I had an opportunity to talk with a friend today that I havent spoken with for some time. Getting passed the usual questions about how are you and the family etc he asked what I did. “I sell leasing!” I replied.
You would have to have your head under a rock for the past several months not to realize our economy is going through some “interesting times” as the old saying goes. Especially in this industry.
I started working for a leasing company back in November of 2006. It was a smaller outfit, just getting started in the equipment leasing industry as a funder. They hired an aggressive sales staff (yours truly included) and we made our way out into the field…feet in the street. For a few months things were going quite well. New vendors were being signed up and deals were getting booked. The company was beginning to grow in leaps and bounds as the staff total ballooned from 10 core employees to close to 30 in a short time.
Then the brakes hit. Back in August as many avid readers of the financial newspapers know, the asset backed commercial paper industry took a nose dive into the sewers. Strong companies like Coventree took a huge hit and their stock price plummeted from a 52 week high of $ 16.30 to currently $ 2.50 per share.
Funding lines dried up faster than a glass of water in the desert and we were left with nothing really. The company tried its best over the coming months to secure some more funding, all the while selling off leases to other companies to make sure the lights stayed on. Needless to say, it didnt work and this young upstart of a company closed its doors officially in January of this year. Many of the staff have found other jobs, mainly in the leasing industry and we still keep in touch.
One of the things ive been asked is, why stay in it. Asset backed commercial paper still is in flux and other financial institutions are going through some massive changes. Recently GE purchased several divisions of Citifinancial and even one of the biggy’s in the industry CIT has now drained its $7.3 billion credit line. Why stay in it?
From a business sense, the leasing industry is going to go though more ups and downs over the next year or so but I think it offers up an opportunity for growth. With many of our current and potential customers trying to make plans over this tumultuous period of time, conserving cash will be paramount. Many people feel that during a recession (yes the ugly dreaded R word) is the perfect time for expansion and growth. While others close up their doors or scale back what they do in their business, others can reach out to grab more market share. To do this you can do a few things. Tap into your reserves and make acquisitions. But with uncertainty in our economy, do you really want to drain your savings in the hope something might work out? Other options include going to your bank to extend or use your credit lines.
This can be a lengthly process and with the tightening of the money supply by many of the big financial institutions, it will be a tall order to get more credit from your banks. Many of the major banks in Canada have been hit, whalopped, or just smacked around by the sub prime credit mess in the US and will be a little apprehensive to increase the credit lines of companies.
Leasing looks to be a very viable option for many companies looking to expand, get more equipment and prepare to take more market share. Now depending on what your product is, leasing might not be the right thing for you. If you sell individual widgets it wont be the right course of action to offer leasing to your customers to help you sell. If youre a company whos looking to increase the amount of equipment used to produce your widgets, then this can be looked at.
If youre a company looking to offer their customers another option to purchase your equipment, than leasing is something that you need to look at. The benefits to customers are great as they can acquire your equipment, conserve their capital and improve their cash flow. Payments are fixed over a period of time so you can properly budget out payments and also potentially take advantage of some tax benefits that come with leasing.
A company properly positioned in this “interesting” market can take advantage of these opportunities and thats why I think theres definitely room for growth. Thats why I guess I stay in the leasing business.
Needless to say the few months are going to be “interesting” to say the least but it keeps you on your toes. No one can say for certain whats going to happen with the asset backed commercial paper market in the next 6 months. More companies can fall, more can be sold and many more will be in limbo. Theres the impending real estate bubble burst in real estate that might throw a monkey wrench into the mix. Some out there are talking about impeding doom in that market, some others are taking a wait and see.
Theres just so much going on in the financial industry, how CAN you leave? Its fun when the market stumbles a bit. Thats it, Im done. My “leasing commercial” is done. In case you need to know more, you can check out HERE for more information.