So, you’re going to open a restaurant!? Congratulations! However, now that the initial hype about it is gone, you’re probably left thinking: okay, now what? Well. There are several things that an emerging restauranteur has to do in order to make sure that he or she is not part of the stark majority of dining places which fail within three years of their first order.
Of course it’s all about how you promote your establishment. However, no matter how many bright PR ideas you might come up with, you could still end up failing on account of your bank account. That is to say that, when managing a restaurant, you have to plan your expenses to the dollar. This self-disciplining of your business is called cost-efficiency, and it can be the subject of a long and dreadful discussion.
However, we here have taken it upon ourselves to provide you, the humble restaurant owner, with a few cost efficiency tips on how to manage your enterprise. More to the point, we’re going to talk about restaurant equipment rental, or restaurant equipment lease – as some may call it.
Why would you lease restaurant equipment? Well, this might be a shocker: to reduce costs.
The PROs & CONs of Restaurant Equipment Rental
PROs:
- Saving money. If saving money is your top priority, then leasing restaurant equipment may just be the thing for you. No matter how cost efficient you try to be when purchasing your equipment, you can’t really beat the advantages presented by the rental prices.
- Free stuff. Cost effective? More like no cost at all. For some products, the company making the rental may choose to give you its appliances for free, provided you agree to purchase from them for the whole duration of the contract.
- You will get the chance of a free upgrade every time your lease expires. This is particularly cool if you want to keep your restaurant up to date with all the latest in kitchen and dining room apparatus.
- So what if it broke? Things like these happen. The dishwasher broke? No problem, you’ll get a new one! The cooler needs a new engine? You’ll get a repair for free. That’s of course, only the case when your restaurant equipment is leased.
- No more cleaning. It’s not that your equipment will get dirty and you can’t clean it, but that the company leasing you the equipment more often than not offers to do it for you. This is especially nice for items that require thorough cleaning – such as dishwashers.
CONs:
- It may not be the best choice. Your options are: buy new, lease, or buy used. For some items, buying new is a must. For the others, the prices may turn out to be better if you buy used equipment. However, make sure that these do no need heavy maintenance, as it will end up costing more in the long run.
- Smaller range of products. While securing a deal with Coca-Cola, Inc. for coolers instead of Pepsi may not be a business-ruining decision, doing the same with a no-name coffee brand for free coffee machines may be very bad for your establishment.
- Upgrades are not always ideal. Some products are ideal in their present state. Why change them? The newer version, as you’ve probably experienced yourself, is not necessarily better. Still, when your equipment is leased, you may end up being forced into an upgrade.
- Maintenance costs. This depends largely on the equipment rental agreement that you sign at the beginning of your lease period. However, some of the service providers may end up charging you absurd sums of money for relatively routine maintenance tasks, such as washing.
Things to Consider Before Making a Restaurant Equipment Rental
Things that could be major wins for your enterprise if leased: coolers, ice-machines, dishwashers, coffee makers. Renting anything else other than these requires very, very careful consideration.
- Coolers are a big hit because they are expensive to buy, and even expensive to rent. However, a neat little lease contract with a famous beverage company, and you will end up saving yourself a lot of headaches.
- Ice-machines and dishwashers are also ideal to rent because they usually get really, really dirty and can deteriorate rapidly. Changing them would be a pain in your finances. Coffeemakers also make a fair deal to rent, as they could be provided by coffee companies wishing to enlarge their patronage.
- Look at your kitchen. The worst thing an inexperienced restauranteur will do is get the equipment before he or she gets the actual restaurant. This is a big no-no. First get a good look at your kitchen and dining room. Call in a few interior decorators – sit down with them and browse restaurant equipment rental websites. Decide what to buy new, what to rend, and what to buy old.
- Remember, the dining room equipment is important. It may end up being even more important. Tables, chairs – all that sort of stuff – are part of what gives your customers the first impression. Make that impression a good one, and they most certainly will come back.
Best Restaurant Equipment Rental Services
To help you get started with your business endeavors, we’ve put together a small list of the best companies dedicated to restaurant equipment rentals.
CarterRent Restaurant Equipment Rental
CarterRent is a restaurant equipment rental company based in Minneapolis, MN. It offers kitchen equipment, beverage equipment, serving equipment, and concession equipment.
CarterRent Prices: an ice-cream freezer, for example, starts at $100/day and a small pizza-oven starts at $26/day.
CarterRent Website: here
Ckitchen Restaurant Equipment Rental
Ckitchen is a EFriedman, Brooklyn, New York based company that provides all sorts of restaurant equipment rentals. From beverage and cooking, to food holding, refrigeration, to tables, and to dishwashers, they have it all.
Ckitchen Prices: a basic, small pizza oven starts between $9 and $10 per hour, depending on whichever model you would prefer (they do have a lot of products for rent).
Ckitchen Website: here
AceMart Restaurant Equipment Rental
AceMart are a very serious restaurant equipment rental company with several bases of operation throughout Texas. They rent and lease just about any type of restaurant equipment you may want, from refrigeration equipment to cooking equipment, and plumbing equipment to packaging machines.
AceMart Prices: AceMart does not offer prices directly on its website, instead, if you would like to lease their equipment, you need to submit a formal application. However, this should be fairly easy. Just click the link below
AceMart Leasing Website: here
Other Useful Restaurant Equipment Rental Tips
Before opting to lease restaurant equipment, you should look around for different prices on the items you would like to get for your respectable establishment. If you think buying the equipment instead may be to your advantage, don’t hesitate.
You should expect a credit check. While some rental companies offer their services regardless of your credit situation, the vast majority will frown on any inconsistencies, so be ready to defend yourself if the situation arises.
We hope this guide has proven useful to you and that you will soon start renting those parts of your restaurant’s kitchen that you don’t necessarily have to own. Just remember our advice, and always choose the option which satisfies both you, as well as your potential customer.
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