What Would an Entrepreneur Do? Exotic Car Rentals with Peter J. Burns III
A serial entrepreneur like Peter J. Burns III starts a business to solve a problem — large or small, often involving a personal matter.
“I start businesses like most people put on shoes,” says Burns, who’s based in Southern California but has ventures in play all over the world. “One of my favorite reasons to start a business is to solve a problem, especially something that bothers me that I want to cure.”
In a recent case, the issue was renting exotic cars. That’s not something everybody wakes up with as the first thing on their mind. However, he’s been using car-sharing app Turo of late. It’s an expense, he wanted more of a selection, and in the back of his mind he wanted to get involved in the venture.
What would an entrepreneur do?
Peter J. Burns III held a meeting with the owner of the fleet of cars he’s been renting from — mostly convertibles. They discussed one of Burns’ most prominent businesses, Burns Funding, which helps individuals qualify for unsecured loans.
“Long story short, we’re going into business together,” Burns says. “I’m lending him money to buy 15 more cars. And he’s going to buy cars that I’m interested in driving. He’ll charge me a minimal rate to drive the cars, but now we’re partners and I’m making money on all the cars he rents.”
History Repeats Itself
Even as a pre-teen reselling balls he retrieved from water hazards back to golfers, Peter J. Burns III adopted this concept: “If you can conceive it, you can achieve it.”
Two directed-investment offerings he’s currently guaranteeing returns on are: Care Home Management (Boutique Group Homes for the elderly), and Burns Funding/HI-TEK (PPE manufactured in Vietnam for end users in the United States.)
Both opportunities represent connections to the current state of global affairs. Boutique Group Homes are luxury assisted-care facilities for the 10,000 Baby Boomers who turn 65 every day. And PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) is in ever-constant demand in our coronavirus-infused world.
Over the course of doing business for 40-plus years, Peter J. Burns III has started, funded or expanded more than 150 companies.
Back in the 1970s, he essentially pioneered the moped rental industry based on a business plan he wrote in college.
As his bankroll grew in the ’90s, Burns found himself giving in to urges to buy expensive cars…which he would soon get bored with. When he realized how cost-ineffective it was to keep trading in exotic cars he decided to buy six at one time and take turns driving them.
He purchased a Porsche 993 Carrera, a Mercedes Cabriolet, a pair of BMW Z3s and a 1957 and a 1997 Corvette. Then he realized he could make a profit by turning his cars into a rental fleet.
While renting out these vehicles, Peter J. Burns III bought fancy new personal wheels: a Ferrari Testarossa. That racy car was just for him. Then a customer pulled onto his rental lot and asked, “How much for the Testarossa?” Without hesitation, Burns replied, “Fifteen hundred a day.” The customer rented it at that rate for a week.”
You do the math.
Get Connected
“History repeats itself,” says Peter J. Burns III, referring to his return to the car rental arena. “And I think you could say that you can have your cake and eat it, too, if you’re clever about it.”
Interested in connecting with one of the country’s leading entrepreneurs? For more information about any of his investment opportunities, go to peterjburns3.com.
Peter J. Burns III
