Williston, ND repair shops finance heavy-duty lifts, diagnostic tools and a bigger bay with equipment financing for the lift and tools, a term loan for the bay, and inventory financing or a credit line for tire and parts stock.
A Willowpeak Capital Group article on how repair shops in Williston, North Dakota pay for lifts, tools, a larger bay and stock, with one lift priced three ways.
Business Loan for Auto Repair When a Williston, ND Auto Repair Shop Needs Tire Machines
A tire machine is the standard first equipment loan for a shop: a dealer quote, a short list of makers, and a resale market. It secures its own financing.
Illustration only, invented figures: a $16,500 tire machine over 36 months at an annual rate of 13%: about $556 a month, $20,014 in total payments and $3,514 in interest.
Of the 43 auto repair and maintenance employers in Williams County, ND in 2023, 25 had fewer than five employees (County Business Patterns). The auto repair page has more examples.
A shop adding a heavy-duty lift may add a tire machine and a balancer for larger truck wheels at the same time. Each can be listed on the same equipment request with its own price.
Auto Repair Shop Financial Statement: Wheel Balancers and Technician Payroll
An auto repair shop's financial statements are the profit and loss, the balance sheet and the business tax return. A partner reads revenue, the cost of parts, technician payroll and what is left. Wheel balancers and other equipment show on the balance sheet with what is still owed on them.
Auto repair payroll in Williams County, ND was $14.1 million across 224 paid employees in 2023 (County Business Patterns), about $62,768 per employee by our arithmetic. A shop adding a technician to run a new lift adds that kind of cost.
A partner also reads the balance sheet for what the shop already owes. A shop with several equipment loans still open may be asked to show that the new payment fits beside them. A clean list of each loan, its monthly payment and its payoff date answers that question before it is asked.
Business Loan for Auto Shop: Air Compressors and Tool Upgrades
A rotary screw air compressor and a set of tool upgrades can go in one equipment request. Bundling keeps the shop from opening several small accounts, and the partner prices the package on its combined value.
Scan tools lose value as vehicle models change, so the term on them may be shorter than on a lift.
Air lines, reels and dryers that are installed in the building are harder for a partner to recover than a portable compressor, so ask whether the installed parts are included.
Tire Stock: Where It Shows Up in an Auto Repair Shop's Funding File
Tire stock shows up in a funding file as inventory on the balance sheet and supplier invoices in the payables. A shop buying ahead of a busy stretch can finance the tires as inventory financing, with the stock as security, and keep that loan separate from the lift.
The partner looks at how soon tires sell. A short term that ends as the stock sells keeps the interest down.
Parts stock is a different case from tires: a wide range of small items, used on jobs rather than sold off the shelf. That fits a credit line better than inventory financing.
What a Williston, ND Shop Can Gather Before Asking About a Lift
- The dealer quote with make, model, capacity and installation
- The shop's bank statements for the past three to six months
- The latest business tax return
- A list of open equipment loans with payments and payoff dates
- Any permit the city requires for the concrete or electrical work
With those in hand, the first call can settle which of the three ways to price the lift fits the shop.
A Heavy-Duty Lift Priced Three Ways
A $42,000 heavy-duty lift for pickups and service trucks can be priced three ways.
Illustration only, invented figures: as equipment financing over 48 months at an annual rate of 12.5%: about $1,116 a month and $11,585 in interest. As a term loan over 60 months at 11%: about $913 a month and $12,791 in interest. On a credit line for 120 days at 14% before refinancing: about $1,933 in interest for those days, before fees.
The equipment loan keeps the lift as the security and leaves the shop's other assets unpledged. The term loan spreads the cost longer at more total interest. The credit line suits only a short bridge. The equipment financing page covers the lift, the term loan page a bay addition, and the Williston, ND page the county figures.
Whichever way the lift is priced, ask whether the payment starts at delivery or after installation, since a lift that is not yet bolted down earns nothing.
By Willowpeak Capital Group · Updated
