How to Open a Tuxedo Renting Business

Sometimes, you may walk into a Men's Warehouse or bridal shop, take one look at the tuxedo section, and think, "that's a cool idea... how do I do that?" Ingenuity, determination, and elbow grease go a very long way toward getting you closer to your goal, and making a living renting out tuxes is no different- you just need to be creative, enthusiastic, and possibly to bold to fail...

Steps
1
Make a business plan. This can be a long, drawn out plan that fills up many sheets of printer paper (pages upon pages of standard sized font in your word processor for you computer-savvy folk) or just simply a mental picture in your mind. It doesn't matter in the very beginning whether you know exactly what to down to the day, or if the start of your business plan is the following statement: "I don't know how, but I'm going to rent tuxedos!"
2
Ask yourself if you really want to do this. This may seem silly, but it works. It is in this step that you fine-tune any kinks in your original plan if you wrote everything down, while it gives you a jumping point to make a formal plan if you couldn't quite narrow it down at step 1. The main purpose of this step is to make sure that you are committed to your business instead of reacting on a whim, saving you time, headaches, and money...
3
Answer me this: what funds can you access right now? How much money have you saved up? How much of that money can be used towards start-up costs, and how much do you need to save as a rainy day fund? Can you depend on your friends and family to give you a loan or grant, or is this funding tree so dried up that you're more likely to get a ride from a skeleton? What rebates and tax breaks are available in your area that can make the start-up costs of a tuxedo renting business not so- well, costly? The more money and funding sources you have access to, the better. However, don't shy away from business loans, because that is the next step anyway...
4
Step 4: get a license! This has nothing to do with operating a car or having a "license to kill" (for those that didn't catch it, it's a James Bond reference). Instead, each and every legal business needs to have a unique business ID number, which is usually connected to a business license. You may not need a license to sell crafts or clothes at the swap meet or at a school fundraiser, but if you want to sell to a market that goes beyond your local community- or if you have sold for long enough and people think you run a legitimate tax-paying business already- you need to have that business license! In this case we are trying to rent tuxes, so call it something unique and catchy like Timmy_Tux or Tux Deluxe. Use your imagination and the database for registered business names to come up with a business name to associate with the EIN* so that people don't mix your company up with another rental company down the street from your door...
5
This is the short and sweet step: raise money! Take out grants and loans from your friends in family by cashing in favors, helping them out with their stubborn poodle, or offering things like full or limited partnerships. Also, since you hopefully have an EIN at this point (or will once you go through the real step by step process) you can apply for a combination of personal loans and business loans. If there are things you never use, never will use, and just sit there collecting dust, sell them immediately to turn your assets liquid (basically, what you can use to buy things immediately)
6
Two things, one step: you need tuxedos to rent out and a place to do it at. Usually business law enforcers look down upon businesses that rent tuxedos from their parents' garage or the back of their '90 Ford Escort, and in certain cases there might actually be penalties for being so cheap. In addition, if you do try to rent out suits and tuxedos from your car or a garage, you are unlikely to get many customers no matter how good the tuxes are or how competitively priced your services can be.Bottom line: think about how the customer would perceive your service if you did not have a set location, or if that location is in someone's private residence. It doesn't bode well with potential customers no matter how much they need a tux...
7
Advertise! Invest in your future by purchasing ad space in the newspaper, on the web, or on transportation devices- taxis, buses, your friend's sweet car, and "pedi-cabs" work well for exposure. Let people know about your services using a neat combination of word-of-mouth advertising, email newsletters, and good old fashion snail mail/ weekly print ads in order to keep things interesting.
8
Rent out tuxedos! This part is pretty self-explanatory, and should be relatively easy to understand. Tuxedo rental companies need to rent out tuxedos, or else they would be called something like tuxedo showrooms...