Articles

If you’re considering entering or are currently in the circular based rental business, our recent conversation with Katie Hanton-Parr, Co-Founder of premium baby equipment rental company Baboodle, delves into the details of bringing one from idea to kitchen table to a scaling, evolving, ongoing concern. 

We explore the opportunities, challenges, mindset and tech resources needed to thrive in the Product-as-a-Service space with Yann Toutant of Black Winch, an expert in the realm and ally to companies wanting to successfully enter it. 

Running a circular minded rental business can be a complex, crazymaking process. But with the right support and software, integrated well, it can really help. Drawing from our recent conversation with Ryan Atkins of Supercycle, you’ll find a great deal of insights, resources and paths forward in this regard. 

Following our conversation with Ryan Atkins of Shopify circular enabler Supercycle, we focus on two powerful distinctions which could well greatly open up your circular business: How rental and resale are in many ways just different facets of the same spectrum (and how best to leverage each) And, reframing the common brand fear that resale & rental of their products will cannibalise new product sales. 

In a vibrant conversation, HappyPorch Radio spoke with Lucy Wishart, getting an academic perspective on the circular economy that was ripe with insights, including consumption work, a powerfully simple encapsulation of the key way rental companies benefit consumers. And how to best leverage that. 

What is accidental circularity? What role does empathy play in embracing a circular model of business? What lessons can be learned from Apple's domination of the smartphone resale market? What role can open source devices play in the circular economy? Inspired by our recent conversation with Leah Pollen, we explore this and more. 

Looking back after our first episode of HappyPorch Radio’s new season with Danai Osmond, an experienced traveler at the intersection of the rental and circular economy sectors, we surface key insights from this deep dive. Like the discoverability quandary, and how to solve it. The delicate balance of maximising Utility. Deep data. And more.

In this first our series on the intersection of the circular economy and rentals, we explore the three key ways it can occur, how to optimise what you offer for rent, and the direct, perhaps unexpected benefits to both your company and its customers. 

While the circular economy is typically thought of in terms of companies optimising operationally, finding ways to reuse and further monetise materials, thus accruing ecological and financial benefits - we are finding it can have a clear, tangible impact on society as well. It’s all interconnected. We explore this intersection with Circular Communities Scotland CEO Michael Cook.