Laying the Foundation of My Business – Gwen’s Story
We’ve been asking around and listening to stories from our customers. In this series we share what some people have to say about launching their own business. What lessons have they learned? They happily impart some of their wisdom onto the rest of us.
This story comes from Gwen, who built her own adult care facility…
Creating a Paradise – Gwen’s Story
We live in a beautifully wooded area. This is definitely a dream come true for some, but not all. In my region, individuals with disabilities have very few resources to turn to for adult day care centres or work opportunities. I wanted to make their dream come true.
It was my goal to start a non-profit organization that would enable cognitively disabled people to learn about the business world, but yet be able to have fun. This would entail a property that already had a home on it with acreage to build several custom made facilities for recreation and therapeutic activities. The acreage would need to hold a small horse barn and meadow for therapeutic horse riding. We planned on building a small petting zoo. We also needed to create an adult “playground”, where individuals could enjoy a modified swing set and rock wall. We had to make sure that the paths leading up to the barn and playground were level enough to accommodate wheelchairs. Our goal was to have a smooth biking and hiking trail throughout the property.
I was able to obtain the perfect property. The house itself was fine, but we needed to do extensive work to prepare the acreage. In order to do that, we needed some full-time heavy equipment. Being a non-profit organization, we needed to watch every single penny while still getting our work done in a timely fashion. We realized that we would need to have a skidder, a dump truck, and a bobcat.
What Made You Look at Heavy Equipment Leasing?
At first, we figured we’d just be renting our equipment. But then, my husband who has been a contractor for years, looked at our plans! It became clear that we’d need multi-year use of our equipment.
I decided to look into a heavy equipment leasing program. I was able to lease everything our group needed. For our business, it was vital that we kept the paths and playground area clear of roots and stones.
It was only a matter of time before things were really starting to shape up on our property. Our hiking and biking trail turned out perfectly. The playground area was cleared and ready to go. Because we had chosen to lease our heavy equipment, we saved quite a bit of capital investment and were able to leverage that capital to complete some of projects ahead of schedule. We were able to get our business up and running much quicker than if we had chosen to buy the equipment outright.
Would You Recommend an Equipment Leasing Program?
Equipment leasing helped us complete our project in a tremendous way. We are able to utilize the dump truck, bobcat, and skidder while we slowly pay them off. Our payments are low enough that we can afford them.
I would highly recommend looking into leasing for large equipment to any small or mid-sized business owner. It’s a cost effective way to expand quickly. It’s a great tax break, too!
