Starting a business from the ground up is an interesting dance of capital and logistics. Most startups have a certain amount of starting capital that they have saved and inspired from investors. Your business model and opening success parleys that startup capital into a steady stream of revenue. This will eventually become profits, growth, and all the business infrastructure you need to keep it going. Starting your own business with landscaping equipment is no different.

Often careful use of your startup capital leads to some interesting business decisions. Like renting your larger landscaping equipment to take those first client contracts. In fact, many startup decisions involve rental or skipping steps that seem natural for more established businesses. Getting  revenue spinning with return customers and positive reviews is more important; having a space full of your own gear to start with, less so.

Let’s take a look at the top reasons why landscaping startups often rent the equipment they need for client contracts.

Impress Your First Landscaping Clients Without Blowing Your Startup Capital

Many people who start their own landscaping business already have a good portion of the equipment they need. They at least have one set of it. They likely have a lawnmower, edger, leaf blower, and the usual home collection of trowels and spades. But what if your first client asks for earth-moving, sodding and seeding, or tree care? Are you going to turn them down? Of course not!

But you’re also not going to blow the rest of your startup capital buying the large equipment necessary to fulfill the job; especially not when you have no place to put it. Equipment rental can allow you to please your first batch of customers and show off what you’ve got at a fraction of the buying cost. Even better, the client’s contract will more than cover rental costs while building that early momentum that matters so much.

Consider Projects with Large Equipment Needs Before You Have Facilities to Keep Them

Many landscaping companies set practical boundaries including the amount and height of earth that can be moved and the line between landscaping and construction. But there’s no need to artificially limit yourself based on equipment you don’t have room to store and maintain.

Large equipment requires commercial garage space where many startup landscaping businesses are actually run without a home, without the unnecessary cost of commercial real estate at all. But equipment rental places have deeply invested in both the garage space and the equipment. Before you have the facilities to keep your own large equipment, you can still take on large-equipment jobs by renting what you can’t maintain just for the days needed by the project.

Try Before You Buy: Take Landscaping Equipment for a Test Spin Before Investing in Your Own Set

Another great advantage of landscaping equipment rental for startups is the opportunity to try out the full set of available landscaping equipment before investing your revenue in a company set. You can get a feel for the brands, the different models, and how well your team works with each type of equipment before making the permanent decisions about which landscaping equipment to buy for the company. In fact, most rental places would be very happy to give you a run-down and share their own expertise and experiences not only on how easy the equipment is to work with, but what they go through on the back-end in terms of maintenance, storage, and practical costs.

An equipment rental company can become your best resource for deciding on the right equipment to invest in for your landscaping business when you start building your own collection.

Decide Which Equipment is So Occasional that You Will Always Rent

Finally, equipment rental gives you an interesting perspective on what is and is not practical to invest in. For example, you may greatly enjoy projects that require vehicular earth movers; but also realize that you will never need them often enough to justify the purchase and maintenance costs. You use some types of landscaping equipment only occasionally; it is much more practical to rent every time you need one.

If the cost of a few cumulative weeks of rental in the next five years of products is still significantly lower than purchase, why buy? Especially when you can rent the latest expertly maintained models from your local equipment rental partner instead.

Landscaping startups have a lot to gain from working with equipment rentals in the early stages of your business. There’s no need to blow your budget on a set of large, specialty, vehicular equipment to impress new customers. And for many companies, there will always be a few pieces of equipment that you’ll always rent on the rare occasion that they are needed for a customer’s project. Contact us today to discuss the equipment your landscaping startup might need and the best rental plan to try out the best industry gear, impress your first customers, and get that revenue spinning.