RentReady
As described:StopNarrowed:NarrowNo as described. Conditional Go only with a DME insider; otherwise No.
medical equipment rental · ~$150 a month per supplier · last reviewed (next review by 29 Dec 2026) · 31 cited sources
Start this week
- Answer one question honestly: do you, or someone you can pay, know DME warehouse and accreditation work from the inside? If not, stop here and pick another catalog idea.
- If yes: list 30 small DME suppliers in one or two states (from the Medicare supplier directory and the state HME association member list), and book 10 calls.
- Download the CMS DMEPOS quality standards and one accreditor's equipment standards, and build a one-page "equipment survey checklist" to use as the call opener.
Checkpoints and kill gates
Decide in advance what counts as on track. Missing a checkpoint means changing the buyer or the offer, not adding features.
Day 30
~15 hrs/week
5 suppliers paying ≥$99 for the hands-on setup
Full-time
5 suppliers paying ≥$99 for the hands-on setup
If you miss it
3–4 paying: one more fortnight through consultant referrals. Under 3: stop. Four of five sub-verticals are already closed, and this is the last one. Move to another catalog idea.
Day 90
~15 hrs/week
8 paying, ≥75% of deliveries and pickups logged by drivers in the app
Full-time
8 paying, ≥75% of deliveries and pickups logged by drivers in the app
If you miss it
Cut to the warehouse log and survey export only. Drop the driver app until the warehouse habit sticks.
Month 6
~15 hrs/week
$1.5k MRR (~10 suppliers), ≥90% still paying after 3 months, 1+ referring consultant
Full-time
$1.5k MRR (~10 suppliers), ≥90% still paying after 3 months, 1+ referring consultant
If you miss it
One pivot allowed: sell the survey pack to accreditation consultants as a white-label tool.
Month 12
~15 hrs/week
$3.5k MRR (~24 suppliers), churn ≤2%/mo
Full-time
$3.5k MRR (~24 suppliers), churn ≤2%/mo
If you miss it
Stop adding features. Fix onboarding and the consultant channel only.
Month 18
~15 hrs/week
$6k MRR (~40 suppliers)
Full-time
$6k MRR (~40 suppliers)
If you miss it
Put all effort into the single best channel.
Month 24
~15 hrs/week
$10k MRR full-time (~67 suppliers) or $4k at ~15 hrs/week
Full-time
$10k MRR full-time (~67 suppliers) or $4k at ~15 hrs/week
If you miss it
At or above: keep running it as a profitable small business. Below $2k: stop, or sell the customer list and code.
Do
1.Sell to one buyer: US DME/HME suppliers with 1–5 locations that rent serialised equipment (beds, wheelchairs, concentrators, CPAP, patient lifts), and that are accredited or seeking accreditation
Target: 30 named suppliers on a call list by day 14
Why: Pharmacies (42,761 of 69,602 DMEPOS providers) sell supplies and don't rent fleets. They aren't your buyer.
2.Sell the survey, not the software. The promise: "Pass the equipment section of your next survey with one export."
Target: Every demo opens with the supplier's next survey date
Why: Cleaning and storage (ACHC standard DRX7-12D) was the most-cited DMEPOS deficiency in ACHC's 2021–22 report. A failed survey threatens Medicare billing privileges.
3.Sit beside billing. Never replace it. Import patient and order references from a CSV or the billing system's export, and write nothing back in v1
Target: Zero billing features in year 1
Why: Brightree, Bonafide and NikoHealth own claims. Fighting them for billing is a multi-year, multi-million-dollar build.
4.Build the equipment state machine first: received → clean → out on rental → returned dirty → cleaned (who, when, method) → PM due → repair → quarantine → retired
Target: Every unit's full history on one screen
Why: This is the thing surveyors ask to see, and paper logs lose it.
5.Do the first 5 setups by hand (concierge): photograph the warehouse, build their serial register, write their cleaning and PM schedules
Target: 5 paying ≥$99 by day 30
Why: It proves the pain before you write code, and it teaches you the real warehouse.
6.Make the driver app dead simple: scan, photo, patient signature, "clean/dirty" tap, offline mode
Target: A delivery logged in under 60 seconds
Why: Drivers are the data source. If they skip it, the log is empty.
7.Add recall matching early: check serial and model numbers against manufacturer and FDA recall notices, and list which patients have affected units
Target: One recall found for a pilot customer by month 6
Why: Finding a recalled unit in a patient's home is the story owners retell.
8.Get customers through associations and consultants: state HME associations, AAHomecare, VGM, and accreditation consultants who prepare suppliers for surveys
Target: 3 consultants referring by month 6
Why: One consultant preps dozens of suppliers a year and is trusted at exactly the right moment.
9.Charge from day one, with annual plans pushed. $99 / $199 / $399, no free plan
Target: ≥50% of new customers on annual plans
Why: Annual plans lock in suppliers through the next survey cycle and the bidding round.
10.Get HIPAA basics right before the first real patient record: BAA-capable hosting, BAAs signed, access logs, encryption, a written risk assessment
Target: Done before pilot 1 goes live
Why: A breach here ends the company and can harm patients.
11.Publish free survey-prep content: "DMEPOS equipment cleaning log template", "what surveyors check in the warehouse"
Target: 10 pages live by month 4
Why: These are the searches a compliance lead makes in the weeks before a survey.
Avoid
1.Party, bike, camera or construction-tool rental
Why: Incumbents are rated 4.3–4.9 and start at $19–59 a month. There's no gap to sell into.
2.Billing, claims, HCPCS coding, prior authorization or eligibility checks
Why: That's the core of Brightree, Bonafide and NikoHealth, and it needs clearinghouse links and payer rules.
3.Calling the product "compliance" or promising a survey pass
Why: You provide records and checklists. The supplier is responsible for its accreditation. Say so on every page.
4.Capped-rental billing logic (the Medicare 13-month cap) as a billing engine
Why: NikoHealth already flags caps at months 10 and 13. Show a rental-month counter for information only.
5.CPAP usage compliance (the nightly-use data)
Why: It lives in manufacturer platforms. ResMed owns Brightree. You'd be building on a competitor's data.
6.Starting without a DME insider
Why: You'd build what seems logical, not what a warehouse tech does with a dirty bed on a Friday afternoon.
7.Storing more patient data than you need
Why: Keep a patient reference, a delivery address and a signature. No diagnoses, no insurance details. Less PHI means less risk.
8.Cash-pay mobility rental for tourists (cruise ports, theme parks)
Why: Scootaround and Special Needs Group already run it at national scale, and the local market is small.
9.A generic "rental platform" with sub-vertical templates
Why: It's Booqable's and EZRentOut's game, and they are years ahead.
10.Selling to large suppliers or chains
Why: They've already paid for a suite's asset module, and they buy through long procurement cycles.
11.Raising money
Why: This wedge doesn't need it, and the ceiling doesn't justify it.
12.Adding features when a checkpoint fails
Why: A miss means wrong buyer or no pain. Change the buyer, or stop.