Rent Out Your Ride

01 Dec 2010

Rent Out Your Ride

Re: Shelby Clark (MBA 2010)

Topics: Business Ventures-Business Startups Business Ventures-Business Startups Technology-Web Sites

It’s estimated that a privately owned midsize car costs about $8,000 a year to own and operate. In cities, it also spends most of its time parked and unused. As an HBS student riding his bike through Boston, Shelby Clark (MBA ’10) recalled passing “dozens of cars that hadn’t been driven in weeks, and it dawned on me that there are these high fixed costs, so perhaps we could leverage this resource” (New York Times, September 10, 2010).

So Clark started RelayRides, a by-the-hour or by-the-day rental service with Web site sign-up and programmed cards that provide members with access to owners’ vehicles in home driveways or parking lots. Clark says that a key ingredient is personalizing the service: Renters are reminded that they are borrowing a car from someone like themselves and not from a corporate fleet. A users’ rating system encourages owners to keep cars clean and running well. To date, the service is available only in Boston and Cambridge. Said one owner, who makes about $200 a month from renting his vehicle after RelayRides takes its 15 percent cut: “I was a bit hesitant, but people take extremely good care of my car.”

Featured Alumni

Shelby Clark

MBA 2010

Featured Alumni

Shelby Clark

MBA 2010

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