To build or to buy? That is the question.

This all started last year when my father and I bought a trailer together from a friend of ours who had previously used it as a fireworks stand. Actually, this started before that, in 2021. My dad retired from teaching and decided to buy a farm and become a farmer. It had always been a dream to own land and farm it. When the trailer came up for sale, we thought that it would make a great roadside stand, so we bought it. It all seemed like such a good idea, and it may still prove to be, but it turns out there is a lot more to farming than one might think, and not as many people stop at roadside stands as we anticipated. So, what do you do with an old trailer that was set up to be a fireworks stand?

My initial thought was that I would just go ahead and use it to sell fireworks for a few seasons and make my money back. We weren’t really in it for very much. I ran the idea past my friend, and since he is still selling fireworks, he really wasn’t thrilled to hear that I would be competition. Also, there is the matter of obtaining a license to sell fireworks and the large initial investment in inventory. And then, like a mortar shell exploding in the hot July night sky, it hit me: I would rent the fireworks stand to someone who needs one for the upcoming season. If we can find renters, it won’t take long to make our money back, and it SHOULD be a lot less hassle than buying, storing, and attempting to sell large amounts of fireworks.

One thing that I knew I would need is some type of reservation system where people could check availability, reserve the trailer for certain days, agree to terms, and pay for their reservation. As I began to go through developing a scope for what that application would look like, I started to wonder if it would be better to build an entire application to manage reservations for one trailer, or if there was a service that was already out there that would be good enough. I may ultimately decide to build something tailored to our specific needs, but for now, I’ve decided to use a service called Booqable. It’s actually quite good for what we need, although it’s not perfect. The main thing that it allows me to do is start renting the trailer right away instead of waiting until I fully concept and build out an application.

I’ve faced the same challenge and had the same conversations with large companies who needed things like employee engagement platforms or content management systems. Should we buy one or build one? Every situation is different, and there are a lot of factors that go into making that decision – timing, your specific business needs, bandwidth, budget, etc… We can help you make the right decision for you and your business. Check out my consulting calendar and block off an hour. I’m happy to come and help you work through your options.

If you want to rent our fireworks trailer, follow the link below to our farm website and reserve it.
click here to reserve the fireworks trailer