The brief: a rental business ready to level up

Every great project starts with a client who knows exactly what they want — and Josh from TheFunClaw Rentals was exactly that. He came to us with a clear vision: take his existing claw machine rental business at thefunclaw.co, revamp it completely, and migrate it to a new, more professional domain — thefunclawrentals.com.

He also had a second idea brewing: a subscription-based plush blind box business. But we agreed to focus on the rental site first — his active business needed to be live and functional for his existing customer base as quickly as possible.

Understanding the vision

Josh's feedback on his existing site was simple but important: it felt a little too "kidish." He wanted something more polished, professional, and easy to navigate — while keeping the fun personality of the brand intact.

The new site needed to do several things well:

• Showcase all claw machines with dropdown packages and pricing per machine
• List packages and add-ons clearly with images
• Include a custom inquiry form (no direct checkout — inquiries only)
• Feature a Branding & Customization page with a gallery
• Keep FAQ, Policies, and Contact pages clean and accessible

Setting up the foundation

The domain was purchased on GoDaddy, but hosting hadn't been set up yet. We walked Josh through purchasing managed WordPress hosting directly through GoDaddy and connecting it to his new domain — a process that was new to him but handled smoothly with a little guidance.

Once WordPress was installed and logins were confirmed on both sites, we got to work immediately.

Building the site: design decisions that made the difference

Making it feel professional without losing personality

The original site had good bones but needed refinement. We rebuilt it using Elementor, focusing on cleaner typography, better spacing, and a more structured layout that guided users naturally through the rental experience.

The claw machine rentals page

This was the most important page on the site. We designed it with three clear sections: machine types at the top (each with a dropdown showing package options and pricing), a packages section in the middle, and an add-ons section at the bottom — all on a single, well-organized page.

Users could select their machine, choose a package, check off add-ons, and submit an inquiry — all in one flow. The inquiry form captured the selected configuration and sent it directly to Josh's business email.

Branding & customization gallery

For the customization page, we recommended (and Josh agreed) a gallery layout with three tiers — complete customization, partial customization, and semi-partial customization. This gave potential clients an immediate visual sense of what was possible.

The challenges we faced — and how we fixed them

Challenge 1: Login access complications

Midway through the project, WordPress login credentials stopped working — credentials that hadn't been changed. After investigation, we traced the issue back to a GoDaddy-side session and worked through it by having Josh retrieve updated access through his hosting dashboard. We had access restored and work resumed quickly.

Challenge 2: A malware attack

This was the most serious challenge. During the build, the site came under a malware attack. We identified it promptly, cleaned the infection, and secured the site before any lasting damage occurred. This was a reminder of why proper hosting configuration and security hardening matter — especially on a live business site.

Challenge 3: Slow page load and form submission issues

After the malware incident, Josh reported that the site was loading slowly and the inquiry form was freezing. We requested GoDaddy hosting access, ran diagnostics, and resolved both the performance issue and the form submission timeout. The site came back loading cleanly across all devices.

Final polish and going live

With the structural work complete, we moved into the detail phase. Josh sent over his logo files, product images for machines and add-ons, and photos for themed versus generic categories. We updated the add-ons section with clean, professional images and removed the blue trim issue that was showing on mobile.

We also fixed a small branding error on the inquiry confirmation page — it was displaying "HeFunClaw Rentals" instead of the correct "The Fun Claw Rentals." Small detail, big impact.

SMTP was configured so all form inquiries route reliably to Josh's business email at bookings@thefunclawrentals.com. A walkthrough video was recorded showing him how to manage inquiries from the backend.

The result

TheFunClaw Rentals launched as a clean, professional, and user-friendly rental platform. Josh's feedback when he saw the near-final version: "Wow, great work. I really like what you got going on."

The site now gives his existing customers a proper home base, and new customers a clear, trustworthy experience from first visit to inquiry submission.

You can visit the live site here: thefunclawrentals.com

What's next

Phase 2 is already planned — the subscription-based plush blind box platform, a separate business with its own identity and feel. We'll be building out tiered subscriptions, a monthly box experience, and a direct-purchase store that connects to the same inventory system.

Stay tuned.