One of my favorite things about software development is taking a complicated process and making it feel simple for the people using it.
I recently had the opportunity to do exactly that for MinneTOTEa, a Minnesota business that rents reusable moving totes as an alternative to cardboard boxes.
What started as a website project turned into a custom rental booking system, complete with dynamic pricing, rental scheduling, and a dashboard for managing orders.
Here’s a little about how I approached the project and what went into building it.
Finding the right platform
When Jen, the owner of MinneTOTEa, first approached me, she had a pretty clear idea of what she wanted her business to offer. Customers needed to reserve totes for specific dates, choose between delivery and pickup, and potentially purchase gift cards or use discount codes.
But there were also a lot of details to figure out.
We initially explored SuperSaaS as a booking solution, but quickly ran into limitations. For example, Jen wanted her customer emails to come directly from MinneTOTEa rather than a third-party booking platform.
I researched several rental and booking plugins, but many required paid subscriptions, and even then, they didn’t necessarily support everything we needed.
I kept coming back to WooCommerce.
WooCommerce is free, has a solid foundation for handling products, orders, and payments, and offers plenty of flexibility for customization.
It also meant Jen could manage much of her business from one WordPress dashboard rather than jumping between multiple systems.
We could use existing plugins for things like gift cards and build the more specialized rental functionality ourselves.
Customizing the rental experience
One of the first challenges was figuring out how to handle delivery pricing.
MinneTOTEa offers different prices depending on whether customers pick up their totes or have them delivered. Delivery pricing also varies by location.
Jen knew how she wanted her pricing to work, but we needed a practical way to implement it.
I suggested using ZIP codes to define delivery zones and built an interactive ZIP-code checker so customers could see whether they were within the service area.
From there, I customized the WooCommerce product pages to calculate pricing based on the customer’s selections.
Customers can choose their tote package, select rental dates, and see their pricing before they reach checkout.
This was one of my favorite parts of the project. I wanted customers to have the information they needed to make a purchasing decision without encountering unexpected costs later.
Building a custom WordPress plugin
This is where the project got especially fun for me.
Rather than relying on several different plugins to handle rental-specific features, I developed a custom PHP plugin that works alongside WooCommerce.
I approached the development incrementally, adding a small piece of functionality, testing it, and then moving on to the next.
Change, test, change, test.
One of the more complicated pieces was figuring out how customers could make changes to an existing rental.
What happens if someone needs their totes for another week? Or realizes they need more totes than they originally reserved?
I wanted customers to be able to request those changes without having to create an account or log in. Requiring an account just to make an additional payment felt like an unnecessary barrier.
The solution involved a request process that could prefill existing rental information, allow Jen to review and approve changes, and handle any additional payment needed.
There were quite a few moving pieces behind the scenes, but the goal was to keep the experience straightforward for everyone involved.
Making the website manageable for the business owner
Another priority was making sure the website would be practical for Jen to use once she started managing multiple rentals at once.
I built a rental management dashboard with a calendar view so she could see upcoming rentals and keep track of orders.
I also added a settings page to the custom plugin.
Instead of hardcoding every business rule, certain values, such as the required lead time before a rental, can be adjusted through WordPress.
This makes the system more flexible as the business grows and its needs change.
I wanted Jen to have control over her website without needing a developer for every small adjustment.
Building collaboratively
Something I’ve learned about the way I like to work is that I prefer building something functional early in the process.
For projects like this, I find that getting a real website in front of a client can be more useful than spending too much time on static mockups.
Sometimes people don’t know exactly what they want until they can see it and interact with it.
Throughout the MinneTOTEa project, Jen and I could review what was working, discuss new ideas, and adjust our approach as needed.
I really enjoyed having the flexibility to explore different solutions and make changes without unnecessary layers of approval.
Not every idea needed to become a feature, either. We discussed a potential realtor login portal, but since the requirements weren’t fully defined, we decided to leave that for a future phase rather than build something based on assumptions.
What I enjoyed most
It’s been really rewarding watching Jen’s enthusiasm for her business turn into a functioning website.
I love getting excited about a client’s business and working with them to figure out what will actually work best for their needs.
And I think this project reminded me of one of the things I enjoy most about development.
I love making complicated things simple.
There’s a lot happening behind the scenes of the MinneTOTEa website, from rental scheduling and delivery pricing to order management and approvals.
But ideally, Jen and her customers don’t have to think about most of it.
All those steps can happen in the background, leaving them with fewer distractions and more clarity.
That’s the kind of development work I hope to do more of through Kovalent Studios.
Have a business process that doesn’t quite fit into an existing website solution? I’d love to hear about it.
You can reach me at kayla@kovalentstudios.com.