We get asked by many clients whether they should rent or buy a coffee machine? The answer depends on a number of considerations, not least of which is whether they have the funds to buy a coffee machine straight out. The advantage of buying a machine is that you have complete control over what you do with it. The best way to look at this is not whether you buy or rent a coffee machine but what benefits each gives you. Renting coffee machines has a number of benefits that we set out below:
1. You get the use without the worry of ownership
If you run a business, you must make many decisions each day, so why add the coffee machine to that lengthy list when you can simply get the use of the machine without having to worry about getting capex approvals, arranging ownership, paying for repairs and checking that your asset is present every audit etc. Renting a coffee machine reduces decision making to agreeing on the monthly rental and paying your bill because the rest should be taken care of by your supplier.
2. It’s tax deductible
The use of a coffee machine during the course of business is tax deductible. It is a legitimate staff benefit and so while it will cost you money to rent, the amount will be less than you think because you can claim its use against tax you have to pay. At the same time, you’ll be adding value to your staff as we’ll see below.
3. You get to upgrade/downgrade as you need
Reputable coffee machine companies will offer you coffee equipment that meets your needs. As your circumstances change, so might your coffee needs. If you hire more staff, you may need a bigger machine and if you split your office location you may need two smaller machines instead of one large coffee maker. If you choose a good supplier, this will never be an issue because a) they’ll have a range of machines to offer you (take a look at the Dr Coffee coffee machine range to see just how many different options actually exist!) and b) they’ll be willing to swap out your current machines for what you actually need because keeping you happy is a core belief in their business.
4. You can manage costs
The great thing about a coffee machine is that all the ingredients are inside the machine and so you can manage the costs by controlling what is going into the machine. This is a discussion with your supplier and good suppliers procure in bulk and can offer you products at a lower price than you could buy them in retail shops. Secondly, modern equipment has the option for card readers and so each staff member can be given a set allocation of drinks per day or month using their staff cards and again, you will not have to buy this item if renting a coffee vending machine.
5. You get staff back in the office
Covid-19 took us all out of the office and the work-from-home culture became set for many office staff. The point is that video calls don’t build teams as well as across the table interactions, and of course, when you are all in the room there is no chance for anyone to pretend to be there while hiding behind an avatar and reading a magazine! Providing decent coffee makes it all the easier to attract staff back for meetings because many have missed out on the coffee shop quality coffee that many modern machines can provide at the touch of a button. This is also a benefit if you were to buy coffee machines but renting gives you the freedom to decide how many machines and the length of your contract.
6. You get performance improvements
Another reason to buy or rent an office coffee machine is that there is no doubt about a hot drink giving you a lift. When that drink is tea or coffee, you get the caffeine boost too. It’s the perfect welcome to the office on a cold morning and a pick-me-up after lunch, when that mid-afternoon lull, hits.
7. Staff stay in the office
Quality coffee is important to many people and if your office has a kettle and a jar of soluble coffee in the kitchen, it isn’t going to stop them getting in their car and driving down to the local coffee shop for a take-away cup of coffee. If they feel they need to go out to get good coffee, you’ll get less time in the office and of course, once out, the temptation to do other errands increases too. Good rental companies achieve this by constantly reviewing consumable products and finding better ingredients into the machines all the time.
8. Staff appreciate the investment
We ask our staff to do more, and better, each year. In return, managers realise that offering a great work environment is a great way to encourage greater commitment. When staff see that managers appreciate them enough to offer on-site child-care, medical insurance, extended leave opportunities or great coffee, then they may be more willing to go that extra mile. If your company cannot offer many great benefit packages, then because great coffee doesn’t cost the earth, it is an affordable offering that constantly reminds staff that management cares.
9. Renting a coffee machine is cost effective
When all the ingredients are in the machine, there is no temptation to put sugar sachets in pockets or to use the milk in your protein shake or porridge. The other positive is that there is portion control because every drink is made the same way. Of course, that may limit personal preference, but any supplier of modern coffee machines will use machines that have the ability for users to moderately increase or decrease coffee strength, milk volume and sugar amount in their drinks. The rental fee may well be covered just by the reduction in loss or misuse of ingredients that are left out on the counter.
10. Service from the coffee machine rental company is likely to be faster
Here’s the last good reason, but maybe one of the important ones. When your rented coffee machine is not working it upsets not only you and your staff but also the company that rented you the machine… because a machine that isn’t working is a machine that isn’t generating turnover! Add that to the fact that every coffee machine rental company wants to keep their machines in good order through regular servicing to extend the useful life of their machines, and you can be sure they will be sending a technician to do routine preventative maintenance, or a callout technician as soon as you report an issue.
So there you have 10 really good reasons why you’d want to rent coffee machines and some of these apply to buying a coffee machine too! So whatever your decision, there are a lot of good reasons either way.