Financing for Contractors in Ashland, OH: A Second Crew, Siding Orders and Used Pickups

A contractor that adds a second crew takes on two costs that move at different speeds. The crew's tools are bought once and last for years; its wages start the first week and keep coming, while the jobs it works may not pay for weeks.

Illustration only, invented figures: the new crew's tool package (a compressor, nailers, miter saws, ladders and scaffold frames) costs $9,350. On an equipment loan at 11.9% for 36 months it costs $310.11 a month, or $11,163.96 over the whole term.

The crew's payroll in this example is $7,680 every two weeks, and the customer for its first job pays 40 days after the crew starts. Whether 2 or 3 paydays land inside those 40 days turns on the calendar, so the crew is paid $15,360 to $23,040 before the job pays. That gap is a working capital need, so a working capital loan or a line draw is sized to it, not to the tools.

Siding, trim and soffit for one house are bought for that job and billed back to the customer as the work moves along. Those costs turn over within weeks, so a credit line draw matches them better than a term loan, which keeps charging until its last payment whether or not the job has wrapped up.

In this invented example a residential builder draws $13,750 for a siding and trim order and clears it 38 days later, when the customer pays for that stage. At 12.85% a year on the drawn balance, the draw costs $183.95 in interest.

Tools and machines run the other way: bought once and used across many jobs, they fit an equipment loan whose term follows their working life. A business line of credit stays open between jobs, and interest runs only on what is drawn.

A builder or trade contractor in Ashland County, OH pricing a new crew works among 93 construction establishments with paid employees; in 2023 they employed 889 people and reported $69,207,000 of annual payroll (County Business Patterns, NAICS 23).

Specialty trade contractors reported $34,086,000 of annual payroll for 430 paid employees. ZIP Code Business Patterns, which counts by physical address, puts 41 construction establishments in ZIP 44805 for 2023.

The Ashland, OH page places construction in the county's sector table, and landscaping services, a related trade without a page of its own, has a note on the industries page.

A break-in at a job site can take a crew's saws and drills overnight, and the crew still needs tools the next morning. Any insurance payment comes only after the claim is settled, so the replacements have to be paid for first.

Illustration only, invented figures: a contractor replaces $11,860 of stolen saws, drills and a compressor with a draw on a line of credit at 13.15% a year. The claim pays 52 days later, and by then the draw has cost $222.19 in interest.

In the same invented example, whatever the claim pays goes against the draw, and any part it does not cover stays on the line until ordinary receipts clear it. A working capital loan could also cover the $11,860, but its payments would keep running after the claim had paid. A funding partner may ask for the replacement quotes and recent bank statements.

A used crew pickup with a utility body carries a crew and its tools between jobs. It is a work vehicle for the contractor's own crews; hauling freight for others is outside this site.

• The title, and whether any lien is still recorded against it
• Mileage and service records
• The condition of the utility body, its locks and any racks
• A VIN on the buyer's order that matches the title

In this invented example the pickup costs $41,300. For a used vehicle the term a partner sets may be shorter; at 48 months and an annual rate of 11.45% the payment is $1,076.47, and by the 48th payment the contractor has paid $51,670.56, $10,370.56 of it interest.