ONLINE CAR RENTAL SYSTEM AT NYERI, COUNTY

(A CASE STUDY OF CAR HIRING)

STELLA WAMBUI MBOCU

DIT/145/23

A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO KIRIRI WOMEN’S UNIVERSITY OF

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR A DIPLOMA IN INFORMATION COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY.

MARCH 2024

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DECLARATION
I declare that this proposal is my original work and has not been previously published or submitted
elsewhere for marking. I also declare that this work contains no material written or published by
other people except where due reference is made and author duly acknowledge.

STELLA WAMBUI MBOCU

Reg. No. DIT/145/23

Signature ………………………………… Date…………………………………

Declaration by Supervisors
This project report has been submitted for examination with our approval as theuniversity
supervisors.

Supervisor

Signature …………………………………. Date……………………………………

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DEDICATION
I dedicate this research project to my family and friend for always believing in me and reminding
me to press on, this helped me to stay focused throughout my entire diploma education program.
Your love and motivation kept me strong when the going got tough.

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ACKNOWLEDMENT
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those who through discussion, ideas,
encouragement, and support helped me carry out this research and write this report. I am
heartily thankful to my supervisors, whose guidance and support enabled me to develop and
understand the subject of this project from the initial to the final stage. I would also like to
acknowledge all the principals who participated in provision of information without which this
project could not have been realized.
Above all, I thank God Almighty for being my steadfast source of strength and hope
throughout the study.

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ABSTRACT
The online car rental system is a website for enabling person be able to rent cars at any given time.
This project has been developed to carry out the processes easily, quickly and to meet the required
expectations of the customer. The project is set to replace the perception of relying on people to
bring customers to you thus it will be easier for them to reach out without having to pass through
a middleperson. I have used the prototyping model to develop the system. This will ensure
customer satisfaction as the requirements will be met which is the expected output of the system.

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 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
The earliest records of car hire can be traced as far back as 1904, when a bicycle shop in
Minneapolis started offering cars for rent. A few years later, the German company Sixt was
established in 1912. It first started off with three cars for rent and quickly expanded. In 1915, in
Omaha, Nebraska, Joe Saunders had a eureka moment and realized that nobody in Omaha offered
cars for renting. He employed only one salesperson, Frank Arndt, from Germany, and started
renting out Arndt’s Model T. This venture turned out to be so successful that by 1917, he was
renting out 120 of these. He named the company ‘Saunders Drive-It-Yourself System’ and put an
advertisement in the local paper. Joe Saunders’ three brothers and father started taking part in the
business and by 1927, the Saunders System had branches in over 85 cities. This took a great part
in influencing other people to venture in car rental business. As the automotive industry progressed
and expanded, so did car rental companies. In the UK, Arnold Clark Car & Van Rental was
established in 1963. It was one of the first British companies to offer car hire and now has a fleet
of over 6,000 vehicles. In the 21st century, rental companies have mushroomed all over the world
as demand is on the rise. As the world becomes more globalized, people travel at an unprecedented
rate and they hire cars, vans and other vehicles more often than ever.

1.2 Problem Statement

With the volume of cars increasing by the years, the car rental business has a lot of potential.
People travel at an unprecedented rate and they hire cars, vans and other vehicles more often than
ever. However, there has not been a system that allows any person to rent a car without having to
look for the dealers in person which is hard. Furthermore, owners of the cars for hire wholly rely
on specific people to bring customers to them more of “I KNOW A GUY WHO KNOWS A GUY”
which makes their businesses be limited. The system enables the people who are on the verge of
starting to venture on the car rental business a platform to which they will be able to get customers
quickly and more so have as many customers as possible so as for the business to be successful.
It’s not only for the ones beginning the business but also for the ones who have been in the game
for some while but feel that there is need for more customers.

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 1.3 Objectives of the study
1.3.1 General objectives
To create a platform where people can freely and easily link up with the various car rental business
people so as to reduce the struggle of reaching them when there is need for them to rent a car when
in need of travelling.
1.3.2 Specific objectives
• Faster Process – To make sure a user gets his desire car as early as possible; the car
rental system will provide a faster response to complete the process.
• Minimize paperwork – As all the system is computerized, there is no need to fill any
application form for renting purpose. So, the paperwork will be very less.
• Enable people get the desired car they need for their use.
• Ease the struggle to reach out to a car hire business person.
• Enable customers be able to reserve cars of their choice.
1.4 Research Questions
i. How will customers reach out to the car rental business person easily?
ii. For how long will it take for the car rental person reach out to the customer?
iii. Will the customer get his desired car?
iv. Will there be need for paperwork in renting the car?
v. Will the customers be able to reserve the cars of their choice for hire?
1.5 Significance of the study
The car rental system will be beneficial in the following ways:
▪ It will help the car rental business owner to advertise his/her business through showing
the cars available and their prices.
▪ It will ease the reaching out of the customer to the car rental person.
▪ It will help the car rental business owner to transition from paper recording methods to a
database and will help in storage of the data.
▪ It will help the customers in reserving their desired cars for hire.

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1.6 Limitations of the study
i. Data Collection Process
The data collection process may have been flawed because it is based on obsolete data and
a certain population which is a biased process. This study might not be good on areas where
the population is sparse, computer illiterate, an urban setting and a not so spending
population based on the data collection process.
ii. Sample Size
This study seeks to investigate and develop a plan for Nyeri County, Nyeri Town area
issues and the challenges that affect the car rental business around that area. This might not
be the case across the other parts of the country depending on the population present, level
of literacy and their occupation. This could give a false impression due to the issues
addressed.
1.7 Scope of the study
This study aims at the development of an online car rental system whose focus is on car
owners and the customers. It aims at advertising cars provided by a car rental business
person and the pricing of the various cars for hire as well as reserve them.

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