Figuratively is our excellent service. But how we literally go “over and above” is by financing soft costs and extras. Indeed, a full 25% of your entire loan amount can be soft costs and extras. 

When you finance equipment anywhere else, there’s a good chance you’ll have to reach into your own pocket for these soft costs and extras. 

And what are these soft costs and extras that Crest will finance but others won’t? I’m happy the question came up – here’s a partial list:

• Taxes – Uncle Sam wants his cut. Fortunately, Crest Capital can finance this part for you as well. 
• Delivery – As the items you finance get larger, the chances of a delivery cost typically rise. We can handle that too (tipping the driver is on you though.)
• Installation – Does your newly-financed equipment need to be professionally installed? Sometimes this carries a charge, which you can finance if you use us. 
• Training – Some equipment has optional training you can purchase. We can include this as part of your deal.
• Upgrades and Add–Ons – Does your equipment dealer offer the super cool deluxe package, but the bank only wants to finance the boring base model? Come to Crest Capital – we’ll get you the equipment you really want. 
• Maintenance and Service Agreements – As equipment gets more technologically sophisticated and complicated, the need for routine maintenance and extended warranty service agreements rises. We can include these in your deal as well.

So yes, soft-cost financing is definitely something that most borrowers are interested in. And again, with Crest Capital, a full 25% of your deal can be soft costs that you’d normally pay out of pocket for. This allows you to leave your wallet at home (well, like I stated, just bring enough for a tip – we don’t finance that!)  

These are short (30 seconds to a minute and a half) recorded testimonials from real clients, all over the United States, and there are well over 100 of them. You can see the entire list here.

I realized I haven’t heard these in a while, so I spent some time listening to a bunch of them. And something really struck me as I listened to the different voices and accents from all over the country: THIS is the Sound of Small Business USA. 

Seriously, we have a walk-in freezer financed in Florida. This was for a Carvel store. 

A bit further down the list, we have snow removal equipment financing for a company in Utah.  Then there’s a boom lift financed for a campground in California (that one is funny because he goes into detail about all the collateral his bank wanted, which is why he came to us.)

More? How about a CAD/CAM Machine financed for a race design shop in Arizona? Or some equipment for a angus beef cattle ranch in northern Florida (so we’ve got both the main course and dessert covered in the Sunshine State… oh, we financed some equipment for a winery there too – it’s a full meal!)

One of the neat things about equipment financing is the types of businesses that we work with. Listening more to the list, we financed some equipment for a microscope service in Illinois. Did you even realize there are small businesses that deal only in microscopes? And while we’re on “science”, we’ve got lab testing equipment financing in Ohio, and mobile medical imaging equipment financed for a nuclear tech company in Maryland. 

This is just scratching the surface – we have thousands and thousands of customers. But even in a small sample of 100+, I am struck by the variety of industries, never mind the regional accents and speaking mannerisms.  The sheer diversity of our customers and company types is staggering, and it’s a joy to hear their voices.

The next time the news gets you down, click that link above in this post and give a listen to a few. I guarantee you’ll feel better. 

Summer is traditionally a slower time for many companies. Kids are out of school, there’s a lot of “after work” activity, plenty of families take vacations in the summer, and more. So staffs are shortened, and while plenty of business still gets done, it’s quite normal for the summer months to be slower in many industries.

To me, this makes it a perfect time to upgrade with new (or new to you) equipment. This takes on even more meaning here in 2019. Here’s why:

Interest Rates Won’t be Lower for a Long Time

There is a general sense that interest rates have been too low over the past few years, and they’ve been slowly creeping up. But they are still very advantageous to borrowers, meaning the time to strike is right now, before the next rate hike (and there will be multiple hikes). So if you finance the equipment now with a fixed rate, you’re ahead of the game for years.

The Economy is Strong

The recent economic numbers surprised everyone at their strength – our economy keeps rolling along. Combined with the interest rates mentioned, right now is an ideal time to upgrade and expand. Investing in yourself when times are good is almost always the best investment you can make.

Your Competition is Probably NOT Upgrading

Let your competitors say “we’ll wait until fall / winter / 2020 / etc.” Use these summer months to retool and refit, and hit the ground running come fall. You’ll be miles ahead of everyone.

The great part about all of this is with the right fixed rate equipment financing, upgrading is really easy. You can get everything you need now (and then some, because Crest Capital will finance more than the equipment’s purchase price), and have it all in place for when business starts churning again.

Part of success is doing things when others aren’t. So take a look at upgrading your business this summer.

But that begs the question – just how big is a small business? What size business is it? Is it two people, ten people, 100 people? Or more? And how big is a medium business? And a large one? When a business go from small to medium to large? Is it the same timeframe that my shirt size increased over the years?

Truthfully, the answers are all over the place, and definitely not definitive. It really depends on who you are talking to / what you are reading, and the context of such.

In “official” terms, a business’ size is determined by its revenues and number of employees. For example, according to the SBA, for most types of businesses, having less than 500 employees or less than seven million in revenues makes you a “small business”.

So 499 employees, and you’re a “small business”… how do you think that makes, say, a ten-person landscaping company feel? Do you feel like they are the “same size” as a 499 person company? Do you feel they have the same issues and problems and outlook? Hardly.

So the official definitions aren’t really helpful. And to take this further, you can bet the two-person landscaping company looks to the ten-person one and says “boy, I hope we can grow as big as them someday!”

Now let’s throw another wrench into this: The person who runs that ten person landscaping company… trust me, he or she definitely doesn’t feel the business is “small”. After all, more than one family likely counts on it for their livelihood, there are multiple vehicles, lots of government regulation, the IRS always sends forms, and so on. To the people running this company, they don’t like being called “small” (that’s a moniker for their two-person competitor) – they think they are the “medium” in the phrase “small and medium sized businesses”. But the 700 person company… hey, they think they are medium too!

Confused yet? Don’t be. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s all a matter of perspective. You’re as small or as large as you think you are. Except in shirt size – the mirror doesn’t lie.

Anyway, that recurring theme I mention is TIME. Plain and simple, time is also an advantage when you use an equipment financing company. Mainly because we won’t waste your time.

In plain terms, here’s how an equipment financing company works: You come to our website, and fill out a quick application form. It literally will take you two minutes. Off of this form, we can give you an answer. If it’s “yes” (which it usually is), there’s another form or two (loan agreements, etc.), but again, it’s all very easy, and you can do it right from the comfort of your home. You need not dig out the last three year’s tax returns from the filing cabinet (or last decade’s, which means you have to go in the attic…. ugh). You also don’t have to come to our office (like you would your local bank), and then wait for Loan Officer Barbara, who is on break (again).

So basically, what I am saying is an equipment financing loan is something you can wrap up without ever leaving your house, and generally within a matter of hours (or at worst a day or two). This “time factor” is a big deal for a lot of companies – if they have good credit, they know they can get financing really fast, so there’s no need to prepare for a long finance period. You can take your time deciding on the correct equipment (which is where the time should be spent), because you know that your equipment lease can be had in a snap.

But there’s something I wanted to point out in regards to collateral, equipment financing, and bank loans, and that’s something called “blanket liens”. They are quite common, and can really lead to trouble down the road if you are not careful.

A lien is essentially a right to a specific piece of property. If you put up your building as collateral on a loan, then there’s a lien against the building. Typically, this is no big deal – assuming you pay back the loan, there will be no issue. But, and this is important: you can’t do much with the building with the lien against it. Including using it as future collateral.

A “blanket lien” doesn’t list specific pieces of collateral. Instead, it assumes a lien against ALL of your assets. Typically, the wording for this is ultra confusing, and buried in the fine print. Trust me, by the time you get to the passage that includes your first born as collateral, your eyes will glaze over (that’s the plan.) So you clear your eyes, sign on the dotted line, and four years later, you go for another loan, only to find your first equipment financing loan has all of your collateral tied up in the blanket lien. Oops.

So do yourself a favor – make sure that you fully understand what collateral you are putting up when you go to the bank for equipment financing (or anywhere else, really, although most equipment financing companies don’t utilize blanket liens, because it kills further equipment financing business. We don’t want your first born anyway… way too expensive to feed.)

Here are a few warning signs that your equipment financing partner might need a review (and even replacing.)

• Approvals are markedly down, even on seemingly good customers – In the current economy, I would expect any equipment financing company to raise lending standards to a degree. So approvals are expected to drop somewhat. But if you start seeing denials to customers you know are good, solid customers that can certainly make the equipment leasing payments… well, there may be something to that. Your equipment financing partner may have made criteria a little too tight.

• Rates have risen past the norm – Many equipment financing companies have raised their rates – that’s no surprise. But some have gone above what would be considered normal. Shop around – see what equipment leasing companies are charging, and see if it’s markedly different from your partner’s rates.

• Lease Terms aren’t as customer-friendly – Equipment leases are supposed to be an advantage for the lessee (as well as profitable for the leasing company.) But some equipment leasing companies are getting cute with residual values and lease conditions, making it harder for customers to qualify for a lease, or even lessening the desire to lease in the first place.

These three circumstances aren’t really all that surprising – they’re almost no-brainers. One way to see what is going on is to talk to your customers – if they are complaining about the lease terms, that they got turned down for equipment financing and don’t know why, etc etc, that should tell you something is amiss.

And like I mentioned in my last post – not all equipment financing companies are created equal. If you think things aren’t what they should be, trust me, there’s someone else out there who can do a better job.