Tweet

Tips when looking for business premises

Guest post by: Rene Truter

Article Overview: One of the things you have to think about carefully when starting or buying a business is where it is or will be housed. There are many factors that will influence your decision, but let's look at the most important issues to get you in the right frame of mind.

Tips when looking for business premises

The location of your business can either make or break it, depending on all the circumstances involved. So it's not a decision to be made hastily and without some experienced advice.

For those of you who have no clue about where to start, here are some points to ponder:

Location, location, location

• When buying a home, you probably have certain criteria: safe area, easy access, not too remote, convenience, the size and condition of the actual physical structure, etc. This is a good place to start when 'shopping' for a business premises
• Basing yourself in a big, fancy mall may seem like first prize, but sometimes the lease agreements, rentals and operating conditions synonymous with big shopping centres can be a strain on your business
• What does the potential landlord look for in a tenant? This is good to know so you're not caught off guard if he suddenly makes certain demands or leases tobusinesses you may not be comfortable being neighbours with
• Speak to your potential 'neighbours' and hear what they have to say about the premises, the landlord, the area, etc
• What are the other businesses? For example, are you one of ten boutiques in the centre/area? Do other businesses provide anoverlapping customer base?
• Where are you located within the broader premises; in a pokey corner somewhere or in full view of potential customers?
• If you're buying an existing business, will it be worth moving or does it have loyal customers who depend on its location? What are the costs of relocating?
• What kind of security, insurance, general maintenance and other benefits does the Landlord offer?

Leases, legalities and landlords

Triple-check the conditions of your lease and then check it again three times. Better yet, get a commercial property lawyer to check that you are aware and satisfied with all the conditions of a lease before you sign it.

• What is your rental per square meter? You may be surprised to find that you're paying more than your larger retail neighbour
• How is the rent charged, e.g. according to your monthly turnover or size of the premises?
• Are recoveries of costs included in the rental or will they have to be added to the total rent payable?
• What are the security requirements, e.g. rental deposits, personal sureties?
• Can the landlord kick you out in favour of a higher-paying tenant?
• Ensure that the lease period is long enough; you don't want to be moving in a year
• Under which circumstances can you or the landlord cancel the lease? In this regard, are you prepared to follow all the 'rules' and are they practical to your type of business?
• This may sound terrible, but no matter how 'nice' your potential landlord seems, don't trust anything they say. Put everything in writing, with no room for misinterpretation from either party
• Who's drawing up the papers - your lawyer or his?

What-ifs

• What if you want to move premises?
• What if you or your landlord wants to renovate/remodel your premises or the centre
• What if you can't pay rent for a month or the business fails?
• What if the landlord goes bankrupt?

Some of these points may sound a bit harsh or intimidating, but such is the nature of business. And being overcautious when it comes to your property can end up saving your business should anything not go according to plan. In this case, all the clichés about "dotting your i's, crossing your t's" and "reading the fine print" ring true.

Copyright© 2010 Business Partners Ltd. All rights reserved.

Related Articles
  12.0 Business premises: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  Entrepreneurs – Your Check List For Starting A New Business
  Choosing your premises
  Introduction to going green
  Top Tips for Marketing Events
  10 Things to Remember for a Successful Business Startup
  Bookkeeping Tips on Tips
  Buying a property for your business
  7 Steps to Developing Principles, Values and Premises
  Sample Letter of Intent
  Funding the franchise business - franchisee
  Entrepreneurs – How Much Does It Cost To Start A Business?
  Business Calls: Landlines Vs Mobile
  Does a Leader’s Communication Really Impact the Corporate Culture?
  Take your business to GREENer pastures
  Franchise Financing Canada – Canadian Solutions
  iSeeVideo Application for Securing Office Premises
  Home Stagers and Liability Insurance
  Come on – go inside and get some fresh air!
  Employer Choices Concerning Concealed Carry Act... To Ban or Not to Ban

Article Tags: business premises, lease, location, office, property, rent



Related Forum Posts
Join Hand with Developer - If you know about traditional businesses then you will know that they require start up capital for premises/ equipment etc. Web businesses in reality are not that different other than their premises are predominately their website. Effective you have a number of options which in order of up front capital is: 1) Design yourself with the likes of Frontpage or trial of Dreamweaver 2) Off the shelf solution 3) Off the shelf script and/ or purchased template
Business Tips - How about: Tips for managers to handle employees more effectively? Tips on how to deal with difficult customers? Tips on how to deal more effectively with suppliers? The only three I have in mind right now, but will try to come up with something else. Chris
Meeting Clients - I prefer to meet clients at their own premises so I can get an inside view at what they actually do and how I could help improve their business. They can then take me through all of their business processes in real life and I can offer instant suggestions along the way. Other places I have met before include informal meetings over Thai food at night or simply talking about basic requirements over dinner. Although I find it hard to [i:19g7cb81]negociate[/i:19g7cb81] over dinner and prefer a follow up rather than initial discussions over a dinner.
Cafe Expenses - Hi Michele I used to work in a place that had a cafe that broke even every month. This is due to the fact that we couldn't get enough people through buying food and drinks to make a profit and the expenses consisted of: - Staff wages - Not selling all food so it would go to waste - Rent for occupying the premises - Selling products that had a low turn over - Customers would never come back a 2nd time due to the location I would imagine a restaurant would be the same with the hardest part attracting people every night to make a profit while setting your prices at the right price to keep people coming back.
Re: Using Craigslist SEO to Promote Your Website - Great Craiglist Tips for driving traffic. I can definitely use these to drive traffic to my blog.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Download a template or see a lawyer?

ROSI Return on SUNK Investment

The Right Job - Part Five 'Compensation'

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.