In any business, having your own operating equipment is very important for complete and efficient work. A company that owns equipment will never worry about rising cost of hire, rented out equipment or deadlines. However, when a small business is trying to juggle between paying employees, looking for new projects and finding money to complete projects, buying equipment can feel like a heavy burden. Luckily, the equipment rental movement is fast gaining momentum and companies don't have to buy their own equipment until they are financially stable. Here are four reasons why equipment hires makes more financial sense than buying;

Downtime

For companies that are project-based, there are many times when there is no work at all. During such periods, the equipment would be collecting dust and depreciating because they are not being used. While rental fees can be accounted for as a business expense, the cost of depreciation and repairs is hard to estimate.

Storage and Maintenance

Companies that own their own equipment have to construct storage facilities to store them and also schedule regular maintenance to keep everything working in order. On the other hand, if you hire stuff, you don't have to service them or build storage because you will only have them temporarily.

Wide Range of Equipment

Though some companies tend to specialize, many firms want to be flexible and take up whatever project is thrown at them as long as they can handle it. This means you will be using a wide range of equipment on each project and it doesn't make sense to buy every machine and tool under the sun. Equipment hire allows you to hire any gear you want at any time, so you don't have to turn down a project.

Short Projects

If you deal with short-term projects that you can begin and finish in a few months, equipment hire makes much more sense than buying. For example, an excavator will cost you between 100 and 500 thousand dollars to buy while renting for a month will cost $3500. It makes even more sense if the equipment you need will be for a one-time project, not something you use on every project.

Hiring equipment may not make sense in the long run especially if you will be doing many similar jobs. However, if you don't have the money to commit to something costly at the moment or don't require equipment for long-term use, hiring one is a really viable and cost-friendly option.