Tips to Negotiating Your Commercial Lease

Every business encounters expenses along the path towards success. One of the largest expenditures that can obligate the owner for years into the future involves your business location!

There are many things that can enter into the decision-making process as I've discovered from some of the experienced professionals with The Lease Coach.

Pro-Vision Solutions Inc. is very pleased to provide you with the following tips and suggestions from The Lease Coach, and look forward to future contributions for our audience. 

Thank you for sharing these very helpful things for our Business Success audience!


Negotiating Commercial Leases & Renewals For Dummies

Commercial Leasing Tips for Commercial Tenants

By: Jeff Grandfield – 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:

Negotiate to Win: All too frequently, tenants enter into lease negotiations unprepared and do not even try winning the negotiations. Often, tenants will set their sights on just striking a fair deal – this usually plays right into the leasing agent’s hand as he is most certainly negotiating to win the best deal for his boss … the landlord. If you’re not negotiating to win, you won’t. Negotiate assertively!

Be Prepared to Walk Away: Try to set aside your emotions and make objective decisions. Whoever most needs to make a lease deal will give up the most concessions. A good business in a poor location will become a poor business.

Ask the Right Questions: Gathering information about what other tenants are paying for rent or what incentives they received will position you to get a better deal. Consider that your landlord and his agent know what every other tenant in the property is paying in rent, so you must do your homework too.

Broker … Friend or Foe?  Real estate agents and brokers typically work for the landlord who is paying their commission. It is not normally the agent`s role to get the tenant the best deal – it is their job to get the landlord the highest rent, the biggest deposit, etc. The higher the rent you pay, the more commission the agent earns. If you are researching multiple properties, try to deal directly with the listing agent for each property, rather than letting one agent show you around or show you another agent`s listing. Your tenancy is more desirable to the listing agent if he can avoid commission-splitting with other agents.

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

What are your comments or additional helpful suggestions for entrepreneurs? 

* Have you included your business location plans into your Business PLAN? 

     TIP: Pro-Vision Solutions Inc. can help you with that!


Let us know your thoughts and please share this with those in your circle of contacts!

Develop Your Business Plan Now - We can Help!

We recognize that starting and growing a business can be both challenging and rewarding. Increase your confidence in going forward and the confidence others place in you with solid plans for your business! We can assist select clients who are both ‘ready and able’ to move forward with their business planning and growth. 

Here's a quick look at a few OPTIONS that we trust will be helpful:

Our “Business Plan Coaching” services (Options 1, 2 & 3) provide you with a cost-effective ‘D.I.Y.’ (Do-It-Yourself) approach!  Our role consists of guiding and reviewing your progress as you move towards your objectives, using one of our three helpful business planning frameworks. (These are described in more detail below.) You proceed at your own pace and develop your own business plan. We’ll check in with you throughout the entire process with valuable input and suggestions. Where necessary, we can also provide limited research, directing you to resources we believe you’ll find helpful.

Our “Business Plan Writing” service (Option 4) takes a more consultative approach and works more closely with you, particularly in the early and latter stages of the process. First, we help you outline your business concept and objectives. From there, we gather information into a first draft of your business plan for you to review. Following your review, further refinements are made and presented in a second draft of your business plan. Your feedback will be used to fine-tune the plan, which when presented to you, completes this valuable service. At this stage, you have the finished business plan document that you’ve requested.

Our "Other Services" - We'd be pleased to speak with you regarding our: "Business Plan Review" (Option 5) or "Business Coaching Services" (Option 6) to help you prepare to present your plan to funders and stakeholders.

So whether it’s our more involved “Business Plan Writing” service, the more flexible “Business Plan Coaching” service, or one of our "Other Services", it all begins with a conversation, and taking the next step.

 

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Simply CLICK on the title above, or any of the Six (6) "Option Titles" below to go to our WEBSITE Registration Page. Feel free to review the descriptions seen there (and as noted below) and then "click" on the BUTTON to reach our Eventbrite page menu and complete your registration! 

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RE: Options 1, 2 & 3 - “Business Plan Coaching” 

Pro-Vision Solutions Inc. (PVS) has developed a number of helpful approaches to assist you. While we do not write your business plan for you with the following "Business Plan Coaching" options, our interactive process helps you develop many of those important elements, covering each of them at your own pace, within a dynamic process. Whether you’re going ‘solo’ or have your own ‘team’ to assist you, we’ll be there with you to help facilitate the development of your business plan. You’re not alone in this!

Option 1 – “PVS –Exploring Business” 
For any business to succeed there are a number of fundamental questions that need be answered. We’ll help you explore those questions and discover the answers you need before investing significant time, energy and resources into your business venture. Regardless of the stage of your business development, our objective perspective will help you quickly explore these critical aspects at this important point of your entrepreneurial journey.  Your answers to these questions will allow you to focus your resources where they will produce the greatest results for your business!

Here are just some of the areas we’ll examine together:

· What is your value proposition?
· How does your current menu of products or services fit in the market?
· Who should your business be targeting?
· How will you effectively reach your market?
· What changes in your operations, marketing & management are needed?
· What priorities should receive your attention?

(This service takes approximately 3 to 4 hours to complete, and should be completed within 1 month from registration.)

 

Option 2 – “PVS – Business Modeling” 

Whether you’re a new or existing business, choosing this option introduces you to a powerful suite of strategic management components. Flexible to adapt to a wide variety of situations, the insights you gain from the “PVS – Business Modeling” will be most valuable in the development of your business plan.


Our process examines the following key business areas:

· Your Value Proposition
· Approach to Customer Relationships
· Target Customer Segments
· Channels to Market
· Revenue Sources
· Key Business Activities
· Key Resources Required
· Strategic and Operational Partnerships
· Associated Costs

(This service takes approximately 7 to 9 hours to complete, and should be completed within 3 months from registration.) 

Option 3 –“PVS – Facilitated Business Planning”
Choose our “PVS - Facilitated Business Planning” and we’ll ‘walk with you’ through many of the key concepts you’ll need to address within your business plan. This package will provide you with helpful direction, insights and practical exercises to assist you in completing each major section of your business plan. Each step is introduced in a way that facilitates your growth and development as we connect with you throughout the entire process. The things you learn through this process will allow you to bring all the pieces of your business plan together and equip you for the changes you’ll want to make in the future.

Here are the key points we’ll cover with you in this service:

· Your Vision & Mission
· Your Target Market
· Your Company & Management
· Understanding Your Industry & Market
· Marketing Your Product or Service
· Your Business & What's Unique About It
· Operating Realities, Competition and Overcoming Challenges
· Identifying and Minimizing Risks
· Your Financial Prospects and Health of Your Business
· Customer Service & Satisfaction
· Social Responsibility, Social Media & Exit Strategy
· Your Business Plan Package

(This service takes approximately 10 to 13 hours to complete, and should be completed within 6 months from registration.)

RE: Option 4 - “Business Plan Writing” 

Option 4 –“PVS – Business Plan Writing”
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. 

Our process requires your input to outline your business concept and objectives. From there, we gather information into a first draft of your business plan for you to review. Following your review, further refinements are made and presented in a second draft of your business plan. Your feedback will be used to fine-tune the plan, which when presented to you, completes this valuable service. At this stage, you have the finished business plan document that you’ve requested.

As every business and the needs of its owners are different, the time and costs involved will vary with the complexity of your business situation! 

(This service typically takes approximately 8 to 12 weeks to complete. A retainer is required to begin, with the balance of payments arranged during our initial consultation and the scheduling of this project.)

RE: Options 5 & 6 - “Other Services” 

Option 5 –“PVS – Business Plan Review”
One of the most common reasons for putting a business plan together is related to a requirement of funding sources. Simply put - virtually everyone you approach for funding your venture will want to see and hear how your business is going to move forward and achieve the results that you anticipate. Let us help you with our experience in guiding hundreds of entrepreneurs through the develop their business plans and the refining of their 'pitch' presentations. We'll review your plan, critique your presentation in our 'Pitch/Polish' session, and provide you with valuable feedback to improve both.

(This service takes approximately 8 to 12 hours to complete, and should be completed within 2 month from registration.)

Option 6 –“PVS – Business Coaching”
Our Business Coaching provides you with access to our individual guidance and expertise to work on your specific challenges. Typically made available in packages of three (3) hours, we'll coordinate times that work for your schedule and address the items that are most important to your moving forward with your business!

(This service is typically available in packages of 3 hours, however we are currently making it available with 4 hours of Business Coaching for those who register at this time.)

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