What is the best option to finance equipment? Please share your story of how you have financed equipment in your business.
To help your business with equipment financing, we asked business leaders and small business owners this question for their best tips. From equipment financing specialists to North Star Leasing, there are several tips that may help your company with financing equipment.
Here are seven options to finance equipment:
- Equipment Leasing Companies
- Unsecured Loans or Lines of Credit
- Equipment Financing Specialists
- Currency
- North Star Leasing
- Gordon Flesch Company
- National Business Capital
Equipment Financing Companies
My company manages campgrounds in various US states. We have been able to finance cabins that our customers can rent out, we have financed a boat dock and a pontoon boat. We have financed the maintenance equipment that it takes to keep a campground operational. We originally talked to our local bank about providing the financing. They couldn’t wrap their heads around it. We met with an equipment leasing company and they were able to find 3 lenders willing to lease us the equipment.
Carey Wilbur, Charter Capital
Unsecured Loans or Lines of Credit
Rather than lease equipment, small businesses should consider unsecured loans or lines of credit to fund their personal or business equipment needs. Leasing equipment can be expensive for a small business in the long run. Rather than lease, an alternative can be to obtain a business loan to purchase equipment and operate your business with peace of mind.
Grant Ferguson, Unsecured Funding Source
Equipment Financing Specialists
One thing that emerged from many small businesses we work with was the big banks weren’t there to support small businesses when they needed initial PPP support. Since then, I’ve spoken with a lot of small businesses who are leaving their big bank relationships and turning to equipment financing specialists or community lenders to assist with financing needs. There are plenty of alternatives out there for small businesses. Oftentimes, it’s just picking up the phone to learn more from a company that may do things differently.
Brett Farmiloe, Markitors
Currency
If you want to get one of the best equipment financing rates, I’d suggest getting in touch with Currency. They are an online lender who specializes in providing equipment finance with minimal credit requirements. You can borrow up to $2 million for a short term and $10 million for a long term loan. The best part is that you don’t need to have a credit score for a long-term loan and only a score of 475 for a short-term loan. At currency, the interest rates are extremely low as well as compared to other lenders.
Janet Patterson, Highway Title Loans
North Star Leasing
I own about 10 different businesses, from healthcare service providers to floor care services to a working farm. I sit on the advisory board of my local bank, but the loan process is a whole lot longer and it can be pretty rigid, so I use an equipment leasing company called North Star Leasing about 85 percent of the time. I’ve used them for everything from a sawmill to a 20-foot lighted dinosaur statue. Leasing companies have the ability to understand my revenue streams and they provide creative, flexible payment options. The dinosaur, for instance, is a summer business and they allowed me to make my payments in the fall. Same thing with some haying equipment I leased – the payments began after we brought the hay in and sold it.”
Fred Surgeon, Surgeon and Associates
Gordon Flesch Company
I’d consider Gordon Flesch Company since it was established more than 50 years ago, which is a sign of trustworthiness in my opinion. They mainly put an emphasis on information technology which is something we need, and their customer number is awe-inspiring (they have more than 30 000 customers), and they operate in multiple locations. What’s more, with their customer retention rate of almost 90 percent, they would be one of the top choices for my business. Lastly, when I see their partners – Canon, Sharp, Lexmark, etc, it makes me even more sure of their reliability. What I love is the fact they adjusted to the COVID-19 crisis pretty fast and well-adding temperature screen kiosks to measure staff and visitors’ temperature. In the end, I love there’s no hidden costs and the range of leases of 12 to 63 months.
Eduardo Litonjua, Passive Income Tree
National Business Capital
National Business Capital has a network of over 75 lenders. It has an easy online application process, and you can find out the decision as fast as the next day. The terms of the lease can range from 12 months to 60 months, and the 2.99 percent fee is not something to be sniffed at. You may be able to get a discount if you pay your lease off quicker than you agreed to, so that is something to keep in mind.
David Baddeley, ScottishTrustDeed.co.uk
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