That was the intent behind the Hire Things website that Peter Torr-Smith started in 2006 as a means to connect Kiwis who wanted to hire everything from a power drill to a ball gown.

 

And find things they did  - more than 6,000 of them.

 

Three years on and the site’s content and credibility has attracted strong supplier support from established hire companies, growing into a safe and successful site with over 70,000 visitors per month.

 

Hire Things CEO Iona Elwood-Smith says the company is now focused on providing a core service of peer-to-peer online hiring.     

 

 “The world is changing and the twin forces of the current economy and environmental concerns have led consumers to question their spending and look for smart alternatives. Not having to own and maintain items, as well as making money from things they rarely use and helping the environment, is a strong proposition for today’s consumers.”

 

Providing a service where people can hire items from each other on a local basis creates virtually unlimited opportunities for repeat activity where individuals make money and/or save money by hiring what they need instead of buying and storing.”

 

According to Hire Things founder Peter Torr-Smith, the company has set its aspirational sights on becoming the TradeMe of the consumer hiring world.

 

“Success in the peer-to-peer market will mean that Hire Things has truly sustainable high-growth business potential. People can use Hire Things as a distribution channel for them to make money within their local community.”

 

He joined Grow Wellington’s premier business incubator, Creative HQ, in July 2006 primarily to focus his business idea. Being surrounded by other keen entrepreneurs helped him to keep the faith and overcome a number of major hurdles.

“Creative HQ allowed us to be among other start-up and maturing businesses and broke us in gently to all those details of business that you often miss in the initial excitement.”

 

Iona says the company’s ‘hire it, not buy it’ philosophy has been endorsed by a recent British government report on climate change that questioned consumers’ excessive spending and called for a fifth of all household spending to be converted to hiring and renting, rather than buying goods.

 

“The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) suggested that hiring instead of buying could cut carbon emissions by about 2% a year, through a fall in manufacturing and lower consumption of raw materials. Hire Things is well positioned to contribute to this saving, because not everyone needs to own a lawn mower, trailer or a tent. By sharing resources, you get much higher value from the things you own and purchases can be of better quality, giving a lifetime’s use before becoming landfill.”

 

Hire Things is also extending its sustainable ethos to the local community by donating 1.5% of hire fees to community groups, including schools, clubs and charities.

 

“Customers can decide where the donation should go. By hiring items, not only are customers saving money and doing something positive for the environment, they’re also helping the community.”