We had totally taken for granted a key benefit of our business.

When I rented the carpet cleaner and the giant Jenga set (see last week’s post here), I didn’t think overtly about the fact that the WhyBuy products have to be in excellent condition and perfectly clean, always.

So, as soon as my rentals were returned to our Wandsworth warehouse, every block of the Jenga, every handle was wiped down and the innards of the Rug Doctor were pressure washed, ready for the next rental.

Consistency of the high quality is key. And that’s something that we need to highlight more it turns out.

Despite now exceeding our crowdfunding target last week, my second week in the business, I learned that some investors have jumped to a common conclusion about the biggest problem that WhyBuy faces: yet since we’re not a peer-to-peer business, it’s not our problem after all.

Crowdfunding investment: WhyBuy met its target on Seedrs last week.

Yes, it turns out that our problem is that we don’t highlight up front that we’re not peer-to-peer.

What’s wrong with peer-to-peer rental? Perception is that they don’t have consistency. And that was a major issue for many an investor. So we’d better fix that in our future communications.

So what else should we be communicating to all our WhyBuy audiences, whether investors or customers… or both!? I’ll answer that.

Last week, we took time, together, to work through the key messaging at WhyBuy. Not sure if you’re interested at this stage. But I’m happy to share!

Clean and Green. As part of the circular economy, we need to all recognise that owning too much just is not sustainable. Did you know that in July this year, we passed Earth Overshoot Day – the date on which we’ve burnt through the amount of resources our planet can renew in a year.

Quality. As mentioned above, WhyBuy takes pride in it’s approach to product quality. We only rent out top quality products, in good condition, consistently. The virtue of not being a peer-to-peer model.

Value. The point of rental is that you don’t have the cost of purchase and of storage. And your product doesn’t grow old and obsolete in your cupboard.

Space. We help customers to declutter their home and help declutter the world too. Reclaim your space isn’t our strapline. Not yet. Maybe we should use that one day. You heard it here first!

Convenience. This is a point that people seem to know about if they know WhyBuy. We deliver at times that suit the customer.

Explore. We can now use products we’ve not thought of using before. Like me and giant Jenga. Or products that have been on the to do list. Like me and the Rug Doctor. Or like the outdoor party set that was out this weekend at a home in London. Patio heater, fire pit, beanbags, wine warmer for the mulled wine and a couple of other things. Nice, I don’t think I’d have thought of renting something like that before I knew of WhyBuy. Would you?

So these messages are the key messages that we’ll put across to investors. And customers too. Love to hear your feedback.

Anyway, here comes Week Three. Time to research, define and refine our audiences, don’t you think?