Hey everyone!

We have found a space for a retail bakery (!!!) and it is completely bare inside so we would be equipping the place. I have a question about kitchen equipment: Rent or own?

I know that in the grand scheme of things buying would be less expensive but requires more start up capital. We would be leasing the space, so the equipment would be ours and would move with us if needed. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks in advance!

Congratulations on the space!

Buy any all equipment that you can, but buy it used. That's my two cents.
Good luck!

Check in your area if there is a place to auction used kitchen equipment. I heard people getting good deals from it. Good Luck.

Buy if you can.
Unfortunately, when you are just starting out you can't guarantee your income and then you have to make payments. It's best to start with the basics (used equipment is great) and then add to your equipment when money is rolling in. We bought alot of our equipment and leased a couple pieces. The payments were about 400.00 a month and a real pain to make. It's hard when you realize that every month you have to make a wedding cake just to cover that payment. When in reality you are mostly paying interest. We were very relieved when the payments were done and we could start to see more profit in our business. And mind you...we leased the equipment several years into our business when we knew we could afford them and knew we had established ourselves...and we still hated that bill every month knowing so much of our payment was interest and not actual equipment.

Though...if it's a necessity (like the interest on a car loan) then lease just the basics.

The less overhead the better! Congratulations on your new venture!! Best of luck...it will be very exciting!

Buy used. Find a great salesman to work with and they will keep an eye out for good deals on equipment you need in the future.

Thank you all for the advice!

I am going to hunt for used equipment and see what I can find. It will be a while before we actually get to open because of all the renovations we will be doing, so hopefully I will be able to find the basics for now.

hsmomma, that is exactly what I was worried about, making payments without any guarantee of income...and I don't like any sort of arrangement where I'm paying someone else money and it's not going to get me anywhere in the long term.

Thanks again everyone! I will keep ya'll posted on how everything goes!

)

Buy the bare minimum needed, buy it used, add more as needed along the way. Don't jump in and buy every new bell & whistle. Keep your overhead as low as possible! Aside from restaurant auction houses, be sure to check your local state goverment auctions. You would be surprised how much equipment you can pick up for PENNIES on the dollar!