Among the hardest decisions that a company faces is deciding between hiring versus buying a business van.
There are some factors to be considered when making this decision
Frequency of use
This is among the things that will help in making that decision. How often will the business van be needed for use? If the van has no constant use, then it is viable to hire than buying. Buying is necessary I the van will be used every day hence the cost of hiring becomes expensive hen compared to hiring.
The cost involved
With hiring comes the cost of hiring which may be payable after a certain period depending on how often the van will be hired. One also needs to find out if there are any other charges involved besides the hiring charge per day. It is necessary that one gets a written contract of hiring to avoid being expected to pay some charges that were not included in the contract initially.
On the other hand, when buying the business van, there are a lot of other costs involved. Some of them include the cost of buying the van. This may necessitate the company to take a loan to be able to fund the purchase. This will increase the cost of acquisition since the loan is payable with interest. There will also be insurance costs since the vehicle can’t be used without insurance. On top of that, there are maintenance costs which include servicing and fueling costs.
The company should be able to calculate how much input will be needed versus the much they will receive from the business the van will help them handle.
How flexible is each method
Hiring a business van may not be very flexible. This is especially if one is hiring from a company that needs one to make an advance booking before they can have the vehicle. Some will charge more if no advance booking is made. This ends up costing the company more than what they would wish to spend. It means that emergency business work may not be easily handled given that emergency needs do not come in advance. Buying a business van, on the other hand, is very flexible. The van is available for use by the business at any time so long as there is an employee driving it. The emergency situations can be comfortably handled.
Usage of the van
A hired van may have limited uses. This is because the contract signed may prescribe the kind of goods or services it can do. It means that the vehicle cannot be used outside the scope of the duties written in the contract. A bought business van may be used for all the tasks the company wants to use it for. So long as its insurance is paid for.
From the above, it is up to the company to decide which is the best way to take. This will be by doing a cost-benefit analysis of the two methods. Buying is more advantageous since the vehicle can be used to run all errands of the company. Hiring may be restrictive despite the fact that the company will still be paying to use the van.
