Investing in good quality equipment is important for any business. However, many companies can still end up spending way too much. Here are just five ways in which companies commonly overspend on equipment.

Buying single-use equipment instead of hiring

A big mistake that many companies make it buying equipment that they’re never going to use more than once. Even with infrequently used equipment, hiring each time can work out cheaper than buying.

This is particularly the case with big equipment like construction machinery or even vehicles – van hire is a much cheaper option than buying a van. Not only that, but you’re guaranteed top quality equipment each time is you use a professional hire company. It’s better than buying equipment only to let it gather dust.

Only buying brand new equipment

Many companies love the idea of shiny new equipment, however you can make big savings by opting for used equipment. Providing it has only been gently used, such equipment can still be in great condition and could cost you half the price of a brand new piece of equipment.

You’ll find many used commercial equipment retailers online. It’s also possible to buy equipment via independent sellers on Craigslist and Gumtree – this can be even cheaper, although you’re not always guaranteed as good quality.

Splurging on gimmicks

A lot of companies overspend on equipment that is beyond their needs. This could include an industrial printer capable of printing 70 pages a minute, when you’re seldom going to print off more than 10 documents a day.

Whilst such equipment may look cooler and give a good impression to customers, it could be a waste of money if you’re not using it to its full potential. In the case of machinery, such equipment may even be more complex to use, which may mean more thorough training for your staff.

Ignoring energy-efficiency

Energy-efficiency is an important factor to consider when buying machinery. Some machines are likely to consume more power than others - this could result in higher energy bills. Newer machinery tends to be greener than older machinery, although this isn’t always the case. You may be able to look up machinery’s energy rating online.

Letting equipment fail before fixing it

Another expensive mistake that businesses make is letting equipment fail completely before fixing it. Preventative maintenance can be cheaper and you won’t have to deal with costly downtime if that equipment happened to be important.

For example, if you’re a retail store and your electronic POS has been glitching, don’t wait until it fails completely to get someone in to service it.