By Brian McKay
A startup company, an established business, solopreneur, freelancer or just a dreamer putting pen to paper on draft one of a business plan; all of you should consider leasing as a viable option because, a lot of the time, buying an asset just isn’t necessary. Just think about the most basic thing that drives business. It’s money. And that means cost should be a major factor in your decisions to source assets. With that in mind, you can pay the premium and buy, go without or lease.
However, it isn’t just the upfront money-saving side of things that makes this an attractive option. There is, in fact, a plethora of reasons why leasing or renting is the better option.
1. Leasing Isn’t Way More Expensive
This is the most immediate red cross that lands on your radar because a lot of people see the length of contract and interest and buy out clauses and hidden costs as being far more of a financial drain than buying. However, this is a common misconception. Tax reasons, cash flow concerns, savings on maintenance and other reasons all come into play that can see buying outright hit your bank a lot harder. All that and you get more flexibility from leasing. Include the added extras and you will find you get more value for your money.
2. We Have To Talk Flexibility
The advances in tech - and just about everything else - are so quick these days that most investments become obsolete in a matter of months, if not weeks. That is where leasing has the upper-hand because the chance to upgrade is a familiar add-on in most agreements, and we’re not just talking about tech in terms of gadgets. We’re talking about renting trucks from places like Flex Fleet, cars from your local manufacturer’s dealership, mobile phones from your service provider, MacBook Pros from Apple, agricultural machinery and just about everything else you can think of. You have the chance to stay up to date for significantly less money. Your business gets to be state of the art without paying the premium to be so.
3. Ownership Has Responsibilities
Too many businesses think owning an asset is a better deal, they think it is a benefit, but that is very rarely the case. Your ownership means that you are totally responsible for that asset; maintenance, repairs, servicing, ethically disposing of them once you are done and doing so within the legal guidelines. Even the selling-on benefit is no longer what it used to be because tech loses its value fast as does anything that is manufactured on a large scale. Then there are questions of ease of sale, length of wait, being bartered down and what to do should it not sell. Compare that to a lease, where you get to hand your equipment back the moment your lease is over and you can see how the hassle-free benefit becomes so important. It simply reduces the risk without lessening the benefits.
This is only a quick overview and you can already see how leasing competes for the top spot.
