Rent or Buy: 6 Reasons to Rethink Your Furniture Spending

By
Mary Best
·
June 13, 2018

Okay, okay. By the looks of this article’s title, you’re probably saying to yourself: “Can’t I just go to IKEA and buy a Klupporsta or maybe even a nice Venskorp?” Sure you can...if you want to have to repurchase new particle board/bonfire kindling desks in five years. You already rent or lease your office space and other things like your printer and other tech equipment. Here are some reasons to take another look at your decision to rent vs. buy office furniture.

You need it now.

...actually, you needed it yesterday (but who’s counting?). Office furniture rental companies can deliver in a hurry, often within the week. So instead of ordering something from a catalog and waiting for weeks, you can outfit your offices by Thursday.

Upfront vs. Monthly Costs

The kind of office furniture you want is likely expensive. Because, unlike the less durable IKEA furniture, office furniture does need to last. Long-lasting commercial office furniture is a higher cost, but you do not need to start there. Depending on your cash flow situation, you may not be able to shoulder the expense of a costly one-time purchase. Instead, you can rent or lease the same furniture.

Convenience

Renting is great for many reasons, and probably the biggest one is flexibility. Renting furniture allows for your growing company to...grow. As your team scales, does build outs and gets to truly invest in a space, that is the time to allocate big budget to buying furniture.  

When your company is young and agile with hiring, make sure your furniture can grow along with it.

What to rent:

  • Desk Chairs
  • Couches
  • Bookshelves
  • Plants/Planters

Buy for quality, or niche items.

What to buy:

  • Desks
  • Monitors
  • Lamps
  • Rugs (Eden favorite is Flor squares)

Transitioning from renting to buying doesn’t have to happen overnight; slowly transition your items. When moving into a space, rent furniture for the first six months. This allows you to see how you actually use the area. The library might quickly need to be an office or meeting room next month. Changes happen, and renting allows for flexibility.

For Your Fluctuating Staffing Needs

Depending on the season of your startup, your business could grow rapidly, or –– in a worst-case scenario –– shrink. It’s easy when renting furniture to add one or two desks or return a few. The office furniture fairies simply beam furniture from their magical warehouse to and from your office with a simple snap of their fingers.

If you have a more established business, renting can also work for your benefit. Whether you’re doing a build out of a new space or needing to outfit a satellite office, furniture rental could be the way to go. If you’re expanding your business empire, the ease of furniture renting can free up your brilliant mind to make more important decisions.

When Your Office is On the Move

If you have a limited time office space lease, disassembling and moving office furniture is a major burden. Another benefit of renting office furniture is that, if your office moves, the rental/leasing company will move your furniture for you. Alternatively, if you’re moving offices, this could be a good time to switch up your decor style and choose a different design aesthetic.

Renting or leasing office furniture is an important thing to think about when you’re crunching your company’s numbers every month. It could be a financially attractive idea to consider.

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