Plan the Details including Your Commercial Lease

There can be a lot of excitement whenever a business is in the early stages of development, getting ready to launch, or planning to expand their operation into new areas of opportunity. 

Don't let that excitement turn into panic!

It's very easy to get swept up in the flow of things and miss important details. 

That's another compelling reason in favour of going through the steps of developing a business plan. Really, it just makes such good sense. It helps you organize what you want to do, reduces the chances of missing important details, and improves the odds of your achieving those objectives!

Let us know if you'd like to further explore this as you'll see mentioned at the end of this post. And for those looking at signing or renegotiating their Commercial Lease agreement, we're very pleased to provide the following helpful tips and suggestions from our friends, Dale Willerton and Jeff Grandfield with The Lease Coach.  Thank you Dale and Jeff.

Dale Willerton and Jeff Grandfield

Negotiating Commercial Leases & Renewals FOR DUMMIES

Commercial Leasing Tips for Commercial Tenants

By: Jeff Grandfield and Dale Willerton – The Lease Coach 

For many business-owners, negotiating a good lease or lease renewal against an experienced agent or landlord can be a challenge. While an entrepreneur focuses on marketing and managing, savvy real estate agents and brokers are specialized sales people. Their job is to sell tenants on leasing their location at the highest possible rental rate. 

As explained in our new book, Negotiating Commercial Leases & Renewals FOR DUMMIES (co-written with my colleague, Dale Willerton), tenants may go through the leasing process only two or three times in their entire lifetime – yet they have to negotiate against seasoned professionals who negotiate leases every day for a living. Negotiating appropriate leasing terms is vital for an entrepreneur as the amount of rent he pays will directly affect the business’ financial bottom line. 

Whether you are leasing a new location for the first time or negotiating a lease renewal for your business, these are some money-saving tips for tenants: 

Put Your Meeting in Writing:  Sometimes you will develop an understanding or a handshake agreement with the leasing agent, property manager, and/or landlord. They may be reluctant to put that agreement in writing – so you can. As soon as possible after making the verbal agreement, send a simple e-mail or letter stating Further to our meeting (of such date) it is my understanding that … and list the agreement. Ask for a reply so that you will have something in writing. While this is not legally binding, it shows intent. 

Don’t forget the Parking: When negotiating for parking, first establish the availability and preferred locations. It’s harder to negotiate for parking spots after they have all been taken rather that when there is a surplus of parking. If you can’t get the landlord to come down on the monthly rental rate, at least ask for five or six months of free parking as a lease incentive. Trust us, parking is worth negotiating on – so that you, your staff, and your customers all have a place to park. 

For a copy of our free CD, Leasing Do’s & Don’ts for Commercial Tenants, please e-mail your request to JeffGrandfield@TheLeaseCoach.com.

Jeff Grandfield and Dale Willerton - The Lease Coach are Commercial Lease Consultants who work exclusively for tenants. Jeff and Dale are professional speakers and co-authors of Negotiating Commercial Leases & Renewals FOR DUMMIES (Wiley, 2013). Got a leasing question? Need help with your new lease or renewal? Call 1-800-738-9202, e-mail DaleWillerton@TheLeaseCoach.com  or JeffGrandfield@TheLeaseCoach.comor visit www.TheLeaseCoach.com. 

What's been your experience?

Feel free to add your comments and we'd very much appreciate

if you would share this post with those in your circle of contacts.





QUESTION:

Are you looking at writing your BUSINESS PLAN, but finding that to be a challenge?


Over the years we’ve found that there is great value for an entrepreneur to put together their own business plan, yet we also recognize that writing one can be a daunting task! Perhaps you’ve experienced some of the challenges faced in writing a business plan. We'll work with you and assist in the gathering of information needed to effectively describe your business opportunity. This service takes a consultative approach and works with you to craft a business plan that's tailored to your needs.

For more information see:

Option 4 - “PVS - Business Plan Writing” listed on our Website Registration page:

CLICK HERE

The Secret to Business Success

I don’t think I’ve ever met a true entrepreneur who anticipated that they were NOT going to be a HUGE success.   

I mean – who goes into a business venture anticipating that they are going to fail?  No one does that!  Yet without attention to good planning and a solid business plan, the chances of failure are significantly increased.  And, in case you hadn’t noticed, the odds are stacked against you right from the start!

A recent online search for “small business success rates in Canada” generated a number of statistics including the following statement: “Business failure statistics show that about 96 percent of small businesses (1–99 employees) that enter the marketplace survive for one full year, 85 percent survive for three years and 70 percent survive for five years (Key Small Business Statistics).“

Knowing this, are there some things you could do to improve your chances of business survival? As we work with our clients, particularly at the start-up or growing stages of their business ventures, we’ve seen where the following “Survival Tips” from The Canada Business Network, can help entrepreneurs avoid some of the pitfalls that lead to business failure. Please give these some consideration, and let us know if you’d like to review how these can be enhanced or applied to your business planning!

• Develop a good marketing and business plan that takes into account customer needs, competition, pricing and promotional strategies.
• Have a good working knowledge of business law or hire a lawyer.
• Understand your business finances, such as cash flow and handling credit.
• Keep a good inventory of your products or services and your existing customers.
• Supervise, train and motivate your employees.
• Make sure you have the experience, expertise and talent to run your business.
• Plan every part of your business from start to finish.
• Know your market and define how much of it you will be able to capture.
• Make sure you are offering a product that is unique and competitive or at a lower cost than that of your competitors.
• Don't under-estimate your expenses and over-estimate your revenue.
• Make sure you have some cash reserves or a line of credit to help you get through slow periods.

Source: https://canadabusiness.ca/starting/before-starting-your-business/is-entrepreneurship-for-you/small-business-survival/

So … what’s the secret to business success?

In two simple words: “Avoid Failure!”

Business Success usually takes a good length of time before it’s achieved. Over night successes are very rare indeed. Some may say that success has more to do with good luck, and there may be some luck that’s been involved along the way. However, I’ve also found that the harder someone works at building their business, the luckier they become! Momentum begins to build and things start falling into place. So keep working at your business! Work hard, and also, work SMART! And when that day comes for your success, by all means, celebrate and enjoy the fruits of your labour! We’d also encourage you to remember those who helped you reach your goals, and find meaningful ways to “give back” to those “good causes” that are important to you and those around you.

                                                

What's been your experience?

Feel free to add your comments and we'd very much appreciate

if you would share this post with those in your circle of contacts.

QUESTION:  

Are you looking at writing your BUSINESS PLAN but finding that to be a challenge?

Over the years we’ve found that there is great value for an entrepreneur to put together their own business plan, yet we also recognize that writing one can be a daunting task! Perhaps you’ve experienced some of the challenges faced in writing a business plan. We'll work with you and assist in the gathering of information that you'll need to have in your business plan to effectively describe your business opportunity. This service takes a consultative approach to gather information from you and works with you to craft a business plan that's tailored to your needs.

For more information see:

Option 4 - “PVS - Business Plan Writing”

It's listed on our Website Registration page:

CLICK HERE