Equipment financing is the funding type Rowanrun Business Loans puts first for Loveland, Colorado owners. This page covers five equipment groups with Larimer County, CO counts for the trades that use them: landscaping crews, restaurant kitchens, machine shops, dental practices and salons. It also explains loans versus leases and what to know about used equipment.
Landscape Equipment Financing for Mowing and Irrigation Crews
Landscaping services counted 210 employer establishments in Larimer County, CO in 2023, 63.8% with fewer than five employees, and 460 landscaping businesses without paid employees for 2024 (Census County Business Patterns 2023; Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024). A crew's working gear is mowers, trailers, trucks, trenchers and irrigation tools, all of which a funder can identify by serial number and resell if needed.
Illustration only, invented figures: a two-crew outfit buys a commercial zero-turn mower ($16,500), an enclosed trailer ($9,800) and irrigation tools ($4,200), $30,500 in all. Paid over 48 months at an invented 9% annual rate, the crew would owe around $759 each month (our arithmetic). The landscaping page covers crew trucks and payroll.
Kitchen and Brewhouse-Style Equipment for Loveland, CO Restaurants
Full-service and limited-service restaurants together counted 612 employer establishments in Larimer County, CO in 2023 (296 and 316; our arithmetic), and drinking places another 63 (Census County Business Patterns 2023). Their equipment runs from ranges, hoods and walk-in coolers to dish machines, draft systems and fermenting tanks. Hoods and walk-ins are partly built into the space, which affects what a funder can recover and so how it prices the deal.
Illustration only, invented figures: a kitchen replacing a hood line, a six-burner range and a walk-in cooler for $64,000 over 60 months at an invented 10% annual rate pays about $1,360 a month (our arithmetic). The landlord's consent matters here, since a funder may need access to remove financed equipment. The restaurant page and the coffee shop page go further.
CNC Machine Financing Options for Loveland, CO Machine Shops
Fabricated metal product manufacturing, which includes machine shops, counted 79 employer establishments in Larimer County, CO in 2023, 23 of them with a ZIP 80537 address, and commercial machinery repair shops another 28 (Census County Business Patterns 2023; Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). CNC mills and lathes, press brakes, lasers and inspection equipment hold resale value that a funder can measure, which is why they finance well as equipment rather than as unsecured debt.
Illustration only, invented figures: a shop buys a five-axis machining center for $185,000, puts $18,500 down, and finances the rest over 84 months at an invented 8.75% annual rate: about $2,658 a month (our arithmetic). Tooling, fixtures and installation can sometimes be rolled in; ask the partner which soft costs it will include. The machine shop page has more.
Dental Equipment Loans for Dentists Buying a Practice
Offices of dentists counted 209 employer establishments in Larimer County, CO in 2023 (Census County Business Patterns 2023). Operatory chairs, delivery units, imaging and sterilization equipment are among the costliest purchases a practice makes, and a dentist buying an existing practice may inherit equipment that will need replacing within a few years of the purchase.
Illustration only, invented figures: two new operatories with chairs, delivery units and an imaging upgrade at $72,000, financed over 72 months at an invented 8.5% annual rate, cost about $1,280 a month (our arithmetic). Financing equipment separately from the practice purchase keeps the acquisition loan smaller. The dental office page covers both.
Salon Furniture and Stations for Loveland, CO Salons
Beauty salons, nail salons and barber shops together counted 184 employer establishments in Larimer County, CO in 2023 (132, 36 and 16; our arithmetic), and Nonemployer Statistics counted 683 beauty salons and 150 nail salons without paid employees for 2024 (Census County Business Patterns 2023; Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024). Stations, hydraulic chairs, shampoo bowls, pedicure spas and dryers are the main equipment purchases.
Illustration only, invented figures: 6 styling stations at $2,900 and 3 shampoo bowls at $2,400 total $24,600; over 36 months at an invented 11% annual rate the payment is about $805 a month (our arithmetic). Plumbing and electrical work for new bowls is a build-out cost, which a partner may treat differently from the equipment itself. The salon page has more.
Is Equipment Financing a Loan or a Lease?
It can be either. An equipment loan makes the business the owner from day one, with the funder holding a lien until the last payment. A lease leaves ownership with the funder for the term; at the end, the business may buy the item, return it or renew, depending on the lease. A capital or finance lease that ends in a nominal buyout works much like a loan; an operating lease with a fair-market-value buyout works more like a rental.
Which fits depends on how long the business plans to use the item, whether it wants to own it at the end, and how the payments are treated for taxes, a question for the business's accountant. The article comparing an equipment loan with a capital lease works both through with invented numbers.
What Is an Equipment Loan, and What Does the Machine Secure?
An equipment loan is a term loan used to buy a specific item, secured by that item. The funder files a lien and releases it once the loan is paid off. Because the collateral is identifiable and can be resold, a partner may be able to consider a business that would not qualify for unsecured credit, though the business's revenue and credit still weigh in.
- The written quote or invoice: make, model, year, serial number, seller.
- Whether the item is new or used, and its expected working life.
- Where the item will be kept or used.
- The last few months of business bank statements and the most recent return.
- Every machine loan or lease already running, with its monthly cost.
Used Equipment Financing and the Appraisal Question
Used equipment can be financed, but the funder lends against what the item is worth, not what the seller asks. Illustration only, invented figures: a used lathe listed at $48,000 that an appraiser values at $41,000 leaves a $7,000 difference (our arithmetic) the buyer may need to cover in cash or negotiate away. Private-party sales may also need a lien search and a bill of sale.
Age matters too. A partner may set a shorter term for an older machine, so the payments end before its useful life does. Asking for the maximum term a partner will consider for a given age of equipment is a fair first question.
Five longer articles test this page against real purchases: pedicure chairs and a nail-bar build-out, cribs, cots and a playground for a child care center, a press brake or a five-axis mill for a fabricator, operatory chairs that come with a dental practice purchase and a plain equipment loan set against a capital lease.
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