When we talk about leasing car or vans, a common objection is “but I won’t own the vehicle”. And you’re right, you won’t own it, but how much of a problem would that be? We thought we’d look into what not owning a vehicle really means.
Vehicles lose value, fairly fast, and fairly significantly. If you own it, that’s a depreciating asset on your books.
When it comes to selling your car or van, not only do you know you’ll get a lot less than you paid, but you’ll also have the hassle to go with it. Whether it’s advertising the vehicle or arranging viewings and test drives, this could take up a lot of time.
If you lease a vehicle, all of that is the leasing company’s problem. You can just give the car back and put your feet up, without the hassle of trying to sell for a decent price.
And it’s not just the things you don’t have to put up with, there are additional benefits to leasing you may not always see if you own your vehicle.
- Account Management
- Fixed monthly payments
- Discounts leasing companies get from manufacturers
- Brand new vehicle
- Maintenance and insurance options
So maybe not owning your vehicle isn’t sounding so terrible, but how does this work in practice?
“All I have to do is put fuel in the vans”
Swindon-based businessman, Dave Ranford, had been a depot manager for CityLink for many years when he took the step of setting up his own mail delivery business nine years ago.
In the past nine years, he has been through every business life stage. As a startup operation, he drove the routes himself as well as handling all of the admin, finances, and sales.
At one point, his business grew dramatically, when he contracted both to UK Mail and DHL and the fleet increased to 16 vans. He then scaled it back.
Dave Ranford said, “work-life balance is really important for me. Quality of life matters. I have now scaled the business to ensure that it works for my employees, my customers and myself.”
The business now operates seven vehicles with five drivers across five routes. All the routes are Swindon based and the majority of the work is franchised with UK Mail on a four-year rolling basis.
The vehicles are regularly replaced, and recently, Dave made the decision to switch to leasing instead of rental when acquiring three new Renault Masters vans.
