A Guide To Leasing Business Computers For New Startups

Welcome to Hardsoft’s latest computer leasing guide.

We have produced many informative articles and workbooks to provide guidance and education for companies looking into computer leasing for the first time, or who want to learn more about how it can benefit their business goals.

Other Useful Computer Leasing Guides:

The Ultimate Guide To IT Leasing

The Financial & Tax Benefits Of Leasing Business Computers

The Lease Application Process For Small Businesses

In this guide, we will be exploring the specific advantages of computer leasing for newly launched companies, and how you can get started with the process.

Contents:

• Who is Hardsoft?
• What is business computer leasing?
• The different supply chains for acquiring computer hardware
• Lease vs loan
• Advantages of leasing
• Are leases different for small businesses and new launches?
• Key differences between a small business and a new launch
• Is leasing business computers financially sound for new launches?
• The benefits of leasing business computers for a new launch
• Why Hardsoft for leasing?
• Why Hardsoft for leasing to new launches?
• Matching your lease to your business goals
• How to get started

Who Is Hardsoft?

Hardsoft is a computer equipment leasing provider for UK businesses. Our clients cover a wide range of business types, including newly launched firms.

We are partnered with all the leading computer hardware manufacturers in the industry, including Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Lenovo, HP, Dell, and more.

We’ve had decades’ worth of experience working alongside these industry giants, as well as extensive experience working with industries of all kinds through our own clients. With this knowledge, we have become experts in assigning the relevant computer hardware to your staff’s duties.

Thanks to our extensive experience, we can make the process of leasing business computers much easier, especially for new launches.

New business launches face tough challenges to stay afloat and to move from a decent business idea into a successful and thriving company. This is why leasing hardware can aid this type of company so much, yet it is conversely most intimating to them.

What Is Business Computer Leasing?

Leasing business computers is an alternative to buying your company’s computer hardware. It uses a different supply chain for the acquisition of IT devices for your staff.

Leasing hardware usually works on a subscription-based model where cost is spread into smaller payments per month. Frequently, there are also additional services that support the management and maintenance included in the lease.

Leasing business computers has risen in popularity and become a more standard supply chain because:

• It makes high quality hardware more affordable
• It removes operational burdens and makes the upkeep of equipment easier
• It provides better and more personalised customer service
• For the suppliers of computer equipment, it provides a more stable income

Not all leases for your computer equipment are the same. Some allow you to work towards ownership at the end of the lease, others involve purely temporary rental of the devices.

The Different Supply Chains For Acquiring Computer Hardware

Leasing is just one of many different supply chains that companies can opt for when sourcing business computers. However, it is one of the most advantageous.

Traditional Purchase: Where you simply buy computers from a supplier and own them outright and fully manage them yourself.

Business Loans: A financial sum granted by a bank or third-party finance company to allow you to then purchase computer equipment for yourself. Often comes with rising interest rates.

Leasing Business Computers: Your business does not own the computer hardware assets but can use them for the duration of your lease. The devices are usually considered an operational expense, which is still tax-deductible. They do not have to be claimed as a liability or asset on your books unless you buy them at the end of the lease.

Contract Hire Agreement: Similar to a rental. You can use an asset for a specific period and then return it. The equipment is not recorded as an asset or liability of the business. It is merely a rental expense.

Hire Purchase: A hire purchase can feel very similar to a lease since it also helps to spread the cost of equipment out over time. The main difference is that in a Hire Purchase, the payments made previously count towards equipment purchase.

Invoice Factoring: Another way to purchase but faster than a loan. You can sell your invoices to a factor. It basically utilises your accounts receivable (how much of your cash flow is held up in unpaid client invoices) and allows you to turn it into money by selling the invoices to a factoring company. You will normally then receive about 90% of the total value of the accounts receivable. It loosens up funds faster.

A lease vs a loan

A loan is different from a lease. While you can opt to buy equipment at the end of some leases, during the lease you do not own the assets.

In a loan, you have more ownership of the equipment. You retain the title to any items that you purchase with a loan.

The loan is usually from a third party and is financial, allowing you to go on to buy items and equipment yourself.

A loan enables you to retain the title to any of the items you purchase, securing the purchase against existing assets.

Unlike a lease, which provides fixed rates, a loan can begin accumulating interest rates which may fluctuate. This in turn makes budgeting less predictable compared to a lease.

Advantages Of Leasing

• Spread the cost – No massive bulk purchases draining your finances all at once. Manageable monthly payments in smaller amounts are characteristic of leases.
  
  
• Lessen the operational burden – Depending on your supplier, leasing business computers usually come with extra services regarding the management, maintenance, repair, replacement, and recycling of your devices. This saves your IT department and staff a lot of time and increases your productivity.  
  
  
• More technical support – Receive support for the technical upkeep of devices, help with cyber security software, and replacements if anything goes wrong. Hardsoft includes full 3-year warranties with our leases, complete support packages, and optional accidental breakage cover.
  
  
• More management support – Suppliers like Hardsoft can show you how to add all business devices to an MDM. Using this you can control how your staff use the devices even when using them from home. Have the power to wipe devices if they are lost or stolen.
  
  
• Fully tax-deductible – No owned assets to worry about or claim, but still get the tax benefits.

Are Leases Different For Small Businesses & New Launches?

Small businesses and brand-new launches often don’t consider leasing business computers as an option, despite their prevalence and popularity these days. This is because:

• Their directors are inexperienced with the ins and out of how these leases work
• They worry about getting stuck in an unsuitable lease contract
• They are concerned that they will not be accepted for a lease
• They believe it will work out as more expensive overall

However, these are poor reasons for not considering leasing for small businesses and new launches.

Smaller sized businesses and new businesses do have smaller budgets and potentially less stability than larger firms, yet this is exactly one of the reasons why leasing is a good decision.

Buying computer hardware outright for your whole company will burn a big hole in your budget. It is very bad for cashflow. For small businesses and new launches, this can prevent you from investing in important profit-driven campaigns and, therefore, set back your growth significantly and cause you to miss important targets.

If there is an unexpected emergency where you need to put your hands on a large sum, the money is gone as it was spent on essential hardware.

Computer hardware is notoriously expensive yet essential for almost all businesses, small, large, new, and established to function. While a lease might be slightly more money overall in the long run, the payments are small and spread out, making them far more achievable for a small business compared to an outright purchase.

While lack of familiarity can put directors off, leases do not have to be complex or intimidating.

If you find a helpful supplier like Hardsoft, the process is very streamlined, helps you spread your costs and prevents you from ending up with obsolete hardware in a few years.

Hardsoft has very flexible and customisable lease structures to prevent smaller businesses from getting trapped in unfavourable T&Cs with their lease. We also have different lease types, some of which are especially favourable to the need of small businesses. It is easy to get approved for a lease as long as you can provide a few bank statements and possibly a business plan, depending on how many devices you require.

Key Differences Between A Small Business & A New Launch

Small businesses and new launches are both smaller than larger enterprises. They, therefore, face many of the same challenges, however, they are not at all identical or synonymous.

A small business, such as a family bakery, or an individual boutique shop, or a small hairdresser isn’t going to face the same issues or have the same goals as a startup FinTech firm that looks to rapidly expand.

Some new launches and ventures can grow very quickly, others more steadily but with a carefully laid out plan to steadily expand. New launches might be rapid scaleups and have exterior funding and investors.

A small business may actually have less capital but may be far more stable and established, having a clear and loyal customer base and knowing its target market. New launches can still be testing the waters with what works.

Another key difference is that a small business might be looking to lease a more select amount of equipment for new hires or to refresh their hardware. A new launch could have hired a whole new batch of staff to cover several departments and need a complete stock of computer hardware.

While new launches and small businesses can often be lumped in together, with more analysis, we can now see that the financial state and needs of these two business types could actually be very different.

This can also result in new launches having different requirements when it comes to leasing business computers.

Is Leasing Computer Equipment Financially Sound For New Launches?

If you have a newly set up venture, the process for leasing business computers can be slightly different.

It is important for your provider to establish if you are a homeowner or have a guarantor.

It is more likely that bank statements and business plans will need to be reviewed, as well as proof of outside funding and investment. This is to establish the stability of the new company and if the agreed payments of the lease can be met.

This is actually a very easy system even for new ventures who have never leased before. Leasing is actually an easier and faster way for new launches to get their hands on the advanced tech that they require, while still having plenty of their funding left over for their launch campaigns and other expenditures.

Overspending and underestimating the cost of campaigns and the general cost of business is a common mistake for startups, but leasing makes it far more likely that you will have the equipment you need to succeed and will not have overspent in the first few months by buying the equipment outright.

In short, leasing business computers makes success more likely and can help you add scale while making financial planning much easier.

Working with an experienced leasing provider does help. Hardsoft has worked with many different business types and industries over the years. With a keen eye for the market, we are adept at knowing a good business when we see it.

The Benefits Of Leasing Computers For A New Launch

• Access to better business computers and devices with higher performance and more relevant tools for your niche
  
  
• No huge costly bulk buys while your firm is finding its feet and getting off the ground
  
  
• Better cashflow to invest in those rapid growth schemes
  
  
• Easier financial planning and more palatable reports of spending for investors
  
  
• With the right provider, there is access to the right kind of lease that can aid more rapid scaling
  
  
• More support, which saves time and there is less to worry about and manage in regard to your hardware

Why Hardsoft For Leasing?

There is a much larger choice when it comes to leasing business computers on the market today. However, not every lease provider is made equal.

While this guide has useful information for any new launch researching leasing business hardware, Hardsoft is indeed a computer leasing company. Obviously, we’re going to sing our own praises, but they are several features of our leases that make us unique:

Faster Leases – Setting up a lease with Hardsoft is actually more efficient and straightforward than most of our competitors. The reason is that there is no third-party finance firm involved. An exterior finance firm is common for leasing business hardware, however, Hardsoft has our own financial arm. This gives us total control and autonomy to make our own leasing decisions, and review your finances and your business. You cut out a lot of bureaucracy and waiting around when you lease with Hardsoft.

Mix Devices – Not all companies provide different types of devices, for example, some specialise in only Lenovo devices. Hardsoft not only provide a huge variety of computer equipment, but you can mix and match. You can lease a selection of Microsoft, Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, and many other branded computer models.

Expert Support – We have a highly trained and certified team who have expertise in both Apple and PC technology. If you need high-level troubleshooting and even strategic advice for custom solutions, our engineers can help.

More Support and No Penalties – Hardsoft offer an expansive choice in level and type of support as part of your lease, so it can be tailored to your individual company and industry. Some of our leases even let you scale the number of devices up and down during the lease and return devices you don’t need with no penalties.

Why Hardsoft For Leasing To New Launches?

Of course, leasing business computers to a newly launched business is quite different from working with large established corporations. Fortunately, we have vast experience working with all types and sizes of businesses.

Thanks to our extensive experience with different business, as well as different hardware, Hardsoft have a great deal of market knowledge. We are in a unique position to:

• Offer strategic advice to new launches on how they should approach their hardware distribution
  
  
• We can help new launches plan how to scale their device lease alongside their scaling company as you take on new hires and departments
  
  
• Our leases are flexible and reactive. This is great for new launches since everything can change quickly for better or worse in the first few years of a launch
   
• Not all our leases are the same. Some are orchestrated precisely to make them hyper-affordable for small businesses and new launches
  
  
• We won’t force a particular lease type on you just because you are a new launch. We will work with you and analyse your business plan to work out which type of device lease will best enable those goals over the next three years

Matching Your Lease To Your Business Goals

When working with a computer lease provider like Hardsoft there is an abundance of choices in lease style to help match it exactly to your requirements.

Why Pure Rental – Highly affordable with up to 25% off the cost of devices. Simply rent the hardware and return it at the end of your lease. This is favoured by small businesses and many new launches because of how extremely affordable it is.

Why FLEXI-Lease – Let’s you work towards ownership at the end of the lease. Extremely flexible with options to add devices and change the lease after 18 months. You can also CANCEL at this point with no penalty. This gives a lot of flexibility to new launches who often face rapidly changing circumstances in the first few years of building the business.

Why Devices For Teams – Usually preferred by larger corporations but could be the perfect choice for an ambitious new launch with plenty of funding and investment support. This is the right choice for a highly customised lease with lots of support and the ability to add scale to your business and device lease as you go.

How To Get Started With Leasing Business Computers If You Are Launching A New Venture?

Getting started is very easy for new launches who pick Hardsoft as their provider.

1 – Arrange a call with our team to discuss your requirements and the amount of hardware you need.

2 – We can conduct an evaluation into your industry and business objectives to help match you with the right devices and the right type of lease

3 – Hardsoft has our own finance arm and a deep understanding of what makes a good business. We have complete autonomy on who we lease to and we are registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. This makes the paperwork minimal and the approval process very rapid. All the crossing of the Ts and dotting the Is is done in the background in a highly efficient process. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you receive your hardware and how little you had to do.

4 – We can install or remotely deploy your hardware fully configured and ready to go.

5 – We’ll be in contact throughout the lease to offer tech support, management support and strategic support to help you get the best from your devices.