Business equipment is expensive.  Depending on how much it costs, what you are going to use it for, and how often you will be using it, renting the equipment instead of buying it may make sound business sense.  A good example is project rentals.

Modern projectors are quite useful for small businesses.  They plug into your laptop and enable you to display slideshows, Power Point presentations, and other visuals on a screen.  However, projectors can also be ridiculously expensive, particularly considering how often most small businesses use them.

For many small business owners, the answer is not to use a projector at all.  But that solution isn't really a good solution, since you may be unknowingly crippling your business by doing so.

Instead of trying to get the capital together to buy expensive equipment such as projectors, consider renting instead.  Renting allows you to get equipment for a short time only, at a fraction of the cost of buying the projector outright.  Additionally, you don't have to worry about additional expenses such as having your projector repaired if it stops working properly, or buying a new one if it can't be fixed!

Believe it or not, spending money on projector rentals can actually help to grow your small business.  For instance, renting a projector can actually generate new customers.  How is that, you ask?  Well, by having a projector handy and putting together a professional presentation when meeting with a client or a potential client, you build your company's image.  Potential clients view you as professional and polished, increasing your chances of getting their business; and existing clients rave about you to other businesses, helping you to get more clients by word of mouth.  After all, much of getting new and repeat clients is in how you present yourself to them; the more knowledgeable and capable you seem, the more likely you are to get their business.

And while projector rentals won't make money appear out of thin air, they will enable you to maximize your profits.  No, this doesn't take a miracle; just a little bit of math and common sense.  Projectors can cost thousands of dollars, a difficult expense for many businesses to swallow.  Especially if you do not need a projector very often, it may not make sense to spend that much money on one.  By renting a projector, on the other hand, you can get the same use for a fraction of the cost.  This is a case in which a penny saved is a penny earned, as the money you save on business expenses is money that goes into your pocket as the business's owner.

Another way in which renting a projector can help you to maximize your profits is by reducing the amount of taxes your business has to pay.  Since the rental should usually qualify as a business expense (providing you use the projector for business, that is), you can deduct the cost from your gross income for the year.  By deducting business expenses, you arrive at a net income, which is the amount you pay taxes on.  In other words, by deducting the cost of renting a projector, you reduce your net income, and thereby reduce your tax liability.

As you can see, projector rentals make good business expense.  Not only do they present a more professional business image, helping you to win over new clients and impress existing clients, they also help you to save money by not having to spend thousands on a new projector, and by giving you a business expense that you can use to lower what you pay in taxes.  Compared to these benefits, the cost of renting a projector is small and definitely worthwhile!