Ice Machine Lease: Right Choice For Your Business Investment

Foodservice business is becoming more and more popular with restaurants, cafes, delis, and bars popping up here and there. Although the boost looks promising, it also leads to additional investments to pace with the growth. Some food prep and storage devices can go out of fashion, some fall short of customer expectations, and others fail to withstand heavy use. Added to these are the increasing preventive maintenance and utility costs. Business owners are now considering restaurant equipment rental as a viable solution. Ice makers, bins, and dispensers are among the most frequently used restaurant equipment, so ice machine lease is gaining popularity. 

Ice Machine Lease: A Protection Against Nightmares 

Now, let’s picture a scenario before digging into how ice machine lease can give you champagne taste on a beer budget. You run a bar in Nashville, the Music City, famous for its honky-tonks. Yours looks swanky with the addition of a rooftop lounge. You’re at home on this first Sunday of February. You can visualize people crowding into your bar. Today the reason is not music, but the Super Bowl (hooray!). With TVs and seats throughout, your bar is a real set-up for the game-day action. Yes, it isn’t one of those scorching days, ideal for iced drinks. However, the thrill of the Super Bowl is more than enough to raise the temperature. 

Spending such a big day at home, leaving your staff alone, sounds unfair? You think it’s like asking for an egg in your beer? No, of course not. It isn’t long since you outfitted your bar with top-of-the-line ice makers. Rather than making monthly payments for an ice machine lease program, you opted for paying once and buying your ice makers, bins, and dispensers. That was fairly justifiable because ice machines are among the highest ROI equipment. After the current boom in your profits, you deserve to live it up with your family for the first time in years.  

Anyway, the game’s already started, and you’re in your TV chair, sipping a glass of beer with gourmet ice cubes clinking around the glass. Just as your chilled drink was trickling down your throat, one of your bartenders calls to ruin the day. Your ice makers can’t catch up with the demand, and the storage bins can’t hold ice frozen.

Your hesitant “Why” question receives a series of “Maybe” answers. Maybe, employees skipped maintenance periods or forgot to change the water filters regularly. If your staff, pressed by customers, hasn’t sparked a mini-riot, you can still save the future, if not the day. No need to cry into your beer now. Here’s an ice-cold relief. You can ask yourself, “Is there an ice machine lease near me?” 

Why Ice And Why Ice Machine Lease? 

The scenario may sound a little exaggerated. Yes, it does. Exaggeration is a rhetorical device, anyway. There’s some truth in this imaginary nightmare, so running short of ice supply isn’t a shot in the dark. A similar problem can happen to any business owner on a smaller scale. Hearing about such a negative situation shouldn’t lead you to consider running a foodservice facility without an ice machine. That’s out of the question. The reason is simple. A restaurant, café, or bar without ice on the menu is like a vehicle without gas in the tank in America. 

Americans are ice-obsessed, says a recent survey on ice consumption in the US. The report reveals that Americans consume around 36 pounds of ice per month, with more than 400 pounds every year. People in this country won’t even drink tap water without ice. Americans are so obsessed with ice that it would be fair to say this land is experiencing a modern version of the Ice Age. A cold beverage isn’t a luxury or privilege for American consumers but a basic need and expectation.  

The need for ice machines for businesses is ice cold. You can’t afford to run short of ice. Therefore, ice makers are a must-have either through an ice machine lease program or purchasing your own machines. Ice makers have an increased ROI, so you can quickly start making money when you buy one. However, they’re also among the most vulnerable restaurant equipment. Considering the pervasive ice demand in the country, ice makers need to run round the clock to supply ice uninterruptedly, increasing the likelihood of machine downtime. 

Frequent use of commercial ice machines requires regular servicing, from descaling to changing filters. Failure to follow maintenance periods can readily result in breakdowns. Kitchen staff should have relevant training to carry out maintenance tasks properly. That means sparing their care, efforts, and cleaning and servicing machines skills. Added to the extra labor is the upkeep expenses. Buying an ice machine may mean buying all these problems, too. Therefore, making an ice machine lease agreement can be a hassle-free and inexpensive way of serving chilled beverages to your customers. 

Over 250 companies compete in the ice machine manufacturing industry in America. Every brand on the market offers a multitude of ice makers and dispensers, each with varying daily production capacities. There may also be miscalculation problems. When you buy an ice machine that doesn’t perfectly match your needs, you’ll either fail to supply ice or have to deal with an excess of melted ice. An ice machine rental program can safeguard you against both issues. You can easily change your machine in case of a capacity and requirement mismatch. Additionally, some of these rental programs only include certain brands; you also have the opportunity to choose your favorite brand.  

Benefits That An Ice Machine Lease Program Includes 

Purchasing an ice machine can cost an arm and a leg with all the money spent on maintenance, repairs, or sometimes replacement. That’s why ice machine lease is increasingly becoming a more cost-effective alternative. Possessing your own machine sounds cool. However, the high initial cost of purchase rolls into tons of bucks with the addition of servicing and fixing expenses. The bar scenario is not a distant possibility for any foodservice facility.  

When starting up a business or remodeling, you need to make many decisions. The size, model, or type of equipment you choose will determine the long-term profitability of your business. Given the sacks of upfront expenses, the way you have commercial kitchen equipment can influence your success, too. Commercial refrigeration equipment, particularly ice machines, doesn’t last a lifetime. Therefore, should you buy or rent your ice machines? Here are some benefits showing why ice machine lease can be the right choice for your business investment. 

1. Ice Machine Lease Saves Cost And Labor 

When considering an ice machine lease, many people will naturally ask, “How much does it cost to lease an ice machine?” This will, of course, depend on the model you pick and the ice machine rental period. A short-term ice machine lease agreement for a high-capacity machine may mean bigger monthly payments. However, you’re sure to pay less in the long run because a commercial ice maker lease rids you of the following pricey and time-consuming extras.  

Delivery And Installation: Both require diligent effort and care by professionals. You don’t have to worry about installation with an ice machine rental agreement. Plus, most ice machine lease companies promise fast delivery with almost no lead time. You just agree on the lease terms, sign the contract, and then have peace of mind. 

Preventive Maintenance And Cleaning: An ice machine can operate efficiently only with preventative maintenance. You should check the performance of each component to see if any needs repairing or replacing. If you neglect to do that at least twice per year, your machine may break down, resulting in larger repair bills.  

Deep cleaning is also a significant part of preventive maintenance. Ice is food, so you can’t play fast and loose with your ice machines. Simply rinsing the exterior won’t remove the germs and bacteria hiding in inaccessible parts of the ice machine. You’ll have to pay professionals to do that regularly not to risk your customers’ health. When you rent your equipment, the monthly payments in your ice machine lease will also cover maintenance and deep cleaning expenses. 

Water Filters: The source of ice is water. Over time, particles and minerals in the water supply may damage your ice machine. If not changed periodically, particles will mass on filters, allowing less water into the machine and reducing efficiency. Filters also prevent scaling. Therefore, you’ll often need to spend money to replace the water filters with professional-grade filters at each cleaning. Most ice machine rental agreements cover this, too.  

Service And Ice Machine Repair: Even if you dote over your ice machines, following all the servicing and cleaning guidelines, you may still experience problems. Some parts will need repairing and replacing. Compressors, condensers, or evaporators can cost big bucks and time to repair. To make matters worse, you’ll remain iceless during repairs. You won’t have to worry about such issues when you get a restaurant ice machine for lease.  

Ice machine rental programs cover all repairs, including parts and labor. During lengthy repairs, your ice machine rental company will provide you with top-notch replacement machines. Sometimes, repairs will last shorter. In that case, complimentary breakdown ice is the icing on the cake. Ice will be at your fingertips whenever you need it.  

2. Ice Machine Lease Facilitates Upgrading 

Businesses often grow or shrink. Your ice needs will fluctuate. Besides, seasonal variations will lead to booms and busts in ice consumption. Would you like to drop a bundle on an ice machine that will produce far more ice than your business needs? Or what if things go well faster than you expected and your ice maker can’t meet the increasing demands? Ice machine lease lets you give your machine a try until your business needs level off. 

You can’t breeze past the constant innovations in refrigeration technology, either. The ice machine manufacturing industry is highly competitive with many big players. Year after year, manufacturers work tirelessly to improve their products’ quality, durability, and efficiency. Even the latest technology can become out of style in the blink of an eye. Who has the money always to buy the most up-to-date equipment? You can swap the right size, upgrade, or customize your machine to fit your business with an ice machine lease. 

3. Ice Machine Lease Offers Extra Financial Benefits 

Leased equipment isn’t exempt from tax deduction incentives. According to Section 179 of the IRS Tax Code, the amount you save in taxes can exceed the monthly payments you make that year with the ice machine rental. You can write off the total amount you pay a year without paying it all. Thus, you minimize out-of-pocket cash while taking full advantage of tax incentives. Ice machine lease can also help build your business credit. Leasing is a quicker way of developing business credit than loaning. 

So, Ice Machine Lease Or Purchase? 

The primary purpose of this blog is not to persuade you to lease your ice machine rather than buy it since both of them have pros and cons. Ice machine lease can lessen your costs and labor. With all the maintenance, cleaning, replacement, and upgrading burdens passed onto the ice machine rental company, you can focus more on improving the quality of your business. Your business type, initial capital, and ice demands will guide your choice.  

If your business needs ice seasonally, say for special events only, buying doesn’t seem to be reasonable. Cash flow can often be tight for a startup business, so that small monthly payments may offer some relief. Once the company starts rolling and generating cash, you can reconsider your options. Yet, there are a few situations when renting may not be the best choice. A small-size business that can save the day only with a few ice machines may rule out the ice machine lease. Also, those giants that have their own professional maintenance teams might prefer straight purchase to lease. 

You still can’t decide? The best advice is to request a quote from an ice machine leasing company. You can pose all your questions about the leasing terms and make sure how much you’ll have to pay during the lease period. You can then request another quote for buying the same machine. You’ll, of course, have to include preventive maintenance, cleaning, replacement, and other unexpected expenses. You’ll thus have some comparable figures. While doing this, it is advisable to always keep the Nashville bar scenario at the back of your mind.