Driving down the road the other day, I saw some fuel prices that were well over $4 per gallon. Ok, it was diesel, but even the high-test gasoline was close to $3.80, and regular unleaded was $3.60. And from all indications, it’s going higher (this means we probably won’t be driving out to my mother-in-laws as often, what a shame).
Of course, higher fuel prices mean everything else will be going up in price, which should shock nobody, since we’ve been hearing of a recession for quite some time.
If you recall, a few months ago, I posted about financing equipment during a recession, and how businesses that expand during hard times actually have a better chance at surviving. However, when I mention this to people, I sometimes hear statements like “but Fletch, if times get hard, I can’t afford to finance new equipment.”
To that, I have a simple solution that many might not be aware of: finance used equipment. Unknown to most businesses, some (but not all) equipment finance companies will happily finance used equipment. In fact, I’ll go as far to say that used equipment financing is a large part of my business here.
It actually surprises me that more companies don’t know that used equipment financing is an option that is available to them. Oh sure, we all know there’s a market for used vehicles, and even the bank will happily finance those. But there’s also a market for used printing presses, used welders, used office furniture, used industrial shelving; the list goes on and on. In fact, just throw the word ‘used’ in front of any piece of finance-able equipment, and you likely have a great money-saving option. And many equipment financing companies will happily finance this used equipment.
However, I do want to mention that financing used equipment isn’t something all equipment financing companies participate in (mine does, as do some others, but it’s a bit more work on our end, so some shy away from it.) There are also a few things you may want to keep in mind when financing used equipment, which I’ll go over in a future post. But for now, just understand that used equipment financing is definitely an attractive option in today’s economic climate, and something you may want to look into to help save a few dollars.