3 Rules For Deciding When to Invest in New Contracting Equipment
By 3 min read
When you work for a construction company, it’s usually up to your employer to provide you with the tools and equipment you need. As a self-employed California contractor, however, you’ll have to decide on your own when to purchase different pieces of equipment, and whether or not an investment makes sense.
This can be more challenging than you might first imagine, especially since today’s contractors use everything from hammers and hardhats to electric saws and even iPads.
So, how do you decide whether or not to spend the money on new tools and equipment? Here are three good guidelines to follow:
1. Decide whether the item is a “want” or a “need.” Let’s face it: There are some tools and pieces of technology that are just lots of fun to own. But, just because something might be handy, or you’d like to play with it, doesn’t make it a good investment. It’s incredibly easy to put yourself out of business by overspending or running out of available cash, so try to figure out whether the equipment is something you’ll actually use on a day-to-day basis or not. If it is, or if you can’t complete projects without it, then it’s probably a good buy.
2. Try to determine whether you’ll see a return on investment for your purchase. Some business investments are no-brainers simply because of the time or money they’ll save you. A good example might be a piece of software that saves you hours on payroll, or hydraulic construction equipment that’s faster, safer, and/or more reliable than what you have used in the past. Because each of these will show a positive return on investment, by allowing you to get more done, they make sense over the long term.
3. Consider other cash flow implications. Before you buy anything for your business, consider what the purchase will do for your cash flow. The last thing you want is to run short on payroll, for example, because you spent extra money on a new truck. In the same way, some purchases can actually help with things like taxes and insurance, so be sure to look at the big picture, and examine more cost-effective alternatives, before giving a final thumbs-up or thumbs-down.
When it comes down to it, deciding whether or not to make investments is something that every business owner or self-employed professional has to deal with, not just contractors. So, take our advice and ask the right questions. Then, make the best decision you can – and know that you’ll get better at these decisions as time goes on.
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