Renting vs. Owning Business Equipment

Most businesses require equipment of some sort, whether it is office equipment such as furniture, computers, printers, and faxes; cars or trucks; or heavy machinery. As a business owner, you have to make a decision about how you want to get this equipment: whether you want to rent it or buy it outright.

In general, your decision probably depends primarily on how often you will need the equipment. If it is vital to the operation of your business, the cost of renting the equipment would be too high, and an outright purchase would make sense. However, if the equipment is only needed every once in a while, the expense of purchasing the equipment would not be cost effective, so renting is probably the better option.

For instance, say you sell landscaping materials such as fertilizer, topsoil, and pea gravel. Equipment such as compost screens, gravel screening machines, and topsoil screening machines will be a necessity to your business, so you should probably plan on owning the equipment. On the other hand, if you a gardener and only do minor landscaping work, you may only need a screening machine every once in a while. In the latter case, renting the machine probably makes the most sense.