Starting any business will always require an upfront investment of some kind. Along with your time, the main investment will always be cash. There are several ways to get the investment that you require to start your scaffolding company. Any number of combinations of the following: your own money in the bank, a bank overdraft, a business loan, a credit card (or two), or other, smarter alternatives such as leasing.
Personal Bank Account
The chief source of your investment for your new company will usually be your personal bank account. However, it’s incredible just how quickly your bank balance can diminish.
Loans
Arranging a business loan with a High Street bank is notoriously difficult; especially when the company you are trying to fund has no trading history. They will normally require some sort of collateral which involves putting a charge against a property or asset that you own. For most, even with the confidence of the company being a success, this is a risk that they aren’t willing to take for obvious reasons.
Bank Overdraft
Hand in hand with business loans are overdrafts – these are also arranged through your High Steet bank. This ‘cash’ availability will be invaluable once your business is up and running. It is crucial to keep these funding lines open and available should you need to pay invoices or bills at short notice.
Credit Cards
Credit cards will always serve a practical purpose within any business. As fantastic and flexible as credit cards can be, any new business with no trading history, will find it exceedingly difficult to be accepted for any credit card with an attractive interest rate. As with bank overdrafts, it is key to keep these funding options available for your business once established.
Consider Leasing
I’ve discussed bank accounts and overdrafts and credit cards, which brings me to leasing, also known as ‘asset finance’. As I have already demonstrated, keeping existing funding lines available is crucial. Leasing allows you to do precisely that. A lease is simply a low, fixed payment which allows for better budgeting within any type of business.
Your Own Equipment
The benefit for a scaffolding company to lease their assets as opposed to buying them is simply because a scaffolding business essentially operates using the same model. They hire their kit to customers who in turn pay rental for their services. A lease can be scheduled to run concurrently with the length of the contract or contracts that you are working on presently. This often allows you to win more contracts. Because you aren’t having to pay (what is normally a more expensive option) to hire through a scaffolding supplier.
We Can Help
WestWon have a dedicated team to assist anyone wishing to lease within the scaffolding industry. Having arranged finance for an array of scaffolding companies, from new start businesses through to large established operations, WestWon have relationships with all the major scaffolding suppliers. We have worked with Generation, George Roberts, Caspian Access Hire & Sales and Actavo, among others. With our team of experienced leasing experts, WestWon should be your first port of call for anything finance-based.
Email scaffolding@westwon.co.uk to find out more about how we can help your business grow.
Written by Carl Redding.
