When James Cheney began his earthmoving business, the first task was to obtain funds for the necessary equipment.

With a population of 69,000 and growing, Wagga Wagga is Australia’s ninth largest inland city and is forecast to grow to 82,605 by 2046. It is also where James Cheney was born and bred.

Working with an earthmoving contractor for some years, James recognised the developments and growth in the region and saw this as an opportunity to start his own business.

Today, the team at James Cheney Earthmoving offers a range of earthmoving services including site preparation, land clearing, trenching, excavation, and levelling.

The right machines

“When I took the step to go out on my own back in 2017, the first challenge was how to raise the funds for that critical first piece of equipment”, James said.

“I knew it was important that we have a fleet of recent model machinery so that we could deliver high-quality services to both residential and commercial clients in the Wagga Wagga area.

“I was aware that the right equipment would be a key factor in setting up the business and would ensure a successful entry to the contracting market. A decision was made to base the business on a reliable brand of low- hour used equipment which would need to be supported with good local service facilities.

“I knew that having a reliable fleet of appropriate equipment would help us maintain a strong reputation for reliability, professionalism, and for delivering projects on time and within budget.”

Funding the business

James said that it didn’t take long to discover that finding finance was a challenge when just starting out, and not having a track record in business.

“Traditional lenders were demanding a lot of business plans, documentation and paperwork that represented quite a difficult hurdle,” he said.

“Like many people in the business, I found working on the detail of data required by banks and presenting this in the format demanded was a time-consuming ordeal. The process also showed that the bank did not clearly understand how the industry ran.”

James said it was “certainly a relief: to discover Finlease, whose helpful, enthusiastic and friendly people structured the right financial package for him to get started.

“The work that was presenting itself at the time was ideal for a small bulldozer so my first purchase was a low-hour used Cat D6R crawler tractor, which we still have today and continues to be a productive machine,” he said.

“Today the fleet includes eight items of machinery which include the original Cat D6R, and two Cat model 725 articulated dump trucks.

“We have a Cat 318D2 excavator and a Cat 320FL excavator, a Cat D6T bulldozer, and a Cat model D9R crawler tractor.

“The fleet has been built by buying equipment from Westrac and other sources. All our machines have performed with great reliability and minimal downtime.”

Finding good operators

James said that one of the biggest challenges in the earthmoving business had been finding the right staff with the experience, knowledge and attitude to delivering excellence that contribute to the success of the business.

“The team was built as our workload increased and now we have five people in the business, including highly experienced and well trained operators who are supported by trainees. Importantly, all our people share the same passion for delivering for quality work,” he said.

A gamechanger

James said that from the outset, Finlease made the entire process not only hassle-free, but its friendly and knowledgeable approach gave him great confidence.

“Harry Burey from Finlease was fantastic in guiding me through the entire process every step of the way and giving clear answers to all my questions,” he said.

“There may be a belief that specialised financiers might charge higher rates, however my experience with Finlease proves you can get competitive rates and favourable terms as a result of the company’s deep industry knowledge and relationships with various lenders that allow them to negotiate better deals for their clients.

“Finding the right partner to finance our machine purchases was a gamechanger for me and has allowed me to concentrate on satisfying customers by delivering good quality work right across the different sectors of the market.

“There is no doubt the support of their specialists have been a major factor in helping me build a successful business.”

Ray Chan for Earthmoving Equipment Magazine.