Posts in category: Business Advice

There are two types of marketing: outbound and inbound. Outbound marketing includes trade shows, email blasts to purchased lists, cold calling, brochures and traditional advertisements. They’re considered “outbound” because you’re pushing your advertising out, hoping that customers see it.

The affordability and effectiveness of inbound marketing is making outbound tactics less popular. Outbound marketing is less effective at moving the sales needle. Why? Consumers are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages every day. And, it’s expensive without the ability to accurately measure results.  

For example, ABC Company can spend thousands on writing, designing and printing company brochures. They end up staying in the box because brochures must be distributed in person. Or, ABC can spend marketing budget on inbound marketing that directly reaches targeted prospects actively seeking ABC’s services.

Inbound marketing tactics can deliver customers straight to your door. No more wasting money sending out messages, hoping the right person sees or hears it. As if that wasn’t convincing enough, here’s another reason to begin or ramp up your inbound marketing to drive sales after you finance an equipment lease:

Inbound marketing is flexible and scalable. You can easily match your changing seasonal, promotional or budgetary needs.

Use These Inbound Marketing Strategies to Increase Demand for Your Leased Equipment

Regardless of the type of leased equipment you financed, the more it’s in use, the more profit you make. Inbound marketing can drive business for your equipment, and even offset the cost of marketing, as well as the monthly payment.

A Website

Inbound marketing leads back to your website. Make sure your website:

• Is mobile friendly
• Is optimized for search engine optimization
• Has great content with your keywords
• Is user friendly
• Includes forms or calls to action

Those are for starters. It’s worth investing in a professional website, otherwise you risk turning off customers or not being ranked well in search engines.

A Blog 

Blogs serve several purposes, including:

• Improving search engine rankings by posting informational blogs that include your service keywords
• Establishing your company as an expert in your field
• Posting company news and promotions

Whitepapers and Case Studies 

Whitepapers and case studies prove your knowledge and how you solve customers’ problems. Whitepapers are factual, not salesy. Case studies focus on problems/solutions, not your equipment, but how your equipment or expertise conquers challenges.

Whitepapers and case studies can be posted in your website’s blog section. Or, you can offer them as a download or email in exchange for contact information (and permission to keep marketing to them).

Videos 

Videos can be made with your phone, and shorter is better—no more than two minutes, ideally 30 seconds. Your leased equipment makes for excellent video material, like:

• Equipment in action
• How-to videos
• Experts weigh in
• Video version of a blog or case study 

Social Media 

Have a social media presence on the channels where your audience is. Post snippets of your blogs, promotions, specials, whitepapers, case studies and videos on social media with a link back to your website. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 

SEO isn’t one tactic, but a number of strategies that makes all of your inbound marketing more visible to search engines. Frankly, it doesn’t matter how wonderful your website, blogs, whitepapers, case studies, videos, etc. are if they aren’t optimized for search engines.

There is far too much information to learn about SEO to cover here, but it’s well worth your time to Google SEO best practices.

Finding What Works Best to Market Your Leased Equipment 

No one knows your business and customers better than you do. You may find a combination of the above or one inbound marketing tactic delivers the sales results you need to make financing your leased equipment even more profitable.

Finally, work with an equipment financing team that is invested in your company’s overall success beyond financing equipment leases. Global Financial & Leasing Services (GFLS) works with many small to mid-sized companies and can answer your questions about all aspects of business. Contact us to find out more about your options. Ready to apply? Start with an application.

A solid business plan does many things for a business owner. It provides a clear road map which outlines the future of the business. It sets goals and holds a business owner accountable to them. It explains what the company is, who it serves, and how it works. It is the overall what, why, and how of a company. And perhaps most importantly, a business plan can make the difference between getting gaining crucial funding for equipment leasing or not.

What is the information that goes into a business plan and makes equipment financing lenders become interested in your business? What exactly do they look for, and what convinces them to approve your application?

Here are the seven components of a business plan, and what your potential funders will be looking for when they go through it.

Executive Summary:

This is a brief summary of your business, and should also compact all the important information of your entire business plan into a relatively short overview. It summarizes the highlights of the other sections of your plan, so a good rule of thumb is to write it after you’ve written all the other parts of the plan so that you can add the important ideas from other sections. This is most likely the first thing that your potential lenders will see, so it needs to be exciting, engaging, and informative—but not too lengthy.

Business Description:

This section explains what your business is, and what it does. It should state when the company was founded, where you are located, your mission statement, your business model, the legal structure, and your projected growth. These answers will tell your story and will help equipment financing lenders connect to you, as it will show them how you’re viewing your venture.

Market Analysis:

Your market analysis section is where you take a look at your market as a whole, where you fit within it, and why you stand out against your competitors. Be sure to include information on your target market, your customer personas, and testimonials (if you have them). The market analysis section is also the perfect place to answer the questions that your value proposition asks:

• What are you solving for your customers?
• How are you solving it?
• Who has the problem?
• Why do your customers care if you solve it?

This section is important to equipment financing lenders as it will teach them about your market and how you will impact it.

Organization Management:

This section is a great opportunity to impress equipment financing lenders. Be sure to spotlight the expertise and qualifications of each member of your team. Equipment financing lenders will be more likely to approve your application if a company has a competent, qualified staff. It’s the ideal place in your business plan to brag.

Sales Strategies:

The sales strategy section is very important for equipment financing lenders. It’s where you explain in detail how you will utilize marketing efforts such as social media, press releases, search engine optimization, web design and development, and more to raise money with your business and make profits a reality. You will describe your price strategy and will also detail the promotional strategies you’re currently using, along with strategies you plan to implement later on. This section shows that you have carefully considered how to using sales to grow revenue and in turn be able to pay your equipment lease payments.

Funding Requirements:

Here’s where you will ask for the amount of money you need from potential equipment financing lenders. In this section, it’s important to be as realistic as possible, and to also include information for a best-case scenario as well as a worst-case scenario.

Financial Projections:

Another very important section for potential investors, the financial projections are where you summarize any successes up to this point and make forward-looking projections. The projections should be based on information about your revenue growth and market trends, and should be created using information about what’s currently happening, combined with your sales strategies. These projections will let potential equipment financing lenders know when they can expect to see timely repayments.

Each section of a business plan is very important to your potential equipment financing lenders. They will be looking through all of them to discover your story, purpose and mission; who your customers are; why you believe you stand out from your competitors and where you see yourself within your industry; what sort of team you have; what your “disaster planning” is; how much funding you need, and give them confidence in your ability to repay.

For most business owners, the thought of drafting a business plan sounds like paperwork—something you should do, but just can’t get excited about because you have a business to get off the ground or run.

However, a business plan should be exciting. Why? Because it can be a roadmap that leads you more quickly to the path of success. It allows you to run your company with a complete and cohesive vision, and it is how you will drive the future growth of your business.

How exactly does a document play such a key role in guiding your business? Let’s start with the basics.

Why Have a Business Plan?

Having a business plan sparks action. For one, it forces you to consider all aspects of your company, which means nothing will get overlooked and ignored. When you begin digging into all the information included in a business plan, you’ll uncover factors that demand to be addressed, including your mission statement, value proposition, customer personas, marketing assumptions, operations plan, financial plan, employment plan, and more. A business plan also helps ensure you’ll be prepared for anything because it will point out layout a plan of action to tackle problems before, during and after they occur to avoid serious disruptions and pitfalls.

Are you a goal-driven person? Business owners usually are, and a solid business plan will create and set goals for your business. You can use it to monitor progress, hold you and other stakeholders accountable, and ultimately help control the fate of your business.

When the time comes to secure equipment financing, a well-written business plan is an absolute must. Equipment financing lenders need to see clearly the pathway to your success because they’ll want to evaluate their risk. When the time for financing equipment to further business growth comes, you’ll be glad you have one ready to go versus having to fit developing one into your already busy schedule.

A written record of your company goals—paired with a track record of delivering against those goals—will let equipment financing lenders know that you fully understand your business and industry and will be able to deliver the results that you’re promising. Equipment financing lenders want to know that you’re serious and have thought out and planned your business strategy.

What are the Major Sections of a Business Plan?

Now that you understand why a business plan is crucial, you need to know what to include in the plan. Generally, there are seven components of a strong business plan. These include:

1. Executive Summary – An overview of your business, which includes the most important ideas from the other sections.
2. Business Description – An explanation of what your business is and what it does. Location, year founded, and other details should be included.
3. Market Analysis – A description of your market as a whole, where your business fits within it, and why you feel your company is superior to competitors.
4. Organization Management – The bios and experience of your impressive leadership and/or management team.
5. Sales Strategies – An explanation of your current and future marketing plans, and how you plan to generate revenue.
6. Funding Requirements – A presentation of the amount of money required to fund the business (and essential equipment).
7. Financial Projections – A summary of your successes up to this point, including forward-looking projections.

Each of these sections are extremely important when writing your business plan. They’ll help you as your business progresses and grows day by day, and they will also come together to form the clear concept and vision that will help secure potential equipment financing lenders, like Global Financing & Leasing Services.

Having a business plan is absolutely necessary for any business. If you haven’t started yours yet, the time to do so is well before your business requires financing for equipment.