You need your suppliers. They need you as well. It is a win-win relationship between you and your vendors. However, it takes effort; it does not just happen. Managing your vendor relationships is essential to ensure a steady supply of materials or services that you can use for your products or to enhance your services. This means selecting suppliers with care and building a connection based on mutual trust. When you have a good working relationship with your vendors, you can navigate downturns in the marketplace and respond quickly to a big upsurge in orders. Here are several ways to ensure a mutually beneficial outcome with your suppliers. Evaluation and Selection Select your vendors with care. Don’t rush in and simply choose the least expensive price for the goods you need. Like every decision that has long-term outcomes, base it on thorough research. Follow this process when looking for a supplier: The slow, steady process of researching and negotiating lets you know what you will be paying for, when you receive goods after ordering, and if there are extra fees or expenses involved in the transaction. The last thing you want is to succumb to a fast-talking salesperson with questionable reliability. Managing Vendors Just like any major component in your business, vendor relationships need proper management. It is not usually wise to sign up with a supplier, then put the entire process on autopilot. It is always best if each vendor works with one person in your organization. They should check in frequently with their contact with phone calls and emails, and visit their office periodically. This makes the connection stronger and more personal, enhancing loyalty and awareness. It makes the vendor feel a part of your team. Make sure the person managing each vendor responds to questions and concerns quickly. Without up-to-date information, the supplier can end up providing too little or too much of a material or miss deadlines. You need to show that you respect their time and the resources they have available. You are just one of their customers, not the only one. Your aim is to encourage a strong connection. The only way to do that is with frequent contact. Always pay on time. If something happens where you cannot, get in touch with the vendor immediately. Explain what is going on, set up a payment schedule and stick to it. Nothing will get you on the bad side of a vendor faster than a spotty payment record. Even after you know a vendor well, get everything in writing. Never depend on verbal agreements or someone’s memory. Ask your supplier for progress reports so you can spot potential problems early. Getting the Most Out of Vendor Relationships As in any relationship, you teach your vendor how to treat you. Let him know directly and often exactly what your needs are. Make it clear that you expect good service. Expect loyalty from your vendor and be loyal to them. If they are going through a bad patch, try to help and don’t drop them if they have been a reliable resource for you in the past. Give them referrals. Send them more work when you have it. Don’t make outrageous demands and expect immediate compliance. Feel comfortable asking for discounts if you have been a good customer. How much you get will depend on how much business you send their way, what the terms are and how long you have been working with them. This is also where a good relationship shows its worth. Bring problems with service to the attention of your supplier quickly. Make sure you get the matter resolved, even if you have to keep working your way up the chain of command. Remember, take your time finding the right vendors. Then make the effort to get to know them, their capabilities, and their needs. Develop a good working relationship and keep communication consistent and constant. With reliable vendors as part of your team, your business can grow.

Managing Vendor Relationships

View Resource Managing Vendor Relationships
Time is money, so managing this valuable resource is good for your bottom line. Time is a finite resource, so you need to guard it well from people and events that waste it. Small business owners can be constantly confronted with small emergencies and social interruptions that can eat up their day. Meanwhile, more important goals and tasks get placed on the back burner. The latest app or a new gadget can help, but only if you first decide on your purpose and what is worth focusing on at work. Tips to Manage Time for Small Business Owners Be clear about goals. The best first step is to know what your goals are. Be clear about where you want your business to be in 10 years, five years, next year, next month, and tomorrow. This will help you clear through the clutter of unnecessary demands on your time. Decide what is important in helping you reach your goals, and concentrate on making progress toward them. Try to delegate, though this can be hard for a small business owner. Once you become clear on where your focus should be, you will find it easier to avoid time wasters. Be in charge of your time. Don’t put yourself at the mercy of others who will take minutes and hours out of your day. As a business owner, you, and no one else are responsible for how you spend your time. That means you must develop the skill to say no. Be polite and be firm. Move to productive tasks if you see that what you are doing is not serving your goals. Plan your time. Write out a schedule at the beginning of the day. Include what you must accomplish — the urgent, and what will bring you closer to your short-term and long-term goals — the important. Your schedule does not have to be minute-by-minute. It can be a simple to-do list with space for appointments and for tasks that support your goals. Without a schedule, you will find yourself unnecessarily jumping from one fire to another. With a plan to refer to, you can spend quality time in a focused manner on each task. Moreover, the important doesn’t always get crowded out by the urgent. How do you decide what is important? Use the 80/20 rule that says 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. It is the same concept that says that 80% of your money comes from 20% of your clients. So focus your attention on what produces money and results. Applied consistently, you will eliminate unproductive clients or tasks and increase results in the areas where you can gain the most. Delegate. Many small business owners started off wearing all hats. As they expanded, a staff was hired. However, it can be hard to transition from being the one doing the job to the one overseeing it done by others. The results are micromanaging and putting far too much time into tasks that others are being paid to do. When you trust your employees, jobs get done routinely without your input or interference. Unless there is a major problem, let your employees get on with their jobs. Don’t waste your time getting involved in problems at the staff level that don’t require your input. Avoid distractions. Facebook can be a time waster for a business owner just like it can be for an employee. Set aside 15 to 30 minutes every day for social media. Likewise for email: schedule time once or twice a day for answering it. Focus your time and attention on the things that matter for your small business. Take a proactive stance when it comes to your time, and you will be far more productive.

Time Management

View Resource Time Management
Owning your business means the freedom to set your hours, make your rules, and live your dream. It also means the chaos of setting up a company, meeting deadlines, dealing with employees and customers, and the chance to work 10 to 15 hours a day at times. The rewards may be two-sided, but the right to call be called the boss is payoff enough for many entrepreneurs. The job description for “Boss” is one that develops on the fly, and you often learn by doing. Here are some tips to make the transition a little easier. Have Money to Fall Back On Breaking even in your new business takes about one-and-a-half to three years, according to small business expert Melinda Emerson in her book “Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months”. It will cost more than you think and take more time that you planned. You’ll need enough money to cover living expenses and for startup costs. The simplest way to handle this is by starting the business while you still have a job and a paycheck. It is hard to get investors interested until you have customers and products. Cut expenses to the bone. Do whatever you need to do to make sure you have the cash for the first few months. Choose a Field You Love Starting and growing a business may be your dream, but it can easily turn into a nightmare because of the challenges finding startup money, dealing with customers, and weathering market conditions. If you love the field you are in, that can help sustain you over the bumps. Take Advice from Experts When you start a business, everyone has an opinion. One person might question why you’d leave a good job in the first place for an idea that may never work. Another person might suggest that you switch from selling apples to ice cream because the market is better. Rely on experts primarily, rather than relatives and friends for advice. Get guidance from mentors at SCORE, the Senior Corps of Retired Executives and the Small Business Administration. Ask others in the same line of work. Take classes and research trade publications. Base your decisions on respected, educated, experienced opinions. Develop a Business Plan Research and make a plan. Even if you do not stick totally to it, it will start you on the path with confidence and clarity. It does not have to be pages long, but it should at a minimum answer these questions: Get Support This is the time to tap into your network. They know people who know people, and on down the line. Find people who are positive and upbeat when you need an injection of reassurance and encouragement. Be clear about what you need, ask friends to put the word out, whether it is a contact, the best place to buy supplies for cheap or an office to rent. Offer the same back to your network, and keep growing it. Starting a business is a grand adventure in life. Be prepared for surprises, be careful with your money, connect with people, educate yourself. Enjoy it.

Becoming the Boss

View Resource Becoming the Boss
Technology is fascinating, changing daily, and confusing all at the same time. It can help keep you organized, handle tedious chores automatically, and connect you globally. It can also cost you lots of unnecessary dollars if you are not careful. Here are tips based on the experience of other small business owners who have previously navigated a technology minefield filled with the latest and greatest. Establish a Budget The first step in deciding which types of technology to invest in is putting together a budget. The newest gadgets and software run the gamut in price from a 99 cent app to a high-end scanner that costs thousands. Set up a budget and stick to it. Base it on how much you can reasonably afford to invest. Having a fixed amount to work with will reduce the temptation of the newest add-on or gizmo. Be Aware of the Full Cost. New technology is the sum of the sticker price plus the cost of implementing it. Consider these points: Fit the Technology to Your Needs Make sure the electronics you are thinking of investing in match your business lifestyle. If you constantly travel from customer to customer, bulky electronics are a bad investment. Think laptop or tablet, instead of a desktop. Do you really need to upgrade your server? Instead of buying the software yourself, would a Software-As-A-Service, or SaaS offering be more cost effective? Can you rely on the cloud? Look for Compatibility and Security Make sure that new devices you purchase will work with your existing equipment. A great piece of Mac software will not do you any good in a Windows environment unless you buy additional software. Is it secure? This is a very real hazard for a small business. Make sure that what you buy can be protected with the proper levels of security. Taking shortcuts with the cost of security could come back and severely damage your business. What Small Businesses Use A 2013 survey by the Small Business Owners Association listed these four items as essentials: Though the landline is something of a surprise, these rates show how important technology is for your small company. Start with the basics when you first invest in electronics and slowly add what you need. Cloud Computing In the survey mentioned, 43% of the owners polled had switched to cloud computing. In the last five years, cloud-based services have grown exponentially. This offers small businesses a number of benefits: Using cloud-based services offers simplicity and peace of mind, since you do not have to worry about storage and updates. You do not have to pay for software, but instead subscribe to it using a SaaS model. Today, the right technology can help streamline your business and make life easier — if you buy the right type. Do your research when you look at what’s new and exciting on the market. Ask questions before you buy and stick to your budget.

Selecting the Right Technology and Tools

View Resource Selecting the Right Technology and Tools
The decision to create a business plan is an important one, whether you are starting a new business or growing an established one. A solid business plan is fundamental to long-term business success. It serves two main purposes: While the phrase “creating a business plan” may conjure up feelings of trepidation and dread, it will not be as difficult if you break your business plan down into its more essential parts. Why Do You Need a Business Plan? Benjamin Franklin said it best: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” While a business plan will not guarantee success, failing to have one almost guarantees that you will not find the success you seek. Remember the roadmap analogy? It is an accurate one to consider. The first thing you need to do before creating the roadmap, though, is to figure out where you are heading. In order to do that, you should ask yourself four simple questions.
  1. How do you want your business to look in one year?

  2. How would you like it to look in three years?

  3. Where do you want to see your business going in five years?

  4. What would you like to have accomplished by your tenth year in business?
Seek the answers to those questions, keeping in mind profits, revenues, expansion, growth and other critical drivers and metrics for your business. What Does a Business Plan Include? In order to build the roadmap to reach your intended business destinations in a timely manner, you must include key pieces of information and analysis in your plan. The many moving parts of running your business become the fundamental building blocks of your long-term business plan. Consider each of them a pit stop along the road to business success. Business Concept Your business concept is a summation of your company in a few concise and simple sentences. It should clearly communicate the idea, design or value proposition behind your business so that a customer, investor or potential partner can quickly grasp what you will do and the value it will provide. Keep the concept statement to one paragraph. Business Strategy Your business strategy provides the detail on how you will execute the business concept. It describes your industry, explains your product or service, and the critical factors that will drive your business success. Those factors might include such things as your management team, operational plans or cost advantages. In essence, it is an executive summary that explains why your business is uniquely suited to succeed. Specific things you should consider while creating the strategy section of your plan include: Market Analysis In the market analysis section of your plan, you need to explore the ins and outs of your potential customers or markets. Most importantly, though, is to answer this one question: “How are you profitably going to meet the needs of your target customer?” Competitive Analysis In order to be complete, your marketplace analysis must pay attention to your competitors. This is necessary whether you are an established business looking to expand or a new business interested in taking business away from other established businesses in the area. Questions to ask yourself here, include: Financial Analysis This section of your business plan will look at the financial aspects of your business. As a new business you will need to include: Don’t forget to include plans for assets the business needs to acquire and the costs of the marketing plan the business intends to follow coming out of the gate. Existing businesses need to include cash flow statements, balance sheets, and pro-forma income statements, for example. Keep in mind, you should provide information that will assist potential lenders (banks and credit unions) and investors in approving loans or green-lighting investments in your business. Maintaining Your Business Plan You should not just write a business plan and place it in a drawer. To get the most benefit from it, it should be a dynamic evolving plan. You must adjust your plan as necessary with changing markets, new product concepts, evolving technology, need for additional financing, and goal achievements, just to name a few. An old business plan may not reflect reality any longer, so be sure to revisit your business plan periodically. Having a update checklist helps you to do just that. In the beginning, making a business plan may seem like a onerous task. It can be simpler if you break it down into its individual components. Once you have a plan in place, you will begin to see the effectiveness of how such a simple business tool can take the guesswork out of starting a business or growing one.

Creating a Business Plan

View Resource Creating a Business Plan
You’ve come up with a plausible idea for a business. That is great! An idea gets you to the starting gate. However, you get into the race with money. Startup financing is the means to turn that idea into a real business. Thankfully, today there are more sources of startup funding than ever before. While there are traditional financing sources from banks, credit unions, and investors, there are also new twists on startup funding with innovative crowdfunding and angel investors. Here is a look at traditional and creative methods of funding your startup. Major Sources of Startup Funding Overall, most funding for startups falls into one of the four following categories.
  1. Revenue. This is probably the most common method. You sell your product or service, receive money for it, and plow it back into the business to fund growth. It is also called bootstrapping, self-funding, and internal financing.

  2. Equity. This is selling shares in your new venture in exchange for money, services of value to the new business, or work for the venture, called sweat equity.

  3. Debt. Loans fund many startups. They can come from banks, credit unions, friends, family, and private investors.

  4. Grants. This is money that is given to help a business get going, but requires no equity or repayment of the money. Not-for-profit companies receive most grant money, but for-profit entities are often eligible as well.
Specific Types of Funding Here is a quick overview of the most common types of funding methods for startup companies. Crowdfunding. Kickstarter and Indiegogo, among others, have provided robust, innovative ways for startups to raise money. The entrepreneur takes his case directly to the public in a crowdfunding campaign. Angel Investing. Individuals with money and interest in investing in trendy ventures with strong growth potential are called angel investors. The best kind are accredited investors, with a net worth of at least $1 million or an income of $200,000 or more for each of the last two years. They often seek investments as a group. Venture Capital Investing. The entire purpose of venture capital firms is to find promising businesses in their early stages of development who are looking for funding. The money often comes with a formal agreement that covers the timeframe for the firm to begin seeing a return on their investment. Bootstrapping. Some aspiring entrepreneurs also obtain startup funding by self-funding: selling assets, withdrawing savings, borrowing against their home, maxing out credit cards, or tapping into their 401(k) savings. Friends and Family. Loans can often come from the people who know you best and are rooting for you to succeed. Bartering. Exchanging your products or services to other companies to get what you need to grow, whether office supplies, computer repair or expertise. Small Business Grants. These can come from the local, state or federal government as part of an effort to stimulate the economy. Some nonprofits also offer them. Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA extends small loans and expertise to new businesses. Lines of Credit. Banks and credit unions offer commercial lines of credit that are well-suited for startups. With a line of credit, you only pay interest on the funds you use rather than the entire approved loan amount. Incubators. These can be universities, nonprofits, and companies specializing in this type of work. They provide labs, consulting, office space, marketing advice and sometimes money. Often they require equity in your startup in exchange. Partnership. This involves finding someone who has substantial skills, friends, or money to contribute to your business in exchange for a percentage of it. Major Customer. If your product or service is valuable to a single major customer, it might be willing to give you money for development and startup expenses. In exchange, it will have input and varying amounts of control over your production process. Most new businesses use a mix of sources for startup financing. With the many options available and a commitment to your new business, you have an excellent opportunity to turn your idea into a thriving company.

Sources of Start-Up Funding

View Resource Sources of Start-Up Funding
Your business name is usually a customer’s first introduction to you. Make a positive impression by picking a name that attracts attention and trust. It can be a hair-pulling process finding a name that resonates with your intended audience. Here are some tips for choosing a name that does, and once you find it, making it legally yours. Factors To Consider In naming your business, the goal is to find a name that arouses genuinely positive feelings when customers encounter it for the first time. It should be web-friendly and attention-getting too. Be aware of what connotations a potential name evokes. If you have a beach shop selling sports gear, for example, a corporate sounding name is probably not a good match for your company. Choose a name that will look good within a logo, on business cards, stationery and your website header. Image is important for a company, and that starts with the name. Pick a name that expresses the essence of your business, what it does, what it produces, what its purpose is. Express the emotional meaning of the company as well as give people practical information. Try to make the name short. It is easier to remember and fits more artistically on business cards and headers. If you do pick a longer name, be sure to check how it will look when abbreviated. You do not want any acronyms with unforeseen meaning! Should you use your name? This is typical for many new entrepreneurs, but it has limitations if you intend to expand. Down the road, it might make it more challenging in building a brand. If you are having problems coming up with the perfect name, the free website BustAName.com is one option that can help you come up with possibilities. Name Availability Ideally, your name should also be unique to your business. Check to see if a claim for the name exists within your state. However, even if another firm has that name, it is possible you can still use it if you offer an entirely different set of goods or services, and your location is not in the same area. Check with your state’s business filing agency to check if the name is available. Many states let you do this online. Go to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office online and use the search tool to find out if the name you want, plus variations of it, are already trademarked. You need a name that is free and clear. Of course, a web presence is essential. One of the best things you can do for your company’s future is to find a name that is available as a high-level domain, especially a .com. It is worth reworking the name to find one that is free. You can check the WHOIS database online to find out if the registration status of the name you want. Registering Your New Name To legally claim the name you choose, you need to register it as a “Doing Business As,” or DBA, with your state filing office. This is different from incorporating a business and trademark protection. This only lets the state legal entities know that you are in business and using a name separate from your personal name. Be sure to apply for trademark, protecting the words, symbols, names, and logos that are distinct to your business. One of your company’s biggest assets is your name, so you want to keep it safe. Over the long-term, getting trademark protection is inexpensive at under $300. Lastly, register your domain as soon as you decide. Claim your corresponding social media identity at the same time. At the very least, this should include Facebook and Twitter, but don’t forget about Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and Google+ for businesses too.

Naming Your Business

View Resource Naming Your Business
If you are putting together a business plan before approaching lenders, you’ll want to be specific in your calculations about your market share. Figuring it out takes time and research, but is well worth the investment. It helps not just for financing, but also when you make product development, marketing, and manufacturing decisions. Understanding Market Potential The potential of the market rests with what is needed to solve a problem. Listening to music is an excellent example to illustrate how to understand a market’s potential. In this instance, the problem is: how can a music lover listen to their favorite music affordably and conveniently? Through the years, methods have included using Victrola records, long-playing records, singles, cassettes, CDs, MP3s, and products like iPods and Beats headphones. With time, a new technology will become the norm. The “market” isn’t necessarily the product: namely, an iPod or Beats headphones. The market is the music lover. The opportunity depends on how many there are, and how much of the market you can realistically expect to capture. This recurs over and over in every type of market: personal, home, office, agricultural, and industrial. You will not go down the wrong path if you keep your eye on the problem and its solution. You can miscalculate the size of the market if you focus on one type of product and the numbers sold. Do that, and you will miss the wave when new technology comes along, as it always does. Remember, you are sizing the market, not what the product you are selling. Identifying Your Niche and Segment Once you have identified the problem and corresponding solution, you can move on to the next step: defining the market niche you want to serve by identifying your target customer and market segment. For instance, if your overall market is providing customers with pool cleaning supplies and equipment, you can break that down by eliminating people that wouldn’t be interested in your product. That might include homeowners who are too busy, like families where both parents work. Another group to eliminate might be high wealth households that might hire a pool cleaning service to handle the task. Keep trimming. Eventually, you might end up with quite a small market. Many successful businesses appeal to only a small fraction of the market. Estimating Your Market Share Now that you have determined the problem, the solution, and your niche, you can use traditional methods to compute the size of a market. There are multiple approaches to zero in on a good market share estimate, including governmental databases, surveys, industry studies, and competitors. For starters, find out the number of people or businesses that need your product or service. Resources to help you estimate this include the Small Business Administration, industry associations, and statistics kept by the federal government. Pinpoint companies that sell the type of product you want to market. Then start asking questions to see how close they are to the kind of business you wish to become. This will give you a list of companies that you can reasonably assume are your competitors. Next, find out their annual sales. Figure out a realistic estimate of how much of your competitors’ market you can attract. This is a very rough guess as to your market share. Check your estimates by conducting surveys of individuals who buy these products. You can do this yourself by setting up a short, free survey online or by hiring a company that specializes in them. Keep in mind that interest in a product and service is not necessarily action in buying the product or using the service. Sizing the market is an important task for market planning and budgeting for all startups, and all along the way throughout a product’s lifecycle. Markets change however, sometimes quite rapidly, so market size estimates should be considered fluid numbers.

Sizing the Market

View Resource Sizing the Market
The joy of owning a business is the dream of many would-be entrepreneurs. If you are one of them, you have two main choices: start a company from scratch or find an already existing business. Your dream can become a reality more quickly if you decide on the latter. Here’s a look at important points to consider if you are thinking about buying a company. Pros and Cons The biggest benefit of buying an existing business is that the company is already in operation. Many of the kinks and early startup decisions, such as the site’s location, have already been worked out or decided. Money is one of the biggest concerns of a budding entrepreneur. Buying a business has both pluses and minuses in this regard. On the plus side, you do not typically have to worry about startup costs. Another plus is that immediate cash flow is often available from receivables and inventory. A company that is already in business has existing customers, and hopefully, goodwill on tap, too. If you need a loan to upgrade equipment or purchase new supplies, financing is usually a smooth process based on the business’s’ track record and profit and loss statements. Of course, there are downsides. The biggest is the upfront cost: namely, the purchase price of the company. In addition, hidden costs and problems may be buried where they are hard to see prior to taking ownership. There can be debts and taxes owed by the business or uncollectible receivables. There could be problems getting inventory, technological advances that make the product line obsolete, or overwhelming competition. Though you will now be a proud new business owner, you still need to build a good working relationship with the managers and employees currently running the company. Finding a Business to Buy Deciding to buy is step one. Then, you need to start researching existing businesses to find one that is a good fit for your budget and your interests. Good places to look include: The process of identifying and evaluating a business can seem daunting. Hiring a business broker is a good way to ease your way through the confusing jungle of buying a company. They can help you figure out exactly what type of business, location, size, and price you seek. Then they can use their industry contacts, skills, and experience to pre-screen firms for you. Negotiating is an intricate dance, but brokers are well versed in the process. They also know how to handle the paperwork required by local regulations, licenses, permits, bank financing, and escrow. Things to Consider When Buying a Business You need to protect yourself when buying a business. Having a team in place to advise you, including an insurance agent, accountant, attorney, and banker, is highly beneficial. Together, you can conduct due diligence and a thorough analysis of each company you are consider purchasing. Among the questions you need answers to are: If the business looks viable and the future looks profitable, the next step is for you and your team to dig deep into the operating details of the firm and analyze the overall financial health of the company. This involves an in-depth review of the history of earnings and losses, analysis of potential growth, and the worth of its brand name, goodwill, and position in the market. Next, you’ll need to investigate financial statements in order to project future returns. If this is not in your wheelhouse, you’ll need an expert who understands balance sheets, cash flow statements, accounting footnotes, tax returns, and income statements. You should go back at least three years if the information is available. Buying the Company Once you decide a business has potential and is within your financial means, it is time to negotiate a price. Most owners prefer to let members of their team, including the broker, do this. They are professionals who keep a focused, impartial view of the process. The result of their more impersonal bargaining style is often a better price for you. It is critical to have professionals around you that you trust. There are many types of legal and finance documents, from security agreements to bills of sale and IRS forms, that may need expert review. The process is complicated and can be stressful. Rely on a team of experts so that you get the best deal possible. Lastly, your final step is transitioning into the ownership position: getting to know the employees, the product line, new premises, customers, and suppliers. Taking on an existing business is not always smooth or uncomplicated, but with some expert help, hard work, and patience, it can be a profitable and exciting endeavor.

Buying an Existing Business

View Resource Buying an Existing Business
One of the biggest expenses many businesses have to deal with is the cost of leasing space for their business. Getting familiar with what the lease covers and which sections are negotiable can save you money and frustration. Here are important factors to consider when considering your space needs. Affordability Since leasing costs are one of the largest items in your budget, spend time looking at different locations and then comparing the pros and cons of each. Using a spreadsheet to compare variables is helpful. The items to account for are: Now is the time to learn how to read a lease. Ask your accountant, insurance agent, lawyer, or broker for help. Commercial leases are not easy to understand. Some are even hundreds of pages long. Factors that impact your total leasing costs, include: After you get a handle on how much these additional costs will add to your monthly lease payment, compare it to how much you can afford. The rule of thumb is to spend no more than 10% of your projected gross revenues. That means if the rent is $3,000 a month, you need to generate $30,000 a month in revenue to afford it comfortably. Lease Terms and Negotiable Items Much of what is in a lease agreement is negotiable. That is why it makes sense to hire a broker. Find an experienced agent who understands the local market well. You want one who works for you, not for the property owner. Make sure that the same time they represent you, they do not also work for a competitor or someone who needs the same type of space as you. Your agent can help you negotiate a deal that fits your budget. Here are the areas that are open to bargaining: Other Caveats Surprises cost money when it comes to leases. It is not uncommon for a business owner to call the landlord when the roof leaks into the IT department and get the reply, “That is your responsibility. Didn’t you read the lease?” Any legal document running to tens or hundreds of pages needs expert analysis. Find a reputable real estate attorney experienced in your property needs. Since leases typically run five to twenty years, you want to have a qualified professional make sure it benefits you. It is an investment in the future of your business, as well as your peace of mind. Getting the best deal on a lease means finding a broker, researching the market, comparing properties, and having an experienced real estate lawyer check it before you sign it. Investing time now can save you a bundle in the years ahead.

Leasing Space for Your Business

View Resource Leasing Space for Your Business