and a mutual friend Shilpa Prasad pooled in savings of 6 lakh to set up Rentoys. My kids now have a range of new toys to play with that saves me cost and is delivered at my doorstep," says Krithika Tharan, a Bangalore-based homemaker who has subscribed to Toys-on-Rent.

Buoyed by the consumer response, these start-ups are driving business growth through multiple channels. Rentoys has a dual business model that includes direct subscription and a franchisee network. The one-year-old start-up offers three types of franchisee engagement master franchisee, unit franchisee and express franchisee. For the master franchisee, Rentoys asks for a deposit of 3.5 lakh. For the unit and express franchisees, the company charges 1.25 lakh and 70,000 respectively. We buy toys from the manufacturers and supply it to the franchisees who in turn run the service, says Mr Kumar. In the coming year, the company plans to expand the franchisee network across Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi. As will Ms Kapure, who set up Toys-on-Rent in January this year with a capital of 3 lakh, her plan is to now go beyond the direct subscription model to attract new customers. Mumbai-based Sanket Popat and Niyati Shah too are now looking to expand their two-year-old online toy service through the franchisee method. Their firm Khilonaghar.com was set up in March 2008 with an initial corpus of 10 lakh. "As parents, we realised how much we were spending on our kids toys and books. This gave us the idea of having an online library where customers can order at their own convenient time and place and the products will reach them at their door step, says Mr Popat. The firm offers categories such as toys, books, games, puzzles, CDs and encyclopaedias. Bratin Bag, who is a regular at Khilonaghar for his five-year-old son, finds the range of toys and affordability a big draw. "I can save a lot on toys and games," he says. As more parents such as Bag seek affordable tools to amuse and entertain their wards, clearly this is a market set to expand rapidly. Toys are basic entertainment to a child, almost similar to an outing for an adult. They play a key role in a childs mood and mental health, says Delhi-based psychiatrist Dr Shivi Jaggi. Clearly there is more to toys than just childs play.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-07-18/news/29787516_1_toysproducts-medical-equipment

Cost-effective option: Why buy when you can hire it?

Priya Kapoor, ET Bureau Jul 18, 2011, 06.41pm IST

Have you ever wondered how your friend can flaunt a new designer handbag at each party? Or how your neighbour's child has a new, expensive toy to play with every month? Chances are that your friend's bag and the child's toys are rented. A popular trend abroad, renting products has now made its way to India too, with a wide range, from toys and books to phones and bikes, that is available for hiring (see table). "When you buy a product, you are saddled with it for its entire lifetime and this could induce a feeling of fatigue. The innovative idea is to borrow rather than own," says Harish Bijoor, CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults, a brand building and business strategy company. The biggest advantage is that renting is often cheaper than buying it, especially if you only need it for a short period of time. So, if you have to move for two months to a different city to work on a project, you can hire a scooter for about Rs 300 a day rather than buy one for around Rs 30,000. This will be even more advantageous if you do not need the scooter every day.

Your savings can be as high as 60% over a period of few months. Suppose you need a wheelchair for 2-3 months. You can hire a basic one for Rs 50 a day or an electric one for around Rs 200 a day. If you were to buy an electric wheelchair, it would lighten your wallet by about Rs 50,000. Over three months, renting the product will help you save Rs 32,000 or almost 65% of the cost price. "In most cases, the injury or disease is short-lived and the equipment remains unused thereafter. So a cheaper and more convenient option is to hire the apparatus at a fraction of its actual cost," says Vivek Sharma, founder, Medirent, a company that provides medical equipment on rent. Renting can also be an alternative if you do not have enough money to buy an expensive equipment. For instance, if you need an air conditioner for the summers but cannot afford to buy one, you can rent it from

a local dealer. A 1.5-ton window AC can be rented for Rs 3,000-5,000 for eight months, while the cost price for such a model would be Rs 18,000-22,000. "This trend is quite popular among bachelors and young, married couples, who are setting up homes and need household goods. They cannot afford to buy all of them at one go and prefer to stagger it. So, till they can afford to purchase what they want, they rent some of these items," says Saloni Nangia, senior vice-president, retail and consumer products, Technopak. Besides these gadgets, you can get books, toys, designer bags, TVs, cars, laptops, mobile phones, wedding dresses, even gold jewellery, on rent. Delhi-based Kavita Puri, says, "I am very fond of reading, but once I finish a book, it ends up on the shelf. So, I decided to join a library, which gives me access to one book every month. This means that in six months I read six books for the price of just one." Adds Prajikta Kapure, founder, toys-on-rent.com, "There is a large variety of toys available in the market, which makes it tough to buy them all. Also, toys have short-term utility as children outgrow them and most houses do not have enough space to store them." Many such rental portals that provide goods on rent have come up in the past few years. If you want a handbag, you can browse through bag4aday.com and bagsutra.com. Similarly, for toys, you can visit toys-on-rent.com, rentoys.in and khilonaghar.com. However, most of these sites provide services in very few cities. For instance, toys-on-rent.com is available only in Bangalore, while librarywala.com gives books on loan only in Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Mysore. You can rent most products for as long as you want; the longer the rental period, the cheaper it is. You pay when the product is delivered at your home. However, in some cases, you may have to pay a security deposit or membership fee, which is refundable. "To become a member of our group, you have to pay an intial fee of Rs 5,000. The rental charges for our handbags range from Rs 400-700 a day and the minimum period is two days. However, if you wish to use the bag for a longer time, we can make a customised rental plan," says Cookie Singh, co-founder, bag4aday.com. What if you want to buy the product? "If there is no other booking, we allow the borrower to keep the toy for an extended period. If a client wants to buy the product, we sell it at a 10-15% discount," says Kapure. "Sometimes, we sell designer handbags at a 40-60% discount. Unlike renting, buying takes place only after the customer has seen the bag physically," says Singh. Though renting a product is cost-effective, there could be problems regarding hygiene. However, rented companies claim to take care of this. Says Sharma: "We sanitise the equipment, but if it cannot be cleaned, we simply replace it." Before you rent a product, check whether it will be cost-effective to run it too, especially in the case of electronic items and vehicles. Recalls Delhi-based Komal Gupta, who rented an air conditioner a couple of years ago: "I had just shifted to Delhi and decided that renting an AC for Rs 5,000 for a season would be cheap. But the model was an old one and it turned out to be an electricity guzzler, which almost doubled my power bill." Also, check the product for defects before renting it and point it out to the lender or you may end up paying extra as penalty for damaging it.

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_toy-libraries-to-for-bangalorekids_1533573

Toy libraries to for Bangalore kids

Published: Tuesday, Apr 19, 2011, 13:56 IST By Anand Mishra | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA

With the summer vacations looming large, parents are at their wits end to keep kids occupied, while children cannot help repeating for the nth time the constant refrain I am bored. I have nothing to do. Older kids can be sent to summer camps or be enrolled for activity classes, but what do you do with the little ones that stay at home? Hold on to the frayed edges of your sanity, grin and bear seems to be the consensus. Taking some of the burden off are toy libraries in Bangalore that are ensuring kids get to play with different, educational and fun toys that keep them occupied. Whats even better, they get replaced as soon as the kids get bored of them, they are home-delivered and are safe for your child to play with and you can even arrange the whole deal online. So look up some of the players here and open an account for your child, before you get bankrupt buying toys on every single trip to the mall. Some of the more popular ones in Bangalore are Rentoys, Toys-on-rent and Cuboid Toy Library. Toys-on-rent and Cuboid cater to Bangalore, though both have plans of expanding soon, while Rentoys caters to Hyderabad and Mumbai as well, and will soon open in New Delhi and Kolkata. The reason behind their quick success is pretty simple. As Manoj Kumar, one of the founders of Rentoys points out, Kids outgrow toys very fast and as parents we keep buying more. It leads to not only a hole in the pocket but also clutter at home due to unused toys. Toy libraries address both these problems effectively. A toy library also takes care of the boredom factor and the pocket by providing a steady supply of new toys without parents being afraid of spoiling the child with constant gifts. And an added boon is the fact that you can browse and order online to have toys delivered at home. This saves a lot of time for working parents. Prajakta S Kapure, founder of Toys-on-rent says: Working parents find it easy to browse online and order. They can do it from their office as well. In fact, our expansion plans are directed towards the other metro cities, where such parents have an established comfort with going online to save themselves time. Of course, money is a big factor too, what with the lowest plans starting at about Rs249 (each library has a distinct set of plans depending on the number of toys you want to subscribe to). The monthly memberships for these libraries work out to be a fraction of the price of a branded toy. Rentoys, with its founding team of Neeta Verma, Shilpa Prasad and Manoj Kumar, started its pilot project on September 2009 and became fully operational in Bangalore in January 2010. Kapure, a software engineer formerly, started Toys-on-rent about a year and a half ago. I stopped working after my kids were born and with the time I had, I started Toys-on-rent. It was mostly self-funded, though I took some help to develop the website, says Kapure. Sonal Agarwal started Cuboid in August 2010 and it was a totally self-funded enterprise. Agarwals experience with her six-month-old daughter whod outgrow toys every fortnight nudged her towards taking an effective step in bailing out other parents in the same situation. The Rentoys team too started it with their own funds, though friends pooled in some money as well. As Kumar points out, this being a new concept, parents had some initial hesitation about renting toys, but the concept did take off well in Bangalore. Kapure too started things on a small scale and now with 200-plus members, is looking to expand in other cities. Agarwal faced some initial hiccups too. It took some time for us to make it clear to parents that this is not just about affordability; this is more about making the child eco-friendly and learning the art of sharing things with other kids, she says. Most of these toy libraries cater to children below seven years of age. But Kapure points out that parents with younger kids tend to rent more. Children between six months and three years are in the learning phase and outgrow their toys easily. Older kids are more attached to their personal toys. However, for kids in a slightly older age range, we have activity toys like scooters or skateboards, or educational toys, which find a lot of takers, says Kapure. Kids

between one and five form the bulk of Cuboid members, though Agarwal says, we keep some board games for parents too. Safety is of paramount importance here. All libraries keep toys only from brands that are committed to producing safe toys for kids. Most go for durable toys that are hardy and have fewer number of component parts, so kids cant swallow or otherwise harm themselves with these. Rentoys cleans, sanitises and shrink-wraps toys after each use. It uses natural cleaners and performs stringent quality checks on toys before issuing them. As Kumar points out: We trust only top quality international brands and consistently monitor their product and safety reviews. We also perform mechanical and physical inspection of toys after each return. Parents are requested to return the toys after a preliminary cleaning or dry cleaning as required. Cuboid too keeps a sharp eye on toys and goes only for brands that are trusted. It disinfects and steam cleans the harder toys before shrink wrapping them for delivery, while soft toys are laundered, dried and then wrapped. Toy-on-rent too keeps branded toys with minimum parts and sanitises them before delivering. As an added measure, this library does not stock up on soft toys. If a toy is damaged by a member, most of these libraries either charge them for replacement parts or the cost of the toy if it is beyond repair. Cuboid makes toys available for parties too, while Toy-on-rent has short term rental plans for people who expect guests with small children coming over for a short stay. Rentoys too has a short-term plan for such situations and is trying to work on a party special one-off package as well. It also has a toy donation drive for underprivileged children

August, 09 2012

Toys-on-rent eyes pan India presence

M Rochan | The SupportBiz Bureau

Prajakta Kapure was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug after she turned homemaker. Two years ago, Kapure decided to get into the business of renting out toys. Toys-on-rent was thus born. Children get bored of their toys easily. With toys getting more expensive each year, it is not easy for parents to keep buying new toys. Toys-on-rent solves the problem, Kapure said.
The company stocks branded toys, Kapure said. Her venture today makes an average INR60,000 a month. Operations are limited to one city, Bangalore, for now but expansion is on the cards. Toys-onrent plans to take the franchisee route to be present in 12 metros by the end of the financial year, Kapure said. Excerpts from the interview: On customers Families with working mothers are regular customers. Most of them have the money but complain about the lack of time to go shopping for toys. We allow customers to rent a maximum of three toys at a time. This fits their budget and saves precious time because we deliver, and pickup toys from their doorstep. On competition... There is not much competition for Toys-on-rent as of now. I do know of physical toy libraries but renting toys from us is more convenient. On the companys expansion plans We are looking to take the franchise route to expand across India. We hope to be present in 12 metros by April next year. I am targeting stay-at-home mothers for francshisees . Many women quit their jobs to raise children and are open to working from home. Ours is the ideal business to run from ones home. All a franchisee needs is about 100 sqft of space to stock toys. When the business grows, most toys are in circulation and therefore one does not need additional space for inventory. On investments Going forward the company will invest in branding and marketing. Franchisees will have to pay an annual fee and invest in inventory themselves. We have worked out revenue sharing arrangements. For instance, a franchisee would share 50 percent of their total revenue with us. On challenges of doing business.. Retaining delivery boys in the initial six months was a challenge. We could not pay our delivery boys high salaries initially and some would vanish after working with us for a few days. On-time delivery and pickup is the key to success in this business. Advice to women entrepreneurs Do whatever it is that you like doing. Be confident at all times. Nothing can be done alone so find the right business partner. I was lucky that my husband supported me at every step.

http://www.franchiseindia.com/articles/Opportunity/Unique-Concepts/Rentingbenefits-for-toy-lovers-528/

Renting benefits for toy lovers

February 24, 2012 Parents spend huge amount of money on toys but kids soon get bored with them and desire for new ones. Thus this investment becomes a waste. As a result the concept of renting toys is emerging fast. Read on to explore the opportunity.

Toys are an indispensible part of almost everyones childhood. However with toys becoming more and more expensive it is becoming difficult for parents to buy new toys and games for their little ones. Moreover kids get bored of toys very quickly and after few days toys become a waste and occupy lot of space. To avoid this and make toys more affordable the unique but functional concept of toy rentals has become popular in India. The concept is already quite popular in countries like New Zealand, Australia, and America where even the government funds such concepts. However in India toy libraries was an unheard concept till recently. With more of awareness, a toy library is an upcoming opportunity with many entrepreneurs already cashing in on this new concept. Read on to be more aware. Need for toy renting Toys are still considered to be a luxury in India. Although parents spend huge amount of money on toys yet it is not a healthy investment. Moreover kids get bored with the toys very soon making it a storing item. This brought the idea for buying toys on rent. The concept of rental toys work wonders for kids as well as parents. Let us have a look at the advantages of this venture: New toys without much expense: Kids usually get bored with toys, which are quite expensive. They store these in their playroom as useless items. However getting toys on rent saves money for parents as well as gives variety to the kid. Toys as learning experience: There is a continuous range of new toys available in the market. These not only provide entertainment but also knowledge to kids as well as their parents. Instead of buying them, toys can be taken on rent. Saves space: Presently everyone mostly have small compact houses without much storing space. Buying toys and storing them takes a lot of space. Therefore toys on rent save money as well as space. Play, learn and pass it on: The best thing about toys on rent is that they can be passed on to the next child when the previous owner gets tired playing with it. This way they do not get wasted. Rental toy franchising Concept of renting toys is quite recent in the large bandwagon of franchising. However it is becoming more organised due to the various brands in the sector which have taken the franchise route for rapid and successful expansion. As informed by Prajakta Kapure, Owner, Toys-on-rent: Franchising is essential for giving the next big step to our business. Moreover seeing the success of this concept in other nations, we can be assured that it has a bright future in India also. New and emerging players As mentioned the toy rental concept is quite recent, therefore there are few players who are benefitting from this concept till now. Few of them are:

Toys-on-rent: The brand has recently opted for the franchise route. It needs a total investment of Rs 2,30,000 which would include the sign up fees and franchise set-up cost as well. Toys-on-rent is presently planning to open franchise outlets in Hyderabad, and Mumbai etc. Planet Toyz: It is a fun library from where kids can get books, toys, games, CDs etc on rent. The first outlet was opened in north Delhi. It needs an investment ranging from Rs 1.5 to 1.75 lakh with an area approximately 200 sq. ft. Rent Me Toy: The toy library, headquatered at Mohali has recently opened. The brand has taken the franchise route for rapid expansion pan India. It needs an investment of Rs two to five lakh. Play way for franchisees A toy rental franchise can be benefitting for aspiring entrepreneurs. There are not many requirements for taking toy rental franchise. Any aspirant with total commitment to quality and service can opt for this. Moreover toy rental concept is well suited for women who are home makers. They understand kids and love dealing with them. Few of its other benefits are mentioned below: Low cost but attractive returns: Taking a toy rental franchise is not very expensive. It is a low cost business opportunity which can fetch lucrative returns to franchisees. Easy to manage: Toy rental business is easy to run. As informed by Kapure: The business can be managed at home with just a 6'X3'X3' storage space. Staggered investments: The franchisees can keep expanding the business with no additional fees within their territory. Moreover adding more and more toys can give this business an easy leap. Few hurdles on the way Along with numerous benefits, this concept faces a few challenges as well. The understanding of rental toys among parents and kids is the greatest challenge. Moreover entrepreneurs have to keep updating newer toys, games and books in the outlet. This forms the major issue as one needs to add on toys keeping childrens expectation in mind. It can be concluded that a toy rental franchise is low cost with high benefits and easy to manage as well. Therefore aspirants who love toys and kids can surely opt for this venture for a happy and fulfilling business growth.

http://smallbusinessindia.intuit.in/interview-business-profile/featuring-toys-on-rent/
Interview: Prajakta Kapure - Founder, Toys-on-Rent Parenting today has become a very challenging task; more so for working parents with their busy schedules. To make matters worse, there is an exhaustive variety of educational and fun toys to contend with. Every parent wants to give their child the best but with the launch of new toys every other day, the exorbitant prices, short-term utility and space constraints for storage, makes purchasing these toys a tough decision. Here is where Toys-on-rent comes into the picture Toys-on-rent strives to ease the dilemma of thousands of parents who seem to fumble with to-buy-or-not-to-buy decisions. It is a first ever toy rental venture in India that offers a convenient option for parents to overcome all of the challenges mentioned above by simply renting toys for short duration, providing children the opportunity to explore and play with many toys at the price of few! In an exclusive chat with Prajakta Kapure, the founder of Toys-on-rent, Prajakta tells us what led to the starting of this unique venture. What made you start Toys-on-Rent.Com? Toys-on-rent was born out of my own parenting experience. With the birth of my son, it got difficult for me to continue with my job and also attend to him as much as I would have loved to do. My husband and I were quick on deciding that I needed to quit my job and look at some work-from-home options to keep me occupied. We ran into toy rental ideas (more popular in Singapore, Middle East, US) in various markets and fell in love with it right away. From then on, it was a regular story of what needed to be done to make it work and we kept moving ahead. What have been your greatest challenges so far? As a first generation entrepreneur, I have come across many challenges in the past 2 years since we started toys-on-rent. One of the most significant challenges has been the ability to hire and retain delivery boys. While growing, there were stages when I had to pack the toys and deliver them on my bike. Now when I look back, it looks silly, but even that experience taught a lot to me. How has technology helped in your regular operations? Or expansion strategies? Toys-on-rent is a web-based concept and technology has a very large role to play. We are constantly on our toes to make sure our offerings are available to our customers. Moreover, we are also looking at social-media marketing to expand our reach. What has been your mantra for customer satisfaction? And to increase your customer base?

Our customer satisfaction mantra is simple and clear: Keep delivering the toys they want: On time, Every time! We have been growing consistently with the addition of 25 customers per month just by word-ofmouth or free online marketing efforts. At times, we do rely on paper inserts and social-media to accelerate our customer acquisition efforts. What has been your learning from your business operations? What would be your advice to those who want to start their own business? Toys-on-rent has taught me how to interact with people/customers and manage expectations. It has also given me a comprehensive exposure to all aspects leading to money making. My advice to budding entrepreneurs is simple: if you have an idea that you believe in, just go with it. There will be many who will criticize you, but be resolute to prove them wrong with your deeds!