The rent-to-own industry is changing faster than ever — and the operators who don't see it coming are the ones who will be left behind. In this episode, Pete Shau sits down with Joseph Kopser, keynote speaker at APRO's RTO World 2023 in San Antonio and author of Catalyst: Leadership and Strategy in a Changing World, for one of the most forward-thinking conversations ever featured on The RTO Show Podcast.
Kopser brings a rare perspective to the rent-to-own industry discussion — 20 years as an Army Ranger, a career in transportation technology that led to a rideshare platform acquisition by Mercedes-Benz, a run for U.S. Congress, and years of building and advising companies through his firm, Greyline Group. When he speaks about adapting to rapid change, navigating disruption, and building agile organizations, it's not theory — it's lived experience across some of the most demanding environments in the world.
Together, Pete and Joseph dig into what it really means for rent-to-own businesses to be both adaptable and agile in today's market — two concepts that sound similar but demand very different skills from RTO store managers, district managers, and company leadership. They explore why challenging your assumptions about your customer base, your business model, and your competition is the most important strategic exercise any RTO operator can do heading into the next 12 to 18 months.
The conversation gets into the future of brick-and-mortar rent-to-own retail, the growing role of online RTO platforms, the shift in walk-in customer traffic, and why emerging RTO technology — including automated collections platforms like Payd — may fundamentally change how rent-to-own businesses manage customer relationships and grow their portfolios. Pete also draws parallels between the evolution of RTO payment technology and the broader lessons of companies like Kodak and Blockbuster, which failed not because the technology beat them, but because their leadership refused to adapt.
From cross-training RTO store teams and empowering frontline employees to think beyond their job title, to identifying untapped customer segments like college dorms and military barracks, this episode challenges every rent-to-own operator to stop assuming the future will look like the past — and start building for the customer base that's already forming beneath their feet.
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