Spartan

Spartan Takes Personal Growth & Entrepreneurial Spirit Seriously

2008-09-04T09:42:00.004+02:00

Spartan takes a broad view of talent recruitment. Rather than aiming to attract individuals to fill certain positions, the organisation strives to create a pool of talent who may be deployed where necessary.

This according to HR Manager Pauline Bennett who points to the company’s determination to hold on to exceptional individuals, “We’ll create jobs for talented people, if none exist for them already.”

The leading specialist rental financier of technology hardware and software uses recruitment methodology based on validated and tested structured behavioural interviews and psychometric testing. During the interview phase, individuals are invited to make presentations to the company, as they would were they already on its work force, so that by the time an offer of employment is made, they’re already attuned to the company’s culture and mode of operating.

Bennett says that Spartan’s workplace is appealing to high achievers who are exceptionally driven and energetic; who have a thirst for knowledge and a positive approach to life. They should also be results oriented and passionate, with a strong belief in themselves and in the future of South Africa.

Staff relationships are mutually supportive and based on respect for each other, for the company’s values, and for the contribution each makes to the company’s vision and goals.

Kumaran Padayachee, Chief Executive Officer, says the corporate culture is grounded in its values: Passion, Honesty, Innovation, Respect for colleagues, self and the environment; an unquenchable thirst for Personal Growth and Determination. “We believe that without a strong will to succeed you will not have the resilience required to rise above difficulties.”

Spartan has recently introduced a balanced scorecard approach to help identify areas of development for each individual. These, together with performance reviews and psychometric assessments, form the basis of development plans.
“Our spend on training has increased tenfold since 2003, says Padayachee. “The company spends three percent of its annual payroll on training initiatives, compared to the industry average of one percent.”

Leadership development is a key priority and to this end, each individual at management level has a comprehensive development report outlining their level of strategic thinking, their unique strengths and areas requiring improvement.

“These are used to create customised training programmes, which may entail anything from mentoring to counselling or project based learning and practical experience”’ he explains.
Bennett says, “at junior levels, training is more skills based, although individuals who express a desire to develop their strategic thinking and business acumen are supported and assisted in their aims.” Bennett goes on to say, “we believe in empowered accountability, although we provide the tools and an enabling environment for self-development, the onus is on our employees to take advantage of these resources.”

Although Spartan does not have a defined retention strategy in place, Padayachee maintains that the culmination of the company’s working environment, opportunities and ethos are a compelling value proposition and inspire loyalty amongst employees. “We don’t want to create golden handcuffs. Instead we hope that our people stay here because they want to, and because they see the chance for self-development and self-actualisation.”

Study assistance is granted where necessary, with the company providing a loan which is written off when the individual passes. This is aimed especially at previously disadvantaged individuals.

As part of Spartan’s building refurbishment, the company has done its utmost to create a physical environment that supports its accent on Personal Growth and learning. Pause areas have been introduced in an effort to encourage communication between individuals in different business areas and to nurture face-to-face
engagement rather than emails.

The company is also installing a Knowledge Centre, a comprehensive collection of resources to facilitate learning in all forms. LCD’s will be placed
throughout the organisation, with the aim of keeping employees informed of current developments, a dedicated formal strategy room and a ‘quiet room’ – for those who need space to think – will also be included in the new additions.

Spartan aims to provide flexible remuneration structured according to employees’ needs. A cost-to-company structure is in place, enabling individuals to select how much they spend on benefits such as pension, retirement annuity, medical aid and life and disability insurance.

The company benchmarks salaries against two major national surveys, and strives to pay at the fiftieth percentile.

Sales-based roles have variable pay, with different divisions implementing varying commission structures and incentives. Commission is uncapped, which essentially means that staff can determine their own income. Their ability to do so is further enhanced by the fact that they have the choice of selecting higher or lower base pay as part of their cost-to-company package, and their targets are adjusted accordingly.

Bonuses are awarded based on individual performance, as per the employee’s balanced scorecard, in recognition of their contribution to the company. Stellar performers are recognised through the annual CEO Discretionary Awards.

Winner or Whiner?

2008-08-14T08:39:00.004+02:00

Welcome to the home of the "Winner or Whiner?" wristbands.

These silicon wristbands started out as an internal awareness campaign to Spartan staff intended to reinforce positive behaviour.

Habitual theory states that it takes 21 days to replace an old habit with a new one, a bad habit with a good one! That's where the wristbands come in.

With the current economic climate as well as the state of political affairs and the like, people are becoming more and more at ease with moaning, groaning and whining about their situations instead of being upbeat and positive - maintinaing a winner attitude.

Every time the wearer of the wristband moans or whines, the wristband is removed from the wearers right arm and transferred to their left arm for the rest of the day. Only on the following day may the band be transferred back to the right arm.

Once the wearer has had the wristband on their right arm for 21 consecutive days has the bad habit of whining successfully been broken..!

For more information about the Spartan "Winner or Whiner?" wristbands, please email wow@spartan.co.za

Leasing’s Evolution – A Guide To Strategic Decision Making Part II

2008-08-08T08:47:00.003+02:00

This is the second part of the article Leasing’s Evolution – A Guide To Strategic Decision Making written by Sudhir P. Amembal is Chairman & CEO of Amembal & Associates, the world's most highly respected lease training and consulting firm.

LEASING’S EVOLUTION – A GUIDE TO STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING
How the industry moves from being newly born to maturity and what causes such movement is best understood by reviewing the six phases of the leasing cycle. Diagram 2 details the six phases.

THE SIX PHASES OF THE LEASING CYCLE

1. Rentals
2. “Simple” Finance Lease
3. “Creative” Finance Lease
4. New Products
5. Operating Lease
6. Maturity

THE SIX PHASES OF THE LEASING CYCLE
Rentals (Phase One) have preceded the leasing product by centuries and, even today, this industry is extremely competitive and vibrant in every country in the world. Rentals are characterized by their short-term (less than 12 months), full-service nature. Full-service means that the typical responsibilities of ownership – such as maintenance, repairs and insurance – are provided by the one who rents out the equipment and not the user. At the end of the rental contract period, the user returns the equipment to the owner.

Modern day leasing began over a century ago — both in the United Kingdom and the United States – in the form of the “Simple” Finance Lease (Phase Two). The words “Simple” and “Creative” are words used by the author to distinguish between the two types of finance leases in the context of the evolution of leasing. In the marketplace, both these types of leases are finance leases. In every single country in the world, the “Simple” finance lease is the first lease product that is introduced at the industry’s birth. The product is invariably characterized by the lessee’s intent to eventually own the equipment. The lease is merely a financing instrument. At the end of the lease term, the lessee, having fully paid the lessor through the lease rentals, purchases the equipment for a nominal amount of consideration. As leasing is a new product, the psychology of ownership is still very much inherent in the user’s thought process. The lessor, too, intends to merely finance the equipment through a lease and is not desirous of having the asset returned at the end of the term.

Credit risk, not asset risk, is acceptable to the lessor, as the latter requires developed secondary markets, which do not necessarily exist during this phase. The lease product is almost invariably offered on a net basis (opposite of full- service) in which the lessor’s services are limited to financing the equipment. During this phase the market is usually rate driven and not value added driven. Needless to say, spreads are generous.

From a strategic point of view, for those seeking to cross borders, this is generally a good time to expand into emerging markets - well before competition becomes too intense! For those who are on the ground in the country in question, this is a good time to consider becoming value added and thereby not necessarily becoming victims to margin compression.

Both with the passage of time and the entry of other players in the market, the leasing industry enters Phase Three - the “Creative” Finance Lease Phase. During this phase, lessors begin to structure many of their finance leases and also provide the lessee with varied end of term options such as the option to renew based on a fixed residual. (The lessee must either purchase or renew.)

It is during this phase, in most countries, that leasing experiences the largest growth, in terms of both absolute volume and market penetration. Also, many dealers/manufacturers, that hereto have relied on independent leasing companies, begin to form their own leasing companies. Tax authorities and regulators, realizing the significance of leasing, take a closer look at the industry and arrive at rules, regulations, and guidelines, meant to stimulate further growth.

This phase, too, is generally rate focused though some lessors, based on severe competition, begin to address the value added aspects of leasing. These aspects may include shortening the response time from the date of lease application to the date of lease funding or bundling of services, such as maintenance, into the finance lease. As the market experiences substantial growth, rate focused leasing at times leads to volume competition. Lessors begin to narrow their spreads in a buyer’s market. Continued narrowing of spreads causes many lessors to exit the industry. The industry learns from experience that it cannot remain rate driven.

From a strategic point of view, this is also a good time to enter emerging markets. Though margins will have shrunk, leasing infrastructure will be more solid – items having to do with clarity on legal and tax issues. For the strictly domestic players this is the time to decide whether to focus on niche markets - be it by region, by asset type, by sector, by credit quality, or by transaction size.

Phase Four, the Operating Lease Phase, comes about with the passage of time, intense competition, transfer of technology from one leasing country to another, demand by multinational lessees, and developing or developed secondary markets. In some countries, the product is fueled by the fact that finance leases are denied “true lease” or “tax lease” status. The introduction of international accounting standards further fuels the demand for operating leases as finance leases no longer qualify for off balance sheet financing.

The key features of this product are the ability of the lessee to return the equipment at the end of the lease term, and the full-service nature of many operating leases. Bundling of services and one-stop-shopping become a convenience to the lessee. With these features, (using computers as an example) hardware, software, installation, maintenance, and training are packaged into one transaction. All mature lease economies offer the operating lease product; emerging markets have begun to introduce it only recently.

From a strategic point of view, this is a good time to expand overseas by offering skill base and experience through joint ventures with those lessors who seek to offer new products. For those on the ground, this is the time to decide whether to stay with finance leases only (nothing wrong with this as the overwhelming majority of lessors globally successfully stay in this phase) on a value added basis or to consider new products.

On-going intense competition, continued lessor creativity, and ever-increasing transfer of technology propels the industry to Phase Five, the New Products Phase. In this phase, the operating lease becomes extremely sophisticated, with complex end-of-term options (such as puts, calls, and first amendment clauses), early termination options, upgrades and rollovers, technology refreshes, and the like.

Phase Five also brings about new products such as securitization, income funds, venture leases, and synthetic leases (off balance sheet loans).

From a strategic point of view, now is the time to consider domestic joint ventures and or mergers and acquisitions as the next phase - maturity, will bring about flatness in market penetration.

Finally, the industry, following the classic industry curve from infancy to maturity, enters the last phase, Phase Six, Maturity. Maturity is characterized by substantial consolidation within the industry. Such consolidation takes the form of mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances. Maturity also brings forth lower margins, causing lessors to look for profits through operational efficiencies as versus increased sales volume. Penetration flattens during this phase, as leasing volume increases only with the overall growth of the economy

Though the six phases apply universally, it is important to note two points. First, the sequence applies to the industry in general within each country, and not to all of the players. It is very common for lessors not to grow sequentially. As an example, some that offer new products such as venture leases may not be in the operating lease business. Second, each phase is not mutually exclusive. Using the United States as an example, though the industry has reached maturity, many lessors continue to offer only finance leases, some only specialize in operating leases, whereas others diversify into products such as synthetic leases.

As emerging markets evolve toward maturity, it is critical to note that the leasing cycle (from the “simple” finance lease to maturity) has become shorter and shorter. This is obviously due to information sharing and technology transfer among markets.

CONCLUSION
Many factors impact the timing of strategic decisions - one of them has to do with the evolution of leasing. It is hoped that this article will provide sufficient insight into the relationship between certain strategic decisions and leasing’s evolution.

Leasing’s Evolution – A Guide To Strategic Decision Making Part I

2008-08-07T12:14:00.003+02:00

This article is written by Sudhir P. Amembal is Chairman & CEO of Amembal & Associates, the world's most highly respected lease training and consulting firm

LEASING’S EVOLUTION – A GUIDE TO STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING

Leasing is one of the most vibrant and dynamic industries in the world. It facilitates the financing of equipment and real property. It fosters economic growth, creates employment, and enhances tax revenues. It affects every sphere of our lives as it encompasses automobiles, furniture, airplanes, restaurant equipment, computers, telecom equipment, medical equipment, and more

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LEASING
As vibrant as the leasing industry is, unfortunately, no one in the world accurately tracks the entire global leasing industry with reference to items such as annual volume, portfolio breakdown, types of asset leased, sectors leased to, performance measures and the like. However, unofficial statistics place annual volume in excess of US$ 1 trillion! Leasing, on a global basis accounts for more than 20% of all capital formation; in other words, approximately 20% of all capital investment in personal property (as contrasted with real property) is made through leasing. This is solid evidence that leasing helps fuel economic development.

The industry’s spectacular growth has been made possible not just because of the varied benefits offered by lease financing but because it has been managed and shepherded successfully by creative leaders who have continually introduced new products, expanded beyond their geographical boundaries, and displayed resilience to changing regulatory, legal and tax climates.

STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING
Individuals at the helm are continually faced with having to make strategic decisions such as choosing to specialize (as versus operating as generalists), choosing to introduce operating leases (as versus staying with finance leases), and choosing to forge foreign joint ventures (as versus staying on shore). Decisions, such as these and many others, are made based on many factors including how developed the industry is in the relevant country, how competitive it is, how saturated the market is and how sophisticated the customers are.

One of the factors mentioned above that impacts many a strategic decision is how developed the industry is in the country where the lessor is domiciled or where the global lessor plans on expanding to. This article is intended to offer insight into how leasing develops throughout the world and through such insight, it is hoped that some aspects of decision making will be facilitated. For those who are not faced with having to make strategic decisions, this article will provide insight into how leasing evolves in each and every country in the world.
Having had the privilege of visiting over 70 leasing economies over the past two decades, the author began to observe a commonality in the world of leasing having to do with leasing’s evolution and development.

THE EVOLUTION OF LEASING
Leasing’s evolution in some ways is no different than that of any other industry in the world in that leasing progresses from being newly born to becoming fully developed. The diagram that follows details the four obvious stages.
Leasing is, of course, nonexistent in some of the extremely under-developed and/or politically ravaged economies such as Iraq and Sudan. It has recently come into existence (nascent) in countries such as Rwanda. In most countries in the world it is evolving (emerging). These include countries in the Asian Pacific region, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe and Africa. Maturity suggests a condition of full development. Leasing has matured in countries such as Australia, the U.K. and the United States.

To be continued in Part II

In Tough Economic Times, Leasing Offers Added Benefits

2008-08-06T09:14:00.004+02:00

This is a hugely interesting and insightful article by Irv Rothman, a notable authority on IT asset rental.

Some years ago, the TV police drama Hill Street Blues opened each week with a graying patrol sergeant sending cops out to face the day with the sage advice, “Let’s be careful out there.”
Given the roiling financial markets and uncertain economy, growing demands across industry to “go green” and nonstop budgetary belt-tightening, these days I’m inclined to offer customers that same counsel.
Developing and implementing a long-term strategic plan to upgrade or transform their IT infrastructure is a challenge under the best of circumstances. Add in the subprime mess, record write-downs by financial institutions, escalating energy costs and carbon footprint concerns – and the degree of difficulty grows geometrically.

Managing Across the Lifecycle
For CIOs, aligning IT and business goals remains a top priority. As a byproduct of today’s business environment, they need to efficiently manage IT equipment across its lifecycle, understand how processing power is created and consumed, and generally find creative ways to do more with less. At issue are significant rewards for the organization – and control over risk.

As I talk with CIOs, I tell them we can help – in ways they may not expect. Central to the conversation is the fact that HP Financial Services is no longer just a leasing and financial services company. We’ve become an asset management company – helping customers manage risk and developing financial solutions that enhance their ability to deploy an IT infrastructure that meets their needs today and into the future.

As an asset management company, we help customers change the paradigm by looking at the big picture and managing across the full IT portfolio – as opposed to managing individual pieces or, even worse, allowing responsibility to be diffused among multiple groups.

The key is recognizing that IT assets typically become technologically obsolete – and increasingly expensive to maintain – long before they fail mechanically. By planning and implementing a refresh cycle that spans a wide range of IT assets and anticipates succeeding generations of technology, companies can deploy an IT infrastructure that drives their business. As an added bonus, newer generations of IT equipment typically outperform their predecessors in processing speed, performance per dollar and labor savings – and they consume less energy.

Taking A Comprehensive Approach
Typically, CIOs focus on providing the hardware and software infrastructure needed to run the business, leaving it to facilities managers to power and cool those banks of servers – and to pay the bill. According to industry analysts, most companies still do not consider energy costs in the context of their overall IT spend – despite the fact that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates power to run the nation’s server farms costs $4.5 billion a year. In a report to Congress, the EPA noted that data center energy consumption doubled between 2001 and 2006 and – unless energy efficiency trends are accelerated – it will double again by 2011. That’s a significant expense.

Taking a comprehensive approach to managing the IT portfolio lifecycle is a smart way to start tackling the problem. CFOs are responsible for managing risk and ensuring a corporation’s financial health, and bringing them into a conversation about IT investment changes the dynamic.

Left on their own, CFOs’ typical response to an economic downturn is to tighten budgets across the board, including IT. On the surface that’s a sound decision – but it overlooks the inherent risk in maintaining an aging IT infrastructure. By engaging a customer’s CIO and CFO in developing a technology financing solution, we can help them achieve their shared goal of deploying a technology infrastructure that both propels the business and delivers tangible savings.

Leasing makes it easy. It allows companies to conserve capital – and expands their buying power – by eliminating the need to deplete budgets or borrow for a cash purchase. In uncertain economic times – as companies strive to preserve liquidity – this becomes critical. Leasing also facilitates implementing an ongoing lifecycle management program with regular technology refreshes.

Risk mitigation represents yet another significant benefit of leasing.

Safe Disposition is a Growing Challenge
Safe and responsible disposition of older IT equipment poses a growing challenge on multiple fronts. Equipment removed from service may contain customer account information or other proprietary data that must be secured, then thoroughly erased or destroyed.

Additionally, electronic equipment contains heavy metals and other hazardous substances that must be disposed of in accordance with a growing body of environmental laws and regulations. Careless recycling can endanger people and the environment, and expose the enterprise to legal liability and damaging publicity.
Clearly, there’s good reason to be careful out there.

When working with customers to plan a financial strategy for transforming or updating their IT infrastructure, we offer these suggestions:

Keep the big picture in mind – IT infrastructure is central to the success of any business, and technological innovation continues at a dizzying pace. Leadership can gain efficiencies and reduce costs by planning to retire and replace assets systematically, over multiple technology lifecycles.

Update technology before it fails – Maintaining older, fully depreciated IT assets may seem like a thrifty business strategy, but it’s a false economy. Older equipment inevitably brings higher maintenance costs – which may be hidden in departmental operating budgets.

Plan disposition of older assets – PCs, servers and other “intelligent” devices are libraries filled with information about your enterprise, customers and employees. Once removed from service, it’s critical to wipe the data and arrange environmentally responsible disposition.

In difficult economic times, flexibility is critical – Leasing is inherently flexible. It lets companies expand or renew their IT infrastructure independent of budget cycles and conserve precious capital resources. It can reduce total cost of ownership and also form the basis of the technology refresh cycle.

Most of this advice is as apt in good economic times as in bad. The difference is that in times like these, there is little to no margin for error. With IT serving as the fuel that powers business, customers need innovative financial solutions to get the most from their technology investment. They need a partner that can help them build a long-term asset management lifecycle strategy. That’s a great conversation to have.

Spartan on the Web

2008-08-05T11:57:00.007+02:00

If you want to find out more information about Spartan or ask us a question, you can find us in the following places :

(click on the logo to go there)

Or you can also go to our website : http://spartan.co.za/ which will be updated within the next 2 months.

I will be posting those updates as well as many others as the developments occur!

Global Entrepreneurship Week

2008-08-01T10:57:00.005+02:00

As part of Spartan's commitment to entrepreneurial and SME business we are firmly behind this endeavour of the Global Entrepreneurship Week!

Please click on the link : http://unleashingideas.org/go/to/ZA to find out how you can get involved.

Countries all around the world are joining together to carry the banner of Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative aimed at young people everywhere. During the week of November 17 - 23, 2008, partner organizations will conduct a range of activities - from simple speeches to comprehensive competitions - designed to inspire, connect, inform, mentor and engage the next generation of entrepreneurs.

The Week is a worldwide initiative that is linking all those willing to embrace it. Host organizations in each participating country are recruiting partners and coordinating related activities. The exact type of these activities, whether online or face-to-face, is limited only by the imaginations of the partners and the participants. And while a list of suggested activities such as invention competitions, entrepreneurship film festivals, networking events, school-based activities, and local entrepreneurship summits - will be available on the website, the actual activities conducted by partners will vary greatly.

And while it may be global in scope, at its heart, the Week is a local initiative that reflects the customs and entrepreneurial culture of each community. After all, what works in Boise, Idaho might be quite different from what works in Bangalore, India.

Renting Your Essential Business Equipment Keeps Your Head Above Water

2008-07-21T11:24:00.000+02:00

What Does A Rental Do For You

2008-07-10T21:16:00.000+02:00

The Major Rental Benefits Briefly Explained

Rental is fast becoming the finance option of choice for essential business equipment. According to a recent survey, over 80% of all US businesses rent at least some of their equipment; and these businesses range from Fortune 500 companies right down to the corner store. With this been said, it is pretty obvious that the benefits of renting are far reaching.

One of the most important components of placing your essential equipment on rental is that the rental company is in a position to carry some or all of the risks associated with managing the lifecycle of the asset. This leaves you free to concentrate on the real core functions of your business.

When considering equipment rental, the choice of rental partner is critical. Whilst some rental companies act purely as a funnel for sourcing finance, “True Rental” companies offer services that range from procurement, finance, maintenance, insurance, asset management and end of asset disposal. This means that as an SME you can reap the rewards and enjoy the benefits of rental solutions that large corporates enjoy. For example, an established rental service provider would have secured vendor relationships that can be leveraged on to provide a range of asset options at competitive prices.

Some of the major rental benefits are:

Better use of cash: Rental allows you to focus your cash on business enhancement, rather than business infrastructure.

Save Your Line Of Credit: Renting allows you to preserve the available credit from your bank for additional working capital, operations, expansion and acquisitions. When conducting equipment financing through your bank, you exhaust your available credit.

Flexibility: Being flexible in terms of payments, upgrades and the addition of more technology to meet your businesses needs; means that rental allows you the freedom to expand and grow at your own pace.

Off Balance Sheet Financing: Proper structuring of your equipment rental can result in additional benefits which have immense implications on the businesses profitability.

Preserving Cash Flow - a MAJOR benefit

2008-07-04T13:10:00.002+02:00

Keeping on the cutting edge of technology is a problem that every business today faces. With technology producers moving ever faster to get the next smallest fastest largest capacity devices into the market place; and software developers jumping on the band wagon as the newer hardware means that more complex instructions can be executed even faster. SME’s and even large corporate organisations are struggling to keep up.

Technology equipment (meaning PC’s, laptops, servers, PABX systems, printers, etc.) depreciates in value from the moment it has been purchased. This means that as soon as the cheque has been signed for the goods, they are already worth less than what was paid for them.

Technology equipment depreciates over a three to five year period. Meaning that the equipment will have a negligible value after this period, and the value that could be recovered from selling the equipment would not be substantial enough to warrant the purchase of the equipment in the first place.

An equipment rental works as a form of asset-based loan. The business arranges a monthly payment schedule with a rental finance company for the use of the equipment over a pre-arranged period of time. When that period ends, the business can return the equipment to the rental finance company and extend the contract to update their entire technology equipment infrastructure.

There are many benefits and business best practices associated with technology equipment rental, these include : Capital Conservation; Off Balance Sheet Benefits; Disposal Cost Avoidance; Flexibility (operational and payment); Maintaining A Competitive Advantage; Credit Line Preservation and Asset Management.

The net result is that rental is becoming more than a financial option for companies. It is becoming a way to streamline and simplify, a way to get more for less, and maybe a way to save oneself for the headaches of heavy administration. And that’s an option worth learning about.

Rent vs. Buy Decision

2008-07-02T21:05:00.002+02:00

When looking at the Rent vs. buy decision, there are a number of key factors which sway it in the favor of an outright purchase.
The first of these is that the company has the cash freely available and there is no need to look at a rental. Coupled to this is the fact that once I you have purchased the equipment; the ownership is yours and you can depreciate the value of it over time, thus improving your Return On Assets Ratio.
The second major reason which supports a cash purchase is that it is far easier than having to engage with a rental agency signing contracts and reading through terms and conditions.
And lastly, the third major reason why organizations support a cash equipment purchase is because they have had an unfortunate experience with a rental agency and are disinclined to risk this option again and feel more comfortable with a cash purchase.

As a response to this, sound reasoning dependant on an organizations circumstances, can push the balance in favor of a rental solution.
The first of which is cash flow, an organization needs to weigh up the opportunity cost of investing in valuable cash in technology, business infrastructure, or in other areas where they can see a greater return. A rental solution eases the pressure of South Africa’s current economic climate on an organization by allowing them to easily budget for the future and keep much needed cash flowing. On this same point, by making use of a rental solution, the organization is given flexibility to upgrade to the latest equipment as and when needed, instead of having to sweat the equipment for between 5 to 10 years in order to depreciate it to an acceptable level.
When choosing a rental partner, it is important to ensure that you become intimately familiar with, and understand their documentation and contracts as very often a bad experience stems from here. It is Spartan’s (http://www.spartan.co.za/) philosophy to ensure complete transparency of rental contracts and fees in order to ensure that our customer relations are retained and remain healthy.”