Using Equipment Leasing as a Competitive Weapon


Most great generals know how to design winning battle plans. They also know how to use their resources to gain advantages over the enemy. For these military leaders, getting enough tanks, aircraft, ships and armaments into the hands of the right personnel can spell military victory or defeat.

In the business arena, gaining access to certain resources and getting them into able hands can also determine success. Many successful business leaders have discovered that equipment leasing can make a significant difference when competing in the marketplace. In fact, equipment leasing has become a competitive weapon for business managers who understand how and when to use this helpful financing tool.

Here are some ways savvy business owners and managers use equipment leasing to gain advantage over their competitors:

Developing a Financing War Chest

Equipment leasing allows companies to finance more activities to compete effectively. It supplements other forms of financing, such as equity capital, bank debt, trade credit and mortgage financing. Astute business managers understand that access to a variety of useful financing affords them certain options and gives them an advantage over competitors with limited financing.

Maintaining State-of-the-Art Technology

Being able to acquire and use state-of-the-art equipment and software can give many companies a noticeable competitive advantage. This advantage can be particularly significant in research, product development, marketing and operations. By using equipment leasing, companies are able to better manage technology turnover. Many managers use operating leases to acquire state-of-the-art equipment for fixed time periods. At lease end, they are then able to rid themselves of obsolete equipment by returning the equipment to the lessors.

Stretching Equity Capital

Equity capital is often the most flexible form of business funding. It allows companies to undertake high-impact growth activities like adding key personnel, conducting research and development, and expanding marketing programs. Equipment leasing is dedicated financing. It permits companies to add equipment efficiently. In this context, equipment leasing helps to leverage and stretch a company's equity capital by freeing it up for other uses. When used properly, the overall impact of equipment leasing is to leverage equity returns. High equity returns attract investors and permit companies to source more equity capital in the future.

Equipping Talented People to Engage In Battle

Using leasing to get the best software and hardware into the hands of talented personnel is a competitive advantage. Companies that quickly get equipment into the hands of talented workers at every level usually compete more effectively in the marketplace.

Accelerating Company Growth

Equipment leasing facilitates faster company growth. It allows companies to add infrastructure faster by bringing in equipment earlier and paying over time. In this regard, leasing affords a competitive advantage over companies that wait to purchase equipment outright.

Defending Working Capital

Astute business managers have discovered how to keep pressure off of their companies' working capital. Compared to outright purchase, equipment leasing has a low impact on working capital. Leasing allows companies to avoid large upfront outlays while spreading equipment acquisition costs over an extended period. Using equipment leasing to manage working capital permits companies to pay bills on time and to operate smoothly. They are then able to gain a competitive advantage over companies that have not mastered this technique.

Maximizing Tax Benefits

Sophisticated companies are able to maximize tax benefits by carefully using equipment lease structures. By entering into operating leases and being able to fully deduct lease payments, companies that can't otherwise use depreciation write-offs can still realize tax benefits. Capital leases allow companies that can use depreciation write-offs to take advantage of this feature. Tax benefits further reduce the cost of acquiring equipment. These benefits can often make equipment leasing a more efficient means of acquiring equipment compared to other methods.

Turbo-Charging Equipment Sales

For companies selling equipment, offering equipment leasing to customers at the point of sale can help establish a significant competitive advantage. Convenient equipment financing at the point of sale can eliminate a major selling challenge- the customer's lack of financing for the purchase. Equipment sellers offering leasing give their customers a means of acquiring the equipment and realizing the full benefits of equipment leasing. This sales-financing strategy represents a clear advantage over sellers who let customers fend for themselves.

Savvy business owners and managers understand the benefits of equipment leasing. They also understand how to exploit leasing for competitive advantage. The challenge for them is to optimize leasing to realize the biggest gains and to compete more effectively. It is no wonder that equipment leasing in the U.S. has grown to over $ 240 billion annually and accounts for more than 30% of equipment acquisitions. Consider equipment leasing when designing your battle plans. Don't allow your competitors to use leasing against you to win the battle in your market.

George Parker is a Director and Executive Vice President of Leasing Technologies International, Inc. ("LTI"). He is responsible for overseeing the company's marketing and financing efforts. One of the co-founders of LTI, Mr. Parker has been involved in secured lending and equipment financing for over twenty years. Mr. Parker is an industry leader, frequent panelist and author of several articles pertaining to equipment financing.

Headquartered in Wilton, CT, LTI is a leasing firm specializing nationally in direct equipment financing and vendor leasing programs for emerging growth and later-stage, venture capital backed companies. More information about LTI is available at http://www.ltileasing.com.





Latest News:



Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news
Myanmar's Suu Kyi to get family letters, news mags (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has managed to wring small concessions from the ruling generals in the form of letters from her family and some international news magazines, her lawyer said on Friday. SEC Looks Into UAL Stock Scare; Implications For Online News? (CBS News)
A ton of digits have been devoted to this in other spots but the SEC's decision to investigate takes it to another level. The backstory: a six-year-old news story about UAL declaring bankruptcy made it into the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel 's current news flow, was picked up by a Google (NSDQ: GOOG) News bot and, via a reporter for a newsletter, made it onto Bloomberg News. After a lot of buck ... JCDecaux in talks for News Outdoor Group in Russia (AP via Yahoo! News)
French outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux SA said Thursday it is negotiating to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. JCDecaux and News Corp. in talks to combine outdoor ad groups (International Herald Tribune)
The News Corp. chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, has recently expressed nervousness about investments in Russia, where News Outdoor generated the bulk of its revenue last year. News Corp tightens grip on Premiere with new CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Rupert Murdoch tightened his grip on German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere by appointing News Corp executive Mark Williams as CEO in a move to get the company back on track. SEC Looks Into UAL Stock Scare; Implications For Online News? (paidContent.org via Yahoo! Finance)
A ton of digits have been devoted to this in other spots but the SEC's decision to investigate takes it to another level. The backstory: a six-year-old news story about UAL declaring bankruptcy made it into the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel's current news flow, was picked up by a Google News bot and, via a reporter for a newsletter, made it onto Bloomberg News. Phila. mayor to announce grim budget news (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
The Nutter administration is expected to announce grim budget news today, which is all but certain to lead to significant spending cuts - perhaps as high as 10 percent - in some city departments, according to three sources familiar with the budget. DIVA TALK: Chatting with In the Heights ' Mandy Gonzalez Plus News of Fraser, Testa and Bundy (Playbill)
News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage. Help News pick Stadium's greatest moment (New York Daily News)
The News is marking the countdown to the final game at The House That Ruth Built by reflecting on Yankee Stadium's greatest moments - and we're asking you - the reader - to help us pick out the best of the best. JCDecaux in talks to buy News Corp. billboard unit (AP via Yahoo! Finance)
In a deal that would create the world's largest outdoor advertising company, French conglomerate JCDecaux SA said Thursday that it is in talks to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp.

Site: news - Google News
Fidelity to Roll out New Home Page Providing Real-Time Financial ... - MarketWatch

Washington Post

Fidelity to Roll out New Home Page Providing Real-Time Financial ...
MarketWatch - 5 hours ago
BOSTON, Dec 04, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Fidelity Investments today announced it will soon begin the rollout of a new home page for Fidelity.com. ...
Fidelity will stress news and advice online Boston Globe
Online Money: Fidelity expands online news focus The Associated Press
all 101 news articles
News roundup: UAW eyes concessions; Treasury considers new ... - USA Today

ABC News

News roundup: UAW eyes concessions; Treasury considers new ...
USA Today - 6 hours ago
The United Automobile Workers is willing to make "major concessions" to help save the Big Three, according to The New York Times. The Washington Post says ...
Video: UAW to Renegotiate Labor Terms, Modify Jobs Bank AssociatedPress
News Summary for December 3, 2008 NewsHour
News Minute: Auto worker concessions...Auto warning...Wal-Mart ... KVOA.com
The Associated Press - New York Times
all 1,687 news articles
Scripps to Seek Buyer for Rocky Mountain News - MarketWatch

Scripps to Seek Buyer for Rocky Mountain News
MarketWatch - 39 minutes ago
Scripps bought the Rocky Mountain News, which is Colorado's first newspaper and the state's oldest continuously operated business, in 1926. ...
Scripps putting Rocky Mountain News up for sale The Associated Press
Scripps putting Rocky Mountain News up for sale International Herald Tribune
all 172 news articles
Monster Mash: Breaking news and headlines - Los Angeles Times

Monster Mash: Breaking news and headlines
Los Angeles Times, CA - 2 hours ago
--New Yorker music critic Alex Ross wins the Guardian's 2008 book award for "The Rest is Noise." --And the Grammy nominations go to . ...
Street Sways On News Deluge - Forbes

Street Sways On News Deluge
Forbes, NY - 1 hour ago
The day began with news of substantial rate cuts from the Bank of England, European Central Bank and Sweden's Riksbank, followed by the Labor Department's ...
Flight to US Treasury Bonds Bad News for Economy Washington Post
Official recession news hammers Dow USA Today
Stocks down sharply...Recession declared...Manufacturing weakens ... KXMC
Forbes - Forbes
all 1,170 news articles
TechMeme Gives Up On Fully Automated News - Washington Post

TechMeme Gives Up On Fully Automated News
Washington Post, United States - 5 hours ago
3+ year old TechMeme, an automated news site that shows breaking news clustered by topic, has always generated "headlines" by analyzing how news sites link ...
News aggregator Techmeme melds algorithms and humans VentureBeat
Techmeme Goes Cyborg, Hires Human PC World
TechMeme gets a helping (human) hand Los Angeles Times
New York Times Blogs
all 9 news articles
Time Warner adding Buffalo news channel - Bizjournals.com

Time Warner adding Buffalo news channel
Bizjournals.com, NC - 5 hours ago
The competition for local television news viewers is increasing as Time Warner Cable said Thursday it is planning to roll out a 24-hour channel covering the ...
Wall Street reacts calmly to more bad news - The Associated Press

CBS News

Wall Street reacts calmly to more bad news
The Associated Press - 4 hours ago
NEW YORK (AP) ? Wall Street is taking in a larger-than-expected drop in factory orders with relative calm. This was the sharpest decline in orders in more ...
Video: Paulson: Other Rescue Programs Being Examined AssociatedPress
Stocks gain for 2nd session CNNMoney.com
markets plunge on US grim news CNN International
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - CEP News
all 1,720 news articles
Texas News Briefs - Houston Chronicle

Seattle Post Intelligencer

Texas News Briefs
Houston Chronicle, United States - 8 hours ago
Kansas' new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility would replace an aging 24-acre research complex on Plum Island, New York, where research is conducted on ...
Big news for Kansas greeted by lots of reaction Kansas City Star
all 463 news articles
Health Buzz: State Health Rankings and Other News - U.S. News & World Report

National Post

Health Buzz: State Health Rankings and Other News
U.S. News & World Report, DC - 2 hours ago
The next healthiest states were Hawaii (second place), New Hampshire (third), Minnesota (fourth), and Utah (fifth). Mississippi, which ranked as the ...
Northeast Ohio Health and Medical Consumer News The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com
all 234 news articles

MORE RESOURCES:
Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for leases leasing
Profile: NALP of Year Winner Feldman Says, 'Leasing Is about People, not Property' (Multi-Housing News)

Thomas Feldman is the proud recipient of the 2008 National Apartment Leasing Professional (NALP) of the Year title from the National Apartment Association Education Institute (NAAEI). Feldman leases apartments at 100 Memorial Drive, a 260-unit building in Cambridge, Mass. He believes, "You really need to make the experience of a site visit more than just a live 'virtual tour.' Gas Leasing Rights (WENY-TV)

ALBANY--New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is warning landowner's to be careful when they enter into oil and gas leases. Cuomo wants landowners to know their rights. The Attorney General's office is investigating a significant number of complaints. Farmland leasing program Sept. 11 (The Journal-Standard)

Landowners looking for information about farm leasing and farm management are invited to a Farmland Leasing Program from 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, at the Stephenson County Farm Bureau building, 210 W. Spring St. Cuomo to landowners: Know your rights (The Post-Standard)

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is alerting landowners to know their rights and to beware of "strong-arm tactics" before leasing property to gas exploration companies that are prospecting various counties in the state, including Madison. DNC leases Aspen buses (Vail Daily)

ASPEN, Colorado ? The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority will never be accused of throwing Barack Obama under the bus. Vintage Park Developers on leasing: We?re on schedule (Cypress Sun)

With ?For Lease? signs posted over many of the store front windows, right now Vintage Park may look like a ghost town. But that?s expected to change. INDECISION '08: Tenant Hesitation Hinders Leasing of New Projects (CoStar Group)

Call it the "deer in the headlights" effect. Caught in the glare of bad economic news, mixed-signals about the direction of the economy and an imminent change in administrations, many business tenants are opting to stay in a holding pattern and renew... State oil and gas leases sold (Bozeman Daily Chronicle)

Oil and gas tracts under and along the Yellowstone and Boulder rivers that caused concern among conservation groups this summer sold for a pretty penny this week at the state?s regular oil and gas lease sale. Carl Pope: A Very 21st-Century Scandal (HuffingtonPost)

Denver -- Reporters periodically ask me for good story leads. For five years I've been urging them to dig into the oil and gas leasing... Sex, drugs and . . . offshore oil drilling (Louisville Courier-Journal)

An Interior Department investigation found a "culture of substance abuse and promiscuity" by workers at the federal agency that issues offshore drilling leases and collects royalties. Site: leases leasing - Google News
National parks marginally escape Bush?s last-minute leasing program - Examiner.com

Daily Green

National parks marginally escape Bush?s last-minute leasing program
Examiner.com - 6 hours ago
The lease sale of the remaining land?more than 276000 acres?is still planned for December 19. In an area known for having some of the clearest, ...
BLM defends Utah lease sale; Utah defers tracts Oil & Gas Journal
Government backs off plan to drill in Utah canyons The Associated Press
Nine Mile Canyon: BLM pulls back on drilling plans Salt Lake Tribune
Wyoming Business Report - United Press International
all 195 news articles
Tips for Buying Tech in a Recession - Small Business Computing

Tips for Buying Tech in a Recession
Small Business Computing - 4 hours ago
"With fewer customers qualifying for leases, leasing will decline," he predicted. Also, less-advantageous leasing terms mean that some credit-worthy ...
Chicago leases parking meters for $1.16 billion - Reuters

Fresno Bee

Chicago leases parking meters for $1.16 billion
Reuters - Dec 2, 2008
By Andrew Stern CHICAGO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Chicago on Tuesday said it agreed to lease its parking meter system to a fund managed by Morgan Stanley in a ...
Chicago Parking Meters, LLC Selected as Winning Bidder for the ... MarketWatch
Chicago would get $1.2 billion in meter lease deal BusinessWeek
Aldermen debate Chicago parking meter lease Chicago Tribune
Chicago Public Radio - Bloomberg
all 152 news articles
Blockbuster to renegotiate store leases: CEO - Reuters

Blockbuster to renegotiate store leases: CEO
Reuters - 2 hours ago
"What we're in process of today is to renegotiate many of our leases to look at the opportunity to either extend our lease and reduce the cost or perhaps ...
Blockbuster to launch 99-cent price plan Reuters
all 3 news articles
Brookfield Properties Renews 717000-Square-Foot Lease with ... - WELT ONLINE

Brookfield Properties Renews 717000-Square-Foot Lease with ...
WELT ONLINE, Germany - 1 hour ago
Imperial Oil currently leases 633000 square feet at the 1.7-million-square-foot office complex, which is now 100% leased. With the expansion, the new lease ...
Leasing Pike may pay off, but at cost - Boston Globe

Leasing Pike may pay off, but at cost
Boston Globe, United States - 14 hours ago
By Noah Bierman Private investors from Australia and Spain paid the City of Chicago $1.83 billion for a 99-year lease on a toll bridge three years ago. ...
New turnpike partnership could give Mass. cash Boston Herald
Group Rallies Against 'Pike Hike Boston Channel.com
all 11 news articles
Fish fears put more drilling leases under fire - Salt Lake Tribune

Fish fears put more drilling leases under fire
Salt Lake Tribune, United States - 11 hours ago
The US Bureau of Land Management announced Tuesday it would pull lease parcels in the eastern Utah canyon that had been scheduled for sale Dec. 19. ...
New turnpike partnership could give Mass. cash - Boston Globe

New turnpike partnership could give Mass. cash
Boston Globe, United States - 9 hours ago
Chicago got $1.8 billion in Oct. 2004 when it entered into a 99-year lease with investors for the Chicago Skyway, and Indiana got $3.8 billion in Feb. ...
Genesis Lease to Present At FBR Capital Markets 2008 Investor Fall ... - Trading Markets (press release)

Genesis Lease to Present At FBR Capital Markets 2008 Investor Fall ...
Trading Markets (press release), CA - Dec 2, 2008
The webcast will be available live on the Genesis Lease website at www.genesislease.com/events.cfm. The archived webcast of the presentation will be ...
CTA rolls out hybrid buses - Chicago Sun-Times

CTA rolls out hybrid buses
Chicago Sun-Times, United States - 23 hours ago
The terms allow the agency to lease the buses for 12 years and retain ownership at the conclusion of the lease. Leasing allowed the CTA to begin to take ...
Hybrid buses hit Chicago streets WGN
CTA unveils new hybrid buses Chicago Tribune
CTA Introduces New Hybrid Buses Chicagoist
CBS2 Chicago - Chicago Breaking News - Tribune
all 8 news articles
Home | Site Map | Resource Links