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Buying equipment for your business? Here are a few common mistakes to avoid when acquiring new business equipment.

Skimping on quality

Everybody loves a bargain, but you should be careful of putting cost before quality. Equipment that is poor quality could reflect badly on your brand if it’s seen or used by customers. Meanwhile, poor quality tools could provide less accurate results. Such equipment could also negatively affect the morale of your employees if it makes their job harder due to less accuracy or less comfort (for instance, cheap office chairs may not be very ergonomic and may make your employees uncomfortable). On top of this, you could even end up paying more in the long run in maintenance as such equipment is more likely to break.

Splurging on gimmicks

On the other end of the spectrum, you should also avoid spending unnecessary amounts of money on equipment beyond your needs. Such equipment could be unnecessarily complex and could actually make life harder for yourself. For instance, if you’re looking to buy a drone for your photography business, consider whether you really need an all-weather drone – not only could it be more expensive, but it may have more complex controls.

Not considering rented equipment

It could be more financially sensible to rent certain equipment rather than buying it. This could include single-use machinery such as an air conditioner for a short-term construction project – you may be better off looking into portable air conditioner rental rather than buying an air conditioner. Renting machinery could also be more financially sensible for very expensive equipment if you can’t afford the upfront cost of purchasing it and don’t want to take out a loan.  

Overlooking energy efficiency

You should also be careful of overlooking energy efficiency when buying machinery. If equipment isn’t energy-efficient, it could cost a lot to run in energy bills. Energy-efficiency can also be important for the reputation of your business. In most cases, newer equipment is greener than older equipment. For instance, newer computers tend to be more energy-efficient than older models.

Failing to include your team in decision making

If you’ve got employees, you should make sure to include them in decision making when choosing which equipment to buy – especially if they’re going to be using the equipment. They may even be able to help to research new equipment. By acknowledging your employees’ preferences, you’ll make them feel more appreciated and you can avoid choosing the wrong equipment.