1. How To Lease Space For Your New Business By FitSmallBusiness.com

2. Should you work with a broker? 3. Yes. (Commercial real estate listings are hard to find and there are many nuances like zoning restrictions that you need help navigating) 4. Plus its free to you. (Landlord pays commission) 5. Choosing a broker. 6. You want a tenant broker. (In contrast to a leasing agent who represents the owner, tenant brokers represent the lessee) 7. Keep in Mind They still get paid a percentage of the commission, so they want the lease to be as large as possible. They also do not want to point out things in the lease that may slow the process down. This is why you will likely want to work with a real estate attorney as well. 8. Where to find a broker 1. Ask your attorney 2. Ask other businesspeople 3. Use this list. 9. Navigating the lease. 10. You will likely have to personally guarantee that if the business doesnt pay the rent you will. 11. Commercial Leases are priced by the square foot. (The space you pay for may be different from how much you can actually use. Learn more about rentable vs. usable sq. footage here.) 12. Types of leases. 13. 1. Percentage Lease (Common with retail spaces. You pay rent plus percentage of sales.) 14. 2. Net Lease. (You pay for some or all of the expenses associated with running the property. A double net lease includes taxes and insurance. A triple net lease includes taxes, insurance and maintenance.) 15. You should be clear on all fees in addition to sq. footage rental cost and negotiate caps on how much they can be increased. 16. 3. Gross Lease (All fees should be accounted for in the per sq. foot price quote.) 17. Things to negotiate. 18. Lease Length: Short term with options to renew is best. (But this is the worst for the landlord so it weakens your negotiating position.) 19. How rent increases are handled. (Should be based on some agreed upon measure like the CPI.) 20. Space alterations. (If you are signing a long term lease the landlord will often pay to set the space up for your needs.) 21. Signage. (What is allowed in terms of a sign for your store or other type of company?) 22. Sublease Clause. (You should be able to sublet in case you need to move out early.) 23. Exit Plan Clause. (What happens if you need to break the lease early?) 24. Assignability. (If you sell your business you need to be able to assign the lease to the new owners) 25. Co-Tenancy. (If you business is in a mall or other space that depends on an anchor tenant, then you should be able to break your lease if they leave.) 26. Exclusive Use. (Can the landlord rent space in the same building to one of your competitors?) 27. Security Deposit. (There is no standard in commercial real estate) 28. Lease start date. (If the space needs to be built out for example you want the start date and the lease signing date to be different.) 29. Lease start date. (If the space needs to be built out for example you want the start date and the lease signing date to be different.) 30. And Finally... 31. To learn how to be a more successful entrepreneur visit us at.... 32. www.FitsmallBusiness.com (Thanks for watching) 33. www.FitsmallBusiness.com (Thanks for watching) 34. www.FitsmallBusiness.com (Thanks for watching)