MBA students need your help - please

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tobrien5

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Hi Everyone,

I am a member of a part time MBA team at Babson College working on our final project. Our business idea is to create a direct, shared marketplace between RV owners and renters (this is where you, owners, come in). Our idea is to set up a marketplace where RV Owners can rent their RVs to Boomers through a direct market, eliminating rental companies. This is very similar to what airbnb (https://www.airbnb.com/) has done with rooms for rent. In a few weeks, we will be working on the details of things like insurance and liabilities but right now, we are just trying to gather some data for the analysis portion of our project. Will you help us? It will only take you about 5 min to answer a few questions.

Here's the link to our survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RVOwners

We are not collecting any personal information about you or your PC. This is a school project, not a commercial profitable company.

I'd also love to hear comments (good or bad) here on the discussion board about the idea as well.

Thank you,
Tara L. O'Brien
Babson College
Candidate for MBA '14
 
A very poorly crafted survey, which fails to provide the usual options incorporated in professionally designed surveys such as:

x Other

x None of the above

Without such options, the survey may be impossible to complete honestly, rendering the results rather worthless. Those involved in this survey, probably should have first studied Stats 100, before attempting this project.

BTW: "Our idea is to set up a marketplace where RV Owners can rent their RVs to Boomers through a direct market, eliminating rental companies." is an idea that has already been tried and failed at least a decade or more back in RV history.
 
captsteve said:
Another focus steered survey. Seems we get these on here every few months...
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Yep we do and no matter how hard they try none of us want to rent out our RVs. Anyone who thinks they can start a business like that is not living in the real world.
 
SeilerBird said:
Yep we do and no matter how hard they try none of us want to rent out our RVs. Anyone who thinks they can start a business like that is not living in the real world.
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Tom and others,

Many years ago, early1990s, I rented from an individual who was doing something similar.  He had started with one class C and rented it out, later he got another and still later another all the while NEVER renting out his class A.  We had an interesting discussion about renting and his comment boiled down was that he would never rent his A but the "cheap" Class Cs were not only paying for themselves but allowing him to have the class A and other goodies in his life.  Sold the lot a few years later as he couldn't compete with the rental companies anymore.

Like most here, we will not rent our MH but if I could see a way and I was at least 40 years younger, doing the same thing.  BTW, there is a shop here that does that, has a small fleet for rental.  There is also an El Monte rental location here as we are 90 miles from Yellowstone Park and about 300 from Glacier.
 
Jim I think you are talking apples and oranges. That guy sounds like he is just running a rental business, not renting out other people's RVs. Do you know how often stolen and rental RVs end up parked in a forest being used as a meth lab?
 
The point being he  would not rent his personal RV but only ones bought for the purpose for the very reason you and others have mentioned.
 
[quote author=SeilerBird]
Do you know how often stolen and rental RVs end up parked in a forest being used as a meth lab?
[/quote]
Do you?
 
You would get a better response if you used a link back to the college so we would know this was not a "fake" survey posted by a commercial company mining for data.

I would be glad to answer a survey, but I need much more evidence that this is a valid student project.  Using a valid college "edu" link would help.
 
Just Lou said:
Do you?
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I do.  As part of our training to be camp hosts in a BLM campground in Oregon we were made aware that it was a common practice for druggies to buy a beater camping unit, use it as a meth lab, and abandon it.  We were warned never to approach such a suspected unit and to call for professional help.
 
Tom and Margi said:
I do.  As part of our training to be camp hosts in a BLM campground in Oregon we were made aware that it was a common practice for druggies to buy a beater camping unit, use it as a meth lab, and abandon it.  We were warned never to approach such a suspected unit and to call for professional help.
Click to expand...
I'm sure it has happened, but the comment was "Do you know how often stolen and rental RVs end up parked in a forest being used as a meth lab?" 

 
Just Lou said:
I'm sure it has happened, but the comment was "Do you know how often stolen and rental RVs end up parked in a forest being used as a meth lab?"
Click to expand...

That was Tom's question, and you haven't yet answered it.  ::)
 
oh wow I had not even thought of people using them for drug making. Is this really a major problem in our country? I see on the news about run down houses being used for drugs but I really though rv'rs were a nicer type of people, maybe I need to quit living in the old days huh.
 
I don't think it is a major problem, but it is a problem that does exist and anyone thinking of renting out their RV needs to be aware of the problem.
 
Stan Birch said:
That was Tom's question, and you haven't yet answered it. <$1alt="" title="" onresizestart="return false;" id="smiley__$2" style="padding: 0 3px 0 3px;" />
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I suspect that Tom's question, and certainly my reply, were meant to be rhetorical, but if you have the answer, please enlighten us.
 
I suspect that any RVs used as meth labs are not rentals but are old Junkers purchased for the purpose.
 
I answered the survey - nothing for you to worry about. But I do have to admit that it could have been constructed in a manner that would elicit far more valid results.

As others have mentioned, my thinking is that this concept is pretty much a non-starter. To me, a far more interesting concept would be selling shares in an RV (time-sharing really). It is often done with boats, and it would seem to me to a more viable enterprise. Just a thought.
 
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