As a result of the rapid pace of technological advancement in today’s business marketplace, it is not usually profitable to pay for hefty equipment using your working capital. After all, what happens when your equipment becomes obsolete? There’s little doubt that you’re in a competitive sector, and subpar equipment can slowly drive you out of business as you lose market share.

In the following, we give you three ways that equipment financing can be a boon to your business by making you more efficient, and thus more competitive. Specifically, we’ll be going over the equipment loan and how to use it.

1. Basic Requirements and Uses for an Equipment Loan

As is the case with most types of financing, credit history will be of paramount importance – although you can find lenders that cater specifically to those with lower credit scores. The standard minimum is a score of 650; with which you’ll have access to the better terms. Usually, the minimum requirements also include being in business for at least a calendar year before applying for the equipment loan, and revenue of at least $50,000 in the past year.

2. Energy Efficiency is a Boon to Your Business

Many states provide tax credits to businesses that go green; you can use equipment financing to upgrade your preexisting machines in favor of more energy-efficient ones. For example, ENERGY STAR-certified equipment helps you both with energy management, and with environmentally-conscious consumers.

A few other tips in this endeavor are exchanging desktop workstations for laptops (the latter use 80% less energy), as well as employing a thermostat in your office for the cooler/warmer months.

3. Implement a Point-of-Sale System (POS)

You always want to minimize the number of actions between checkout and purchase, so be sure to streamline this process. A huge part of sales today is the mobile device universe, so if you don’t offer mobile services – you’re definitely missing out on consumers. A robust and flexible POS is especially given to using lean payment processors such as PayPal or Square.

To get the equipment you need for your business, contact First Source Capital today.