Rental Supply can accurately be described as a fast-growing company. Founded in 2013 in O’Fallon, Mo., the company branched out to a second location in Republic, Mo., only five months after opening for business. In less than 10 years of operation, the company has expanded to two additional locations serving the Missouri communities of West Plains and Hollister, and two more are on the way by the end of 2022.
John Schupp, vice president of operations for Rental Supply, who also serves on the ARA of Missouri board of directors as treasurer, indicates that there is no secret sauce or complex strategy behind Rental
Supply’s growth trajectory. It’s just a reflection of a core philosophy that is as straightforward as the company’s name.
“We base everything off of service,” Schupp says. “Customers can go out and call five rental places in the local market, and we all have the same equipment. All rental companies supply JLG, Skytrak telehandlers or Genie, so the way to set yourself apart is service. At Rental Supply, we have a great team that strives to fill equipment needs, delivers on time and makes sure the equipment is in top working order.”
Rental Supply was launched by owner Bert Heath with the assistance of Schupp and branch manager John Rich — a trio who together brought years of combined rental experience to the enterprise.
“Bert had been in a rental business that he ended up selling. After a couple of years, he wanted to get back into equipment rental. John and I were the first ones to come on board to help him start the new company. We had worked for the No. 2 rental company in the nation — RSC Equipment Rental — and when they got acquired by United Rentals, we left. That’s when we connected with Bert and started to put together Rental Supply,” Schupp says.
The lion’s share of Rental Supply’s inventory concentration is in large construction equipment, but the company also accommodates the needs of DIY customers by carrying smaller general tools and lawn equipment.
“About 95 percent of our equipment is in commercial construction and 5 percent is homeowner/small equipment,” Schupp says. “We basically have everything from A to Z: carpet fans and dehumidifiers on up to 135-ft. booms. On the equipment side we provide boom lifts — anywhere from 40 ft. to 135 ft., telehandlers from 5K up to 12K and scissor lifts from 19 ft. up to 40 ft. We supply dirt equipment like skid steers and excavators and then, for the homeowner side, it’s lawn and garden and homeowner tools.”
Rental Supply’s services — delivered by a staff numbering approximately 50 employees across its locations — also includes customer training and repair work. “We provide aerial and forklift certifications to our customers, and we have full-service shops where we work on customer-owned equipment for repair and maintenance,” Schupp says.
Schupp says that each of the entries Rental Supply has made in new markets have been made by identifying untapped markets where “we put in locations where we thought it was necessary. Every location has been a fresh startup; we have not acquired any other rental companies.”
At the same time, he concedes that one of the greatest challenges Rental Supply has had to contend with has been the battle to build brand recognition in those new markets. “When you move into a new market, you’ve got to base name recognition. That’s basically getting your name out, getting people familiar with what you do and the marketing behind that. Those are always the biggest challenges, especially when you come to a brand-new area that maybe has not even heard of you yet,” Schupp says.
Schupp says that one of the ways Rental Supply has distinguished itself in new regions is by bringing in the best talent it can find.
“We put together the best staff that we can for each location to help promote the company — maybe from our industry, but sometimes it comes from outside the industry,” he says, adding that sourcing good people has — like for many in the industry — become problematic. “In these times, staffing is probably the biggest obstacle: finding good, quality employees and people who want to work. That’s what we’re going through right now in this growth spurt. What has worked best for us is networking. A lot of our employees have come to us by word of mouth. We have employees that know people who might be interested, and we rely on them to make suggestions and bring them in.”
Another way that Rental Supply develops familiarity with customers in the markets it serves is by getting involved with local construction trade groups.
“We make sure that in each area we are in, we join the local construction associations,” Schupp says. “The Springfield Contractors Association and the Tri State Area Contractors Association are some examples. We always want to be a part of those organizations because that’s all part of the networking. Your customers are there, and that kind of establishes us to say that we’re here and we support those associations.”
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| John Schupp (right), Rental Supply vice president of operations, with members of the ARA of Missouri board of directors in 2019. |
Rental Supply’s practices of joining local construction/contractor groups and encouraging employees to press their networks for good recruitment prospects will be called upon again in 2022 as the company creates footprints in even more Missouri markets.
“We are now opening up in a new city — Joplin — and then, coming in July, will be in Ashland in mid-Missouri,” Schupp says of the next phase of Rental Supply’s evolution.