Could you offer some suggestions about locating a business and signing a lease?

These are two important business decisions that you will need to make. One is deciding on a location for your business and the second is signing a lease. This will probably be one of the largest financial obligations you will incur. If you sign a lease for $2,000 a month for five years, you will have a total obligation of $120,000. So you have to be absolutely certain that your judgment will be correct both as to the location and also the lease document itself.

If you're in the retail business your location is going to be most important of all because every retail business has its own special criteria. If you're opening a donut shop, you want to be sure you're on the going to work side of the street. And if you're opening a liquor store, you'll want to be on the side of the street that people use going home. So you will need to know the special criteria for your business and this session will explain how you can do that.

A couple of suggestions: When you sign a lease, sign a short term lease, like a one or two year lease and ask for options. Be sure you have a lawyer working with you in the document itself because you will find that his experience will save you a great deal of trouble and money as well. So even though you may not be looking for a real estate location today (you may start by be operating out of your spare bedroom or garage) someday, as your business expands, you'll be facing this big issue. I would suggest that you review this chapter now and also have a copy of the My Own Business Textbook handy for the future. When you need it, you can pull it off the shelf and refer to all the basic do's and don'ts of locating your business.