Constraint-Free Construction: The Importance Of Financial Flexibility In The Building Industry

Constraint Free Construction

Constraint-Free Construction: The Importance Of Financial Flexibility In The Building Industry

Constraint Free Construction

Success in business is only possible if you plan ahead, and this is particularly true in the construction industry. Building companies have to deal with a wide variety of contingencies that can suddenly raise their costs or cut their revenues. This creates serious shortfalls, making it essential that you have flexible financing to cover them.

Working capital offers the financial flexibility you need to deal with these problems. By providing cash, they allow companies with few liquid assets to cover cost increases and revenue shortfalls. Thus by maintaining access to working capital, you can survive:

Rising Resource Costs

From wood to drywall to wiring to scaffolding, construction companies need countless resources. Relatively minor changes in commodity prices can send the cost of these resources through the roof. For example, a sudden increase in demand for metal can drive up the price of wiring, scaffolding, and pipes, among other resources. These developments may well raise operating costs above what you’ve budgeted for. Working capital loans let you cover the difference until either the costs fall back down or your revenues rise to match.

Sudden Revenue Shortfalls

No matter how reliable and honest your clients are, there’s always a chance that they’ll fail to pay for your services on time. Even clients who work with you in good faith may still have to deal with financial problems on their end, forcing them to stall payments. If they simply don’t have the money, there’s not much you can do other than wait for them to get it, but you still need to fund your company until they do. Working capital lets you pay for everything while you’re waiting, so that your company doesn’t miss out on future opportunities because of problems with past work.

Inclement Weather

While you likely plan your operations around weather forecasts, storms sometimes travel farther or prove more intense than predicted. This can delay your operations, and thus your payments, for days or even weeks at a time. In the meantime, you’ll have lots of fixed costs that you still need to cover. With access to copious working capital, you won’t have any trouble doing this.

Injuries & Safety Issues

When a worker gets injured, your costs can increase markedly. Not only must you pay for their workers’ compensation, but if the cause of the accident isn’t immediately apparent, you’ll have to stop construction, identify it, and shore it up. With working capital, you can cover all these costs, restore your business to full safety, and get back to work.

For more information on costly contingencies in the construction industry or to obtain the working capital to deal with them, contact Dimension Funding today.

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Hospital Highlights: The Benefits Of Leasing Medical Equipment

Leasing Medical Equipment

Hospital Highlights: The Benefits Of Leasing Medical Equipment

Leasing Medical Equipment

Medical Equipment Leasing Makes a Difference

When it comes to the healthcare industry, effective financing is literally a matter of life and death. Unless you can obtain the most advanced equipment, drugs, and personnel to deal with every variety of diseases and injuries, you won’t be able to heal patients in critical conditions. For this reason, it is essential that you consider all your financial options and choose the one that best fits the needs of your hospital. In particular, you should never overlook the opportunity to lease medical equipment rather than buy it, an option that allows you to:

Invest in the Most Advanced Medical Equipment

If you insist on buying your medical equipment outright, you may not be able to afford the most advanced devices right away, forcing you to wait until you can save up enough money. Leasing medical equipment lets you use those devices now, reaping benefits such as:

  • Lower Costs– More modern devices often use less energy for the work they do, lowering your power bill. This will improve the financial health of your hospital while helping make up the cost of the lease.
  • Better Outcomes– The more advanced medical equipment is, the more effective it will be at treating patients’ diseases and injuries. This speeds up recovery times, improves patients’ quality of life, and even saves lives.
  • Faster Service– Many of the latest medical devices serve patients more quickly than their older counterparts. Given how serious hospital overcrowding has become, there are few better investments you can make for your facility.

Remember that these benefits don’t just help your facility and patients. By serving a larger number of people and achieving better outcomes, you reduce the strain on other hospitals and clinics as well, leading to better results throughout the healthcare system.

Keep Cash on Hand for Emergencies

Even if you have the money to buy all the advanced devices you need now, tying up that money in medical equipment may not be a wise decision for your hospital or patients. Remember that a natural disaster or other crisis could strike at any moment, causing a dramatic increase in injuries and illnesses. To meet the needs of this horde of new patients, you will have to order more drugs and devices, pay enough people to stay fully staffed at all times, and use more of your equipment ‘round the clock. All of these steps require massive spending, and without cash on hand, you may not be up to the challenge. Leasing your medical equipment leaves your funds free, allowing you to stay prepared for emergencies.

Dimension Funding offers leases for a wide variety of medical devices. To learn more or get started applying, contact us today.

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The Future of Software and How You Can Control Costs

Controlling Software Costs

The Future of Software and How You Can Control Costs

Controlling Software Costs

In the ever-changing world of technology, it is easy to get lost in the benefits and features of each new advance and not see the increasing costs that can be associated with having the best infrastructure to run your business. The larger concern is usually the high cost of maintaining hardware; a hosted, subscription software environment often seems a cash-flow-friendly complement. But be warned: While the upfront cost may look attractive, the amount spent over the long run, as well as the the impact of future costs to strategic planning, can make monthly subscriptions an extremely expensive option.

Here are some tips from our experience with clients making software-buying decisions.

  1. Know your costs for the next five years. Software is typically not used for a month or even a single year; the average life span for a software product is three to 10 years. Software companies would like you to think in the short term when making a purchase decision — thus the smaller, initial outlay so cost will appear less of an obstacle — but planning for the long term is where the savings lie. Depending on the provider, typical savings on the same software bought with your next five years in mind, compared to paying for it month-to-month in subscription fees, can be as much as 10 to 40 percent over the same number of years.
  2. Control automatic cost increases. Look at your subscription license agreement and realize how much the software company can raise the subscription price year after year. Many say the cost of renewing your subscription may rise as much as 10 percent each year. Purchasing for multiple years, or signing a multiyear contract, can avoid or mitigate this automatic cost increase.
  3. Research and establish your full implementation costs; look for prepaid or set pricing. Too often, not having an agreed-upon budget can nickel-and-dime your solution. We see customers who initially thought a project would cost $75,000 paying twice that to get it working properly. This can be due to myriad factors, but having the right partner, exploring the best solutions up front, and knowing what you need the software to do to make your company efficient and profitable can go a long way in controlling scope — and cost — creep.
  4. Find out what other software you’ll need to supplement the core solution. You’re usually not buying only the main ERP, CRM, or HRMS software, but will require additional middleware or third-party plug-ins to run the system properly. There are thousands of supplemental software programs used to help run the major platforms, and cost ranges are huge. It is extremely important to know this up front. We have seen clients duped into implementing less-expensive add-on software only to find later they actually need the more expensive option.

Know the full costs up front as much as possible. When you have this five-year plan and budget in hand, you can see the overall picture and better control your costs. So how then do you pay for all this to take advantage of the savings your plan provides and avoid cost overruns? There are various methods.

  1. Pay cash upfront. Cash is always king when it comes to lower total costs — but still recognize it may reduce much-needed working capital for your day-to-day operations. (Remember: Cash flow is why the monthly software-subscription model looks so attractive initially.)
  2. Use a line of credit. This will usually offer the best variable rate, but don’t forget that lines of credit are intended for short-term borrowing, not long-term assets like technology infrastructure components. Plus they may have additional fees, payment schedules, and other requirements and parameters when used.
  3. Get a fixed-term installment loan or payment agreement. Software can be financed along with professional services, maintenance, and most third-party software. Programs with low rates may let you take advantage of the prepaid discounts from software suppliers. These discounts can more-than-offset any finance charges and still give your company a substantial savings over the duration of your five-year plan. With a fixed term, you don’t need to worry about rising or variable interest rates, which makes your project budget far more realistic.

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Secondhand Superiority: The Benefits Of Relying On Used Construction Equipment

Used Construction Equipment

Secondhand Superiority: The Benefits Of Relying On Used Construction Equipment

Used Construction Equipment

As the owner or manager of a construction company, high capital costs will be a serious obstacle to success throughout the life of your business. From trucks to cranes to rigs to scaffolding, construction equipment is highly expensive, and is only getting costlier as time goes by. This creates a challenge for small and new construction companies, which struggle to afford all the equipment necessary to do their work safely and effectively. Used construction equipment offers an array of advantages for cash-strapped companies, allowing you to:

Reduce Purchase Prices of Construction Equipment

The initial purchase price for used equipment is far lower than that for new equipment. Depending on what specifically you are buying, you may be able to get twice as much used gear as new for the same cost. Not only does this prevent you from tying up all your money in initial purchases, but it gives you more financial flexibility to make sure you have every piece of equipment you need ahead of time. You’re thus unlikely to ever begin a construction job unprepared.

Deflect Depreciation

As with most vehicles, new construction equipment loses a large portion of its value the moment you take it off the lot— even if you keep it in pristine condition! When you buy used equipment, that initial depreciation will already be out of the way long before you make the purchase. As long as you make sure what you’re buying hasn’t been seriously damaged, you’ll be able to get the same quality gear without having to deal with depreciation. You can then resell it for nearly what you paid for it if you ever have to raise money or realize you don’t need the equipment.

Avoid Production Losses

When you buy new equipment, it’s often necessary to wait for weeks or even months for the manufacturer to produce and ship it. Used equipment, on the other hand, is ready to go right away. This means you will not have to pause your operations for as long, saving you from the cost of lost productivity.

Lower Equipment Leasing Expenses

Even if you plan to lease your equipment rather than purchasing it, there is still a financial advantage to choosing used. Used equipment is less expensive to lease than new equipment. This decreases the chance that you’ll have trouble keeping up with all of your payments. It also frees up more of your credit for use on emergencies and other expenses.

For more information on purchasing or leasing used equipment and other tips for cash-strapped construction businesses, contact Dimension Funding today.

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The Benefits of Medical Equipment Financing and Leasing

Leasing Medical Equipment

The Benefits of Medical Equipment Financing and Leasing

Leasing Medical Equipment

When it comes to the healthcare industry, effective medical equipment financing is literally a matter of life and death. Unless you can obtain the most advanced equipment, drugs, and personnel to deal with every variety of diseases and injuries, you won’t be able to heal patients in critical conditions. For this reason, it is essential that you consider all your financial options and choose the one that best fits the needs of your hospital. In particular, you should never overlook the opportunity to lease medical equipment rather than buy it, an option that allows you to:

Invest in the Most Advanced Medical Equipment

If you insist on buying your equipment outright, you may not be able to afford the most advanced devices right away, forcing you to wait until you can save up enough money. Leasing lets you use those devices now, reaping benefits such as:

  • Lower Costs– More modern medical devices often use less energy for the work they do, lowering your power bill. This will improve the financial health of your hospital while helping make up the cost of the lease.
  • Better Outcomes– The more advanced medical equipment is, the more effective it will be at treating patients’ diseases and injuries. This speeds up recovery times, improves patients’ quality of life, and even saves lives.
  • Faster Service– Many of the latest medical devices serve patients more quickly than their older counterparts. Given how serious hospital overcrowding has become, there are few better investments you can make for your facility.

Remember that these benefits of financing and leasing don’t just help your facility and patients. By serving a larger number of people and achieving better outcomes, you reduce the strain on other hospitals and clinics as well, leading to better results throughout the healthcare system.

Keep Cash on Hand for Emergencies

Even if you have the money to buy all the advanced devices you need now, tying up that money in equipment may not be a wise decision for your hospital or patients. Remember that a natural disaster or other crisis could strike at any moment, causing a dramatic increase in injuries and illnesses. To meet the needs of this horde of new patients, you will have to order more drugs and devices, pay enough people to stay fully staffed at all times, and use more of your equipment ‘round the clock. All of these steps require massive spending, and without cash on hand, you may not be up to the challenge. Leasing your equipment leaves your funds free, allowing you to stay prepared for emergencies.

Dimension Funding offers medical equipment financing and leases for a wide variety of medical devices. To learn more or get started applying, contact us today.

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Payment Prudence: Why You Should Opt For Software Leasing

Software Leasing

Payment Prudence: Why You Should Opt For Software Leasing

Software Leasing

The role and importance of business software has changed dramatically in the past few decades, yet many firms are still treating software financing the same way they always have. Companies continue to purchase programs outright, even when they are of limited long-term value. Instead, you should consider leasing software for your business, especially if:

You’re Concerned About Capital

If you lack the cash to purchase valuable programs, leasing allows you to gain access to them immediately rather than having to save up money. This means you can reap any productivity or cost-cutting rewards the software brings now, taking full advantage of all opportunities to grow as a business. Even if you have the money, leasing leaves you free to spend more of it on other investments rather than sinking it all into digital purchases. These savings are further enhanced by the many tax advantages that come with leasing.

You Can’t Keep Up with Updates

If you don’t specialize in tech, you likely have trouble keeping track of new software updates. Even when you know new programs are available, you may not be able to judge how valuable they are to your business. Software providers have the specialized knowledge to identify and evaluate updates. Leasing also means you won’t have to spend money on programs that will soon become obsolete, limiting your potential for lost investments.

You Need a Myriad of Products

If your company relies on a wide range of different programs and applications, buying them all may create an enormous logistical and financial hassle. Leasing allows you to gain access to a multitude of products without the burden of purchasing each one. The examples/types of leased software include customer relationship management (CRM) systems, computer-aided design (CAD) programs, ecommerce software, and Point of Sale (POS) applications.

You Require Supplementary Services

Leasing software gives you access to a range of services that supplement the programs themselves. These include training your staff to use the software and customizing it to fit your unique needs. Providers also tend to offer troubleshooting and security services to you if you lease.

You Still Desire Ownership

If you still desire the benefits of ownership, many leases allow you to become the owner once the contract comes to an end. Such leases often require no additional payments, all while letting you reap the benefits of leasing prior to that point.

Dimension Funding offers the full range of business software products, along with quality support services, to all companies and organizations. For more information or to sign up for a lease, contact us

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