Innovative Ways Small Businesses Are Using Rental Equipment
Construction contractors and other smaller businesses that rely on heavy equipment like excavators, backhoe loaders and bulldozers often face the challenge of making the most of limited resources. For these companies, renting can provide the most practical solution.
Using rentals reduces costs like maintenance, repairs and storage, as the equipment provider typically covers these expenses. Renting also provides more fleet flexibility and gives smaller operations additional room in their tight budgets.
The most savvy small companies are getting creative when thinking of unique ideas for getting the most value from the rental process.
How Small Businesses Are Using Rental Equipment
Here are a few examples of how smaller companies use the rental process to move forward and gain a competitive edge.
Becoming Attachment Experts
Attachments like augers, blades, bale spears, forks, hammers, grapples and mulchers can transform a single-use machine into a multifunctional workhorse, which can benefit small businesses. From a cost perspective, it's much less expensive to rent one piece of equipment and two compatible attachments than three machines when performing three separate tasks.
By becoming familiar with the available attachment options, smart business owners can capitalize on this fact and use it to their advantage to increase job site productivity and dramatically cut costs.
Creating a Safer Work Environment Inexpensively
With the increasingly stringent Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, focusing on safety compliance is crucial for avoiding fines and penalties. Continuing to modify an existing fleet to stay current with regulations is time-consuming and expensive, especially for smaller companies with limited resources. Renting late-model machines equipped with the most advanced safety features and technologies can be more economical and requires no internal labor hours.
Expanding Job Site Capabilities
The more tasks your company can perform at the job site, the more value you can provide prospective customers. Renting equipment is a fast way to acquire additional machines that allow you to expand your capabilities. You'll be better positioned to land more projects because you can demonstrate that you have the right models for the job.
Trying Different Models
Sometimes, it can be difficult to tell what a piece of equipment can do until you use it on the job. If you're looking to purchase a bulldozer, wheel tractor-scraper or any other machine, renting allows you to test one or several models as part of the evaluation process. You'll gain firsthand experience with the product to determine whether it's a good fit for your typical operations. You can also compare several machines without making a long-term commitment.
Downsizing Fleets
Many small businesses must find creative ways to cut costs and stay competitive. If you have more equipment in your fleet than you need, you can sell your surplus machines and use rentals to pick up the slack. Your ownership and upkeep costs will decrease, and you'll get some much-needed extra cash to invest in other areas of your operations. You can maintain consistent productivity by arranging a rental whenever the need for specific equipment arises.
Capitalizing on Technological Innovations
Heavy equipment technology continues to evolve, and the latest machines are more productive, efficient and cost-effective than ever. Smart business owners can tap into these innovations and use them to their advantage by renting late-model products. Besides improving performance, many of these advanced features contribute to a safer work environment by reducing the likelihood of job site accidents.
Allocating Resources More Efficiently
Small businesses often face challenges when minimizing project costs. Labor represents a significant expense for most construction businesses. Since the rental company is responsible for maintaining and repairing its equipment, it removes this burden from your team. You can reallocate the human and physical resources you have been using for fleet maintenance to more productive areas.
Diversifying Operations
Are you looking to transform your small business into something bigger? Renting equipment gives you more flexibility to increase your offerings through a more simple and affordable process. For example, if you're a landscaping operation and already own a skid steer, renting a snow plow or blade for the winter enables you to start a snow removal business to keep the revenue flowing.
Contact The Cat® Rental Store for Rental Equipment Needs
The Cat® Rental Store is your one-stop headquarters for compact construction machines and other high-quality equipment for rent from Caterpillar and more than 70 other leading manufacturers to keep your small business moving forward. Browse our current inventory and call us at 1-800-RENT-CAT or contact us online to request a quick quote.
