Is it time for your business to invest in some new equipment? And if so, is it a smarter business decision and more cost-effective to hire or buy?
The right equipment can enhance your processes, productivity, capacity to innovate, and bottom line, but should you buy now or wait till a later date?
A few reasons you might need to purchase new equipment now are because you:
It can be easy to get caught up in the growth of your business without putting the necessary time into assessing whether you’re financially ready to buy some more equipment.
Try to look beyond your current situation to project your costs over the coming months or years (depending on whether you plan to hire or buy). You can reduce the financial impact on your business by:
Short-term purchases without long-term plans can be costly. Consider these questions when drawing up plans to invest in more equipment:
A crucial deciding factor as to whether the right time to purchase more equipment is now, is the length of an upcoming project (or the frequency of extra jobs coming up).
Additional short-term work suggests hiring would be a better option. Likewise, if you need a highly specialized (and expensive) piece of equipment, it might be preferable to hire it.
It makes more sense to buy for longer-term projects. Hire costs can add up quickly as a job gets delays and pushes past its expected finish date.
Knowing that the right equipment is available to your business whenever it needs it is a big advantage. If anything unexpected happens with a job, you’ll have the equipment you need to react and reschedule.
Potential clients will also notice that you own the equipment necessary to complete their requests, helping develop trust with your business.
When you decide whether to hire or buy, take into account the risk of your preferred hire company not having the equipment you want, when you need it.
You can go about getting the new equipment you need by hiring or buying. Each has advantages and disadvantages so it’s worthwhile assessing your business’s current financial situation, its current capabilities and its future plans (for growth).
If you choose to purchase new equipment, the advantages over hiring will include:
If you decide to hire the equipment, the pros include:
Will hiring make your life easier in the short run while you consider buying at a later date? Will buying now be more beneficial to your business over the longer-term?
Taking into account the points above, you’ll get a clearer idea about whether now is the right time for you to purchase more equipment, either with your own capital or through financing, or whether it’s a better option to hire for the time being.