Why you should avoid going too cheap with business equipment
Photo by Skylar Kang
Every successful business needs to consider costs. The more money you save, the bigger profits you can make. Unfortunately, paying less for things can sometimes result in poorer quality. One expense that you need to be particularly careful about sacrificing quality on is equipment. Finding cheap business equipment is easy, but it could have many negative consequences. Below are some of the reasons why you don’t want to opt for something too cheap when choosing business equipment.
Limited features
Cheaper equipment typically comes with less functions and perks. For example, when choosing a phone system for your business, you could save money with a cheap handset. But this is only going to have the very basic features required of a phone – which is taking and receiving calls. More advanced phone systems allow you to view callers, record calls, track data, set up phone menus, set up queues, transfer calls, block numbers and add VoIP numbers. All of this could help you to run your business more efficiently by answering all necessary calls (and rejecting all unnecessary calls). Of course, if you are only getting a handful of calls per day, you may not need these features. However, you need to consider what happens if you business grows – having these extra features may even encourage you to grow.
Reduced reliability
You should consider the fact that cheaper equipment will often be made from cheaper materials that are less robust. This means that your equipment could get more easily damaged or may experience wear and tear sooner. Cheaper equipment may also be constructed to be less precise. This could lead to reduced accuracy in quality. A prime example of where this could be a problem is when choosing surveying equipment. By investing in high quality surveying equipment, you may guarantee better damage resistance and more precision with surveying results. This reduces the chance of equipment breaking on you (which means time-consuming and costly repairs) or accidentally recording inaccurate figures (which could lead to insurance claims). Yes, it’s true that most equipment does need to be built to a minimum legal standard. However, this minimum standard may not always be enough if you want to deliver the most efficient and high quality service possible to your clients.
Safety concerns
You could find that cheaper equipment is also less safe. While all equipment has to meet certain health and safety standards before it is allowed on the market, this does not mean all equipment for sale is entirely safe. A good example is an office chair. While every office chair must meet certain standards such as having no sharp edges or being able to hold a certain weight, the cheapest office chairs may not offer as much comfort and ergonomic support as more premium options – which could lead to a greater risk of developing RSIs. Used office chairs could be particularly hazardous as wear and tear may affect their stability and comfort. A very old used office chair may also have been manufactured to different health and safety standards. So while you can get a good deal on such chairs, they’re not always a good option.
Impact on company image
Cheaper equipment can sometimes look basic, and may not seem capable enough. If clients are likely to see this equipment, you need to consider the impressions it will give them of your business. For example, a coffee bar using a visibly cheap coffee machine could suggest to clients that the coffee is poorer quality. True coffee aficionados may avoid buying a coffee from your coffee bar if they think it’s going to be inferior to other brews they’ve tasted. A visibly expensive coffee machine on the other hand is more likely to attract ardent coffee lovers. All in all, you want to instil trust into customers. By choosing high quality equipment, it shows that you care about your image and the quality of your product/service.
Employee dissatisfaction
Got employees who use your equipment? Choosing cheaper equipment could make employees less proud to work at your company. They may resent you for having to use equipment that does not have as many features or is less reliable. By spending more on equipment, you could make work easier and more enjoyable. A prime example of this is a dishwashing machine in a restaurant kitchen. A cheap machine may not be able to contain as many dishes, may be slower or may not have the cleaning efficiency. This could cause employees to get angry with the machine – particularly if they’ve had past experience working in a restaurant with a better quality dishwashing machine. Because the solution (upgrading the machine) is clear to them, you could find that they have less respect for the company.
Long-term costs
While you may save more upfront by buying cheap equipment, you could spend a lot more money in the long run. This is the biggest factor to consider for businesses on a tight budget. How can cheap equipment cost more in the long run? Firstly, its reduced reliability could mean that it breaks more frequently – and therefore needs to be repaired or replaced more frequently. Reduced accuracy could meanwhile lead to more errors – that could lead to costly refunds, chargebacks or even lawsuits. Then there is the possibility that cheaper equipment could reduce customer trust, which could cause you to lose business. Reducing employee satisfaction could meanwhile lead to a faster employee turnover, resulting in more money poured into job ads. Overall, there are a lot of extra expenses that can occur if you go cheap.
Conclusion
While you don’t need to invest in the most expensive equipment available, you should be careful of going too cheap as well. Something mid-range is likely to be the best option for a small to medium business. When comparing prices, use comparison guides online to also compare features and ratings to decide whether equipment is good quality. You can still get a good price on a high quality equipment, but you need to do more research to make sure what you’re buying is truly up to spec.
