Equipment financing pays for a specific item, which can secure the balance. Loans and equipment finance agreements end with the business owning the item; a lease may not. Use the calculator on this page to see the equal monthly figure for a given price, rate and term.
At a glance
- Pays for
Salon chairs and beds, gym racks, shop lifts, used equipment
- Paid down
Level installments over a term the partner sets
- Beauty salons, Cabarrus County, NC
240 employees and $6.8 million in annual payroll (CBP 2023)
Salon equipment financing: a Cabarrus County, NC example built on barber chairs
Salon equipment financing covers the chairs, tools and stations a salon works from: barber and styling chairs, dryers, stations and carts. The chairs secure the balance, so a partner may care about the seller's quote, the model and whether the chairs are new or used.
Illustration only, invented figures: a barbershop in Cabarrus County, NC is adding four barber chairs at $2,365 each, $9,460 in total, and puts $960 down. That leaves $8,500 to finance; at an annual rate of 11.35% and a 36-month term, the barbershop's payment works out to $279.69. Worked by hand from that rounded payment, the 36 payments total $10,068.84, of which $1,568.84 is interest, and the chairs cost $11,028.84 once the down payment is added.
Those four numbers are exactly what the calculator on this page asks for, with the down payment left blank if there is none. Out come three figures: an estimated payment per month, the interest over the term and a total cost that counts the down payment. Its figures come from the unrounded payment, so they can differ from a hand calculation by a few cents.
Salons are a sizable employer group here: beauty salons in Cabarrus County, NC had 240 employees and paid $6.8 million in wages in 2023 (CBP, NAICS 812112).
How does equipment financing work? A Cabarrus County, NC look at pedicure chairs
Equipment financing works in four steps. The business picks the item and gets a quote; a funding partner reviews the business and the item; any offer names the amount, rate, term and payment; once signed, the partner may pay the seller directly and the business makes the payments.
Pedicure chairs make a good test. The chair itself, with its basin and footrest, is equipment and can be financed. Connecting it to water and drains is plumbing work on the building, which is property work outside this site; ask the seller or landlord how that part is handled before the chairs are delivered.
The same four steps apply outside salons. A gym adding power racks and benches, or a repair shop replacing a vehicle lift, follows the identical path: quote, review, any offer, then payments. Fitness and recreational sports centers numbered 38 employer establishments in Cabarrus County, NC in 2023 (CBP, NAICS 713940), and auto repair and maintenance employers there had 895 people on payroll (CBP, NAICS 8111).
Is equipment financing debt? A Kannapolis, NC salon lining up lash beds
Yes. An equipment loan or an equipment finance agreement is a debt: the business owes the balance and the item can secure it. A lease is different in form, since the business rents the item, but the lease payments are still an obligation it has signed up for.
Lash beds show why the difference matters. A salon buying three lash beds through a loan owns them once the last payment clears and can sell or move them; under a lease, the beds go back or must be bought out at the end. How each choice is recorded in the books is a question for the salon's accountant, not for this site.
Because it is debt, a partner reviewing a later request may count it. A business that plans a second purchase soon can mention it on the call, so the first agreement is not a surprise during the next review.
How do equipment leases work? The view from Cabarrus County, NC salons paying for color bars
An equipment lease lets a business use an item for a set term in exchange for monthly payments. At the end, depending on the contract, the business returns it, renews or buys it at a stated price.
Illustration only, invented figures: a salon in Cabarrus County, NC is pricing a freestanding color bar station with storage at $6,900. A loan of that amount at 12.25% over 36 months costs $230.00 a month, $8,280.00 in all, and the salon owns the station. A lease at $218.40 a month for 36 months comes to $7,862.40, with a $690.00 purchase option at the end. The lease is $11.60 lower each month, but owning the station that way costs $8,552.40, $272.40 more than the loan.
The lease suits a salon that expects to replace the station or does not want it at the end. The loan suits one that plans to keep it for years. Comparing the total paid, not only the monthly figure, is what separates the two.
Used heavy equipment financing, scaled down to used nail tables in Cabarrus County, NC
Used heavy equipment financing applies to machines such as a home builder's track loader or a landscaper's skid steer. A partner may look at age, hours, condition and the seller before deciding how much of the price to fund, since an older machine has less resale value backing the balance.
The same reasoning works at salon scale. Illustration only, invented figures: a nail salon in Cabarrus County, NC finds four used nail tables for $2,240 where new ones would cost $3,960. The used tables cost less up front, but a partner may offer a shorter term on them, so the monthly payment can end up close to that of the new set.
For used items, keep the seller's description, photos and any service records handy for the call; they answer the questions a partner may ask about condition.
Equipment finance agreement vs a loan before paying for facial beds at Cabarrus County, NC salons
An equipment finance agreement, often called an EFA, is a contract in which the funding source pays for the item and the business makes fixed payments, owning the item from the start. An equipment loan reaches the same place by a different route: the business borrows, buys the item and the lender may file a lien on it until the balance is cleared.
For a salon buying two facial beds, the practical differences sit in the paperwork rather than the payment: who holds title during the term, what fees appear and what happens if the beds are damaged. Ask each funding partner which form its offer takes and read the end-of-term terms.
If the purchase is part of a larger plan, such as buying a salon outright, the term loan page covers that case, and the six funding types side by side sets equipment next to the other options. Worked equipment cases on the blog: a facial room, six Pilates reformers, buggies and a camera kit, a stump grinder and a crew truck and dental handpieces.
By Ivyvale Capital Group ยท Updated