Car Rental Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Car Rental Business Plan

If you want to start an car rental business or expand your current one, you need a business plan.

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 5,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their car rental businesses.

How to Write a Business Plan for a Rental Car Business

Below are links to each section of your car rental business plan template:

Car Rental Business Plan FAQs

You can download our car rental plan PDF template here. This is a business plan template you can use in PDF format.

A business plan provides a snapshot of your car rental company as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

This is also true for a turo business plan.  This type of plan should contain the same elements as a car rental plan, but should include details specific to a car sharing service like Turo.

If you’re looking to start your own car rental business, or grow an established car rental business, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your car rental business in order to improve your chances of success. Your car rental business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

The main sources of funding for a car rental business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable. But they will want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business.

This is true for a business plan for a renal car company and a car sharing business plan.

The second most common form of funding for a car rental business is angel investors. Angel investors are wealthy individuals who will write you a check. They will either take equity in return for their funding, or, like a bank, they will give you a loan. Venture capitalists will not fund a car rental business. They might consider funding a car rental company with a national presence, but never an individual location. This is because most venture capitalists are looking for millions of dollars in return when they make an investment, and an individual location could never achieve such results.

A great car rental business plan conveys confidence that your business will be successful. To do this, start with an executive summary that succinctly describes the type of car rental company you are building. For instance, will you offer a standard line of vehicles, or will you also offer luxury vehicles? And will you differentiate your offerings through enhanced customer service, unique pricing, etc.

In addition to describing your unique car rental concept, document in your plan why it will ultimately be successful. There are many reasons why your car rental company can be successful. Maybe you have a great location. Perhaps you and your team have many years of experience and expertise in the car rental industry. Or maybe you have a book of loyal clients or partners who will provide a steady flow of business. Whatever the reasons, be sure to document them in your plan as doing so will give readers the confidence that you’ll be successful.

Finally, be sure to include the key elements that all business plans must include. For example, describe your expected clientele in the customer analysis section. Include your financial projections. Write about your management team. Detail your marketing plan. And document who your competitors are and your expected areas of competitive advantage. Do this, and you’ll have a great car rental business plan.