When your business needs service vehicles for one reason or another, it becomes necessary to put together a business fleet. But the amount of revenue investment in even one high-quality business vehicle can be intimidating for a small to medium business and putting together an entire fleet can be a truly daunting concept.
Unless you choose to lease your vehicles instead. There are a lot of different ways to weigh the pros and cons between owning and leasing your business fleet, but for any business, getting started, in a state of growth, or test-driving new fleet-related services, nothing beats a fleet lease.
Let's take a closer look at the top eight reasons why fleet vehicle leasing is a smart business move for your company.
Buying a vehicle, much less a fleet of vehicles, is a serious investment. Not only in the vehicles themselves, but in the implementation you buy them for. A leased fleet, on the other hand, is highly scalable.
You can change the terms of your lease to add or remove vehicles based on the needs of your business. You can change the makes and models of the vehicles and the service packages to optimize your fleet to perfection.
You can expand your fleet when you discover what works and you can scale back on any fleet ideas that don't pan out. All without the permanent commitment of actually buying a vehicle or fleet of vehicles.
Speaking of flexibility, for many businesses having the latest model of vehicle is important for your brand image. In other businesses, having the latest features are key to providing the best possible quality of service or performance on the job.
This requires a different kind of flexibility, the ability to upgrade your vehicles every year or few years instead of working with an aging fleet. Leasing is the perfect way to do this. You can keep your fleet shiny and new or chock full of the latest industry technology without having to worry about constantly reselling your fleet and buying new.
When you own your business fleet outright (or are paying off the loans), maintenance is all on you. A fleet of vehicles essentially requires a matching fleet of mechanics, or regularly contracting with mechanics to keep your vehicles in top condition.
Leased fleet vehicles, on the other hand, often come with a special maintenance package from the lease provider. Your company gains the benefit of expert fleet maintenance from experienced mechanics who know how to take good care of a company vehicle. Fleet maintenance services go above and beyond periodic checkups.
You can also be sure of the little things like having your tires at the optimal pressure, the right seasonal wiper fluids, and potential problems caught and solved long before there's an on-the-road incident.
And if you're not sure what exactly the right fleet vehicles might be for your business needs, you don't have to guess or invest and hope you chose correctly. Fleet leasing services are experienced in helping businesses just like yours design the ideal fleet for the services you want to provide.
Whether you need trucks for field service teams or town cars to cart executives around town, a fleet expert can help you choose exactly the right vehicles and lease package for your industry and business needs.
What's really interesting is that leasing is a great option even for businesses that plan to eventually own their own fleet.
Many fleet leasing companies are fully prepared to sell a fleet to a company, but you don't have to choose either leasing or buying. You can lease with plans to buy. You can slowly convert your leased vehicles into purchased vehicles over time.
And best of all, you can build your ideal business fleet out of leased vehicles, perfect and optimize it, then buy the vehicles that make it perfect. This is a great way to build your fleet with all the permanence you may desire and none of the uncertainty. Or even the need to run on a partial fleet while you are in the process of buying all the vehicles.
Fleet leasing also gives you a unique flexibility when it comes to opening new locations and expanding your already successful business plan.
For many businesses, your first location is built to perfection, balanced based on your team, space, and the population you serve. While opening a new location requires you to carefully and strategically duplicate your entire operation.
With leasing, you can do that easily. If you need three town cars, two stretch limos, and a party bus, leasing has you covered. If you need eight identical service vehicles that perfectly fit your custom decals, leasing can do that for you, too. Whatever unique fleet you need duplicated, designed, or made available, leasing can do this far more easily and flexibly than vehicle purchase.
And if your team needs to grow by one or two drivers at a time, or to add another detail to your fleet services, leasing offers a far lower investment threshold to do this. Many businesses that already offer some fleet functionality will experiment in expanding services.
You may also or alternately find demand for your fleet services growing so that you need to expand availability without changing the entire plan. With business fleet leasing, you can add one or a few vehicles to your fleet with minimum investment. In fact, you can even arrange to add vehicles just for the duration of your fleet service busy season without investing in buying a whole new vehicle.
Finally, fleet leasing almost always comes with a rewarding array of fleet management services. From mechanical maintenance to fleet optimization support, fleet service businesses specialize in making the companies they serve as happy as possible with the leased vehicles.
You can run your fleet with confidence that every vehicle will remain in top condition with all the perks. And that your fleet can update year by year with no additional costs or complicated financial maneuvers.
For a flexible, growing, and cutting-edge business vehicle fleet, leasing is undeniably the smartest way to go. For more information about how fleet leasing can be the best possible choice for your business, contact us today!
Wilmar eliminates a lot of headaches ... they take the pressure off so we can do what we do best. With our clean cars and Wilmar’s expertise, we always get more money than we expect at the end of a lease.
Carl Howard President, Auto Bell Car Wash
Wilmar’s incredible. They care only about our needs ... delivering and maintaining the perfect vehicles for the job. I trust them. And when there’s a problem I make one phone call. Problem solved.
Kyle Hilliard Controller, Assa Abloy
We have a fleet of nearly 100 vehicles hitting the road every day. And every hour we spend worrying about acquiring, upfitting and maintaining these vehicles is an hour spent not doing what we do best. I leave it to the experts.
Trent Haston President/CEO, Roby Family of Companies
"One of the best decisions we made in the past year was to partner with Wilmar. They are a one-stop shop that professionally handles all of our requests in a very timely fashion. They make it easy for us to meet our customer demands."
Michael Griffin CFO / IT Director, ETAK Systems LLC
The comprehensive solutions Wilmar provides their clients results in significant cost savings and efficiencies that their clients enjoy. Unlike national firms, Scott and his team are life-long residents of the Charlotte, NC area. Having this ability to provide service continuity is a hallmark of Wilmar.
Dan Ewald President Ewald Fleet Solutions
Scott is great to work with. His knowledge of the leasing industry and his honest approach is valuable to those who want to better understand auto lease options. I highly recommend Scott and his team for any vehicle leasing needs.
Ward Norris Strategic Account Manager, NC/SC Future Lighting Solutions
"We wanted to thank you all for your commitment to customer service! Our salesman Barry is spot on with details and deliveries on new vehicles and Delice is great to work with on Tag and Titles. Your business partners have delivered good results for us as well. We have had positive experiences using Carolina Upfitters for customized vehicle solutions and your maintenance partner LeasePlan/Network has proven to be a valuable resource for our fleet maintenance needs. Thank you for your dedication to providing professional fleet services that keep our business moving forward, keep up the good work!
Debbie Nayman Fleet Administrator, The Hoffman Companies
"The Wilmar team does something that is almost a forgotten attribute in today's world, they put their customers' needs and service first regardless if it's one vehicle or one hundred. "
Larry Williams Supply Chain Director, Biscuitville Fresh Southern
"Wilmar has been a wonderful partner for us. I had originally decided to handle our small fleet by myself. I quickly determined that I did not have the expertise. Todd Jones came in and saved us significant time and savings. I had not understood the size and scope of the Company. We are grateful for what they do for us. Makes my life so much easier. "
Bill Wentz CFO, J. R. Cole Industries, Inc.
