One of the first things that Ranch Hands are taught at Catalyst Ranch is that if you’re met with a question or request from a client that you don’t have an answer to you never say “no”, or “I don’t know”. We’re all taught to say, “I’m not sure, but I can find out,” and then find a solution. This is one way that we foster growth and promote agency that creates future leaders. Periods of stress become teachable moments even if in the end the efforts don’t go the way you planned.
We took this concept to heart as we strove to survive the pandemic. With our space unable to host meetings (our bread and butter), and a small team working remotely, we sought to keep the Ranch spirit alive. So, with some innovation, the openness to try new things and the guts to dive in head-long we decided to explore new concepts of what Catalyst Ranch could be. This is how Catalyst Ranch Event Rentals was born in the midst of a city-wide shutdown.
Starting a new business from the workable pieces of another was a daunting task but through collaboration we began to try and figure things out. We’re an event space but, while we couldn’t host any guests, we still had something to offer. Our renowned collection of vintage furniture and décor. With the idea sparked, the next step was to divide and conquer the different elements needed to get Event Rentals off the ground. Oh, and did I mention that this all took place while we were in the process of moving out of our beloved 3W space and into the still yet to be built out Samba? We like a challenge!
The most daunting task came first, which was creating a robust inventory of each piece of furniture, work of art, décor and rugs in our space. Believe me, it’s A LOT! This had been an ongoing process anyway but now Krissy and Kira, with a little help from the rest of us, were under the gun to get this completed ASAP. They worked tirelessly to document, photograph, measure, and price out each item, as well as come up with a system for tracking them.
Simultaneously, Kira pulled double duty! She worked up a competitive analysis of other vintage rental companies. She looked across the nation as well as locally to see what the landscape of the market was and whether there was a viable opportunity. What we found is that there was! In assessing the other rental companies, we realized that we had a unique point of difference in that we had truly one-of-a-kind and unusual items, including ethnic furniture pieces that no one else was renting. Our style would stand out in the crowd! We also used the information Kira gathered to establish a pricing structure and develop the terms.
I took on the logistics side. Being an event space, we were used to having vendors load into our space but we never had to worry about transporting anything offsite. Should we rent a truck and have our staff do drop-off and pick-up? How much man power would that take? Did it make sense for us? After some research we decided it was best to build a relationship with a company who was experienced in moving and could guarantee easy transportation of our delicate pieces without and worry. This is how we partnered with A Move to Remember and worked out bringing the Ranch experience to you!
Bryan, working remotely from LA, began conceptualizing the website and looking into the proper plugins to make our rental shop the best it could be. Once that was accomplished, the tedious task began of uploading each item onto the new mini website and getting them properly labeled and available to rent. This was a team effort between Bryan and Kira and after many painstaking weeks everything was up!
With everything ready to roll I put together some nice vignette shots of our furniture and we officially launched at our 18th anniversary party. Then, like that, Catalyst Ranch Event Rentals was born! Through the labors and efforts of our entire team we created something new that we’d never dreamed we could do.
This process of creation and collaboration in order to reach never before imagined ideas is exactly what we believe in here at Catalyst Ranch. We try things here and we hope that you can be inspired to do the same.
If you’d like some Catalyst Ranch style at your next event, check out our Event Rentals page!
