I’ve been researching video franchise opportunities for a new Web site I’m building and it’s made me think about the pros and cons of owning a video rental business.  In the 1980s video rental stores were popping up everywhere.  Then Blockbuster came along and killed a lot of small video rental businesses.  Blockbuster was king in every suburb and large city until Netflix came along and stole a portion of their market share.  Blockbuster retaliated and improved upon the Netflix model.  Now you have two giants competing for people’s DVD video rental business.  As an entrepreneur that may want to open a video or DVD rental business how do you compete?

It’s only my opinion, but I don’t believe that you can compete with a traditional video rental store in any community large enough for a Blockbuster.  You also have the online competition with Netflix, and now Blockbuster Online too.  Of course there will always be those that will resist ordering their DVDs from the Internet because they enjoy browsing for films or don’t like dealing with the Internet and all the shipping of movies.  If you live in a small town starting a video rental business might just work.  If you are in a higher population area you might consider a DVD kiosk. 

When you own, or host, a DVD kiosk you don’t have to worry about the expensive costs of a store or employees.  You can place the DVD kiosk in a location that is easy to find and convenient for your customers.  If you already have a store or busy location you might consider replacing a drink or candy machine with a DVD rental kiosk.  The video rental industry is very competitive, but if you allow yourself to think outside the box you can find ways to compete successfully in the video rental business.