Businesses that thrive in times when people want to watch their pennies are clearly evident during a recession. People flock to rental sites such as Girl Meets Dress, handbagsfromheaven and LOVEFiLM as they look for ways to continue living life in a way they enjoy, but with a more affordable pricetag.  With Zilok, rather than buying a power drill to put up your shelf, or a fondue set for your ski-inspired birthday party, individuals and professionals can rent them.  Here, Co-founder and CMO of Zilok, Marion Carrette, talks to guest writer - Pamela Poole, founder of Francophilia - about her love affair with the web, the strike of good luck she had in finding her business partner and how she wishes she had founded Leboncoin.fr - the French Craigslist.

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Tell us about yourself - your background and education

I went to ESSEC (business school) and graduated in 1996. Since leaving, I’ve always worked on the Web.  I initially spent three years at a web agency before creating my own web content agency – ECRITO - which I sold to a PR firm so I could launch ZILOK.

What is Zilok? When did you launch and what is your mission?

Zilok is the number one site where people can rent and offer for rent all kinds of objects. It’s a kind of eBay, but instead of buying things, people can rent items from each other or from a company.

The site was launched in late 2007 with the goal to promote renting as a new way of consuming and one that is more sustainable.

How did you choose your partners? Looking back, would you have done it differently?

It was purely by chance. We actually had our own separate projects going on at the same time, and met when an investor let something slip. We hit it off right away, we’re very complementary, and our projects were also at about the same stage, so we decided to join forces rather than fighting for the same market. And it was the right move. I would do it exactly the same way if I had to do it over again.

What were your start-up costs, and how did you fund them? How would you rate crowd funding in France? Did it work for you?

At first, most of the site was built by a colleague of mine, and we didn’t have offices… As a result our launch costs were very low. It soon became clear, however, that we needed to promote the site, hire a good technical team… We raised two rounds of funding from Marc Simoncini, the founder of Meetic.

Who are your competitors?

We don’t really have any competition for this particular market. I’d say the closest thing to competition is people lending things to each other…

What is your business model and what are your objectives for the next three years?

There are two parts to Zilok.

Rentals between individuals, which is a new online activity, and one that will take some time for people to get used to: you don’t automatically think “Hey, I can earn money renting out my car!” But in the context of the economic crisis, giving people a chance to earn money with things they have at home has proved very popular!

The other element of Zilok are the professionals. The idea is to provide them with a portal for rentals, which will allow them to grow their sales and client base.

With individuals, we operate on a commission basis. For the pros, we offer subscriptions and premium services that enable them to promote their products.

How has the recession affected your business?

We have the good fortune to be one of those businesses that benefit from the crisis, so it’s actually been a good thing for us!

Name your most successful marketing campaign/tactic.

That’s a tough one. I’d say it’s more a combination of online marketing techniques that paid off. But in terms of press, we got some great coverage during the strikes when we suggested that people make some extra money by renting out their bicycles!

Did you have an input on the design of the website or was it produced out of house?

Of course! We outsourced the creative work, but we controlled the whole process. A freelancer working exclusively for Zilok has done the work from the start.

What was your earliest experience of enterprise? Have you always had entrepreneurial spirit?

Yes, I’ve always wanted to create my own business. This is my second attempt. The first was an agency for creating web content. It had a very different business model from that of Zilok: much more reliable in terms of income from the beginning, but without the scalability or leveraging affect of Zilok.

How does it feel to run a start-up of 8+ employees, with a small child and a second one on the way?

It’s very exciting.

And then there’s our new project Zijob, which we’re launching in late February!

What single piece of advice would you give to a woman thinking about starting an online business?

Go for it! With the web you can start up with the least cost, constantly adjust your business model, bounce back, evaluate, measure… It’s an amazing laboratory.

On a lighter note, name one website you wish you'd founded

Leboncoin.fr, the French Craigslist...

Any Female Internet Heroes?

The is not a specific women Internet entrepreneur that comes to mind now, although I must admit there are more and more female entrepreneurs starting businesses these days, which is great!