For salons and clubs just starting out – or branching out into a new area – the question of risk and return is ever relevant. The saying goes that you have to speculate to accumulate: that is, no gain without pain. If you want to turn a profit with a new angle to your business, then you’re going to have to fork out the cash to invest in it enough to make it work. When it comes to buying a new sunbed – or possibly several sunbeds – the cost of that initial outlay could run to many tens of thousands of pounds. The best commercial sunbeds do not come cheap, and this is not an area you can afford to skimp on. One alternative to putting in the capital all at once and trusting to fortune is to hire sunbeds instead.

Many companies allow you to hire sunbeds from them on flexible terms, which has a range of advantages. Firstly, it means that you are not putting all your eggs in one basket, and do not have to come up with a large lump sum before starting your new endeavour. It also allows you to spread costs over the course of the rental period. This is important because it allows you to budget accurately. Hiring rather than taking out a loan also gives you more room for manoeuvre, since even if the new business doesn’t work out, you will still need to repay the loan – with interest. There are also the extras that come with hire, such as maintenance and repair – something you will have to arrange and pay for yourself if you own the equipment.

Of course, if you choose to hire sunbeds instead of buy them, there is the question of ownership. Buying may be more expensive, and a loan may be a consideration you have to think about for a long time, but you are working towards owning the product outright. This would appear to be a major advantage over hire.

However, if you choose your terms carefully, this need not be a deal-breaker. A lot of companies will allow you to hire sunbeds from them and, depending on the terms of the contract, offer to sell them to you at reduced rates at the end of the term (and some will actually offer a hire-purchase scheme). Depending on how your business is faring, you may or may not decide to take them up on the offer.

A typical arrangement to hire sunbeds is illustrative of the flexibility. On an initial contract of a year, for example, customers pay a refundable deposit plus the first month’s charge in the first instance, plus delivery and installation costs, followed by eleven monthly payments over the course of the year. At the end of the period, there are three options: continue to rent the equipment for another year, purchase the sunbed at the special agreed rate, or end the arrangement and ask the company to pick up the product.

This level of choice and flexibility makes the option to hire sunbeds instead of buying them very attractive. Most contracts also include numerous extras, such as starter packages of promotional material and vital equipment (such as goggles), plus maintenance and call-out arrangements if the machine requires fixing. Check the terms before you sign: many companies will offer a guaranteed response time, such as within 48 hours of reporting a fault, which is important – every day that your sunbed is inactive is lost revenue.