7/15 Mercy Corps NW Seminar: Leasing for Small Business Owners July 15, 2010

BEST FIT: A practical approach to leasing for small business owners.

If you listen to the media, the real estate market is in crisis. There are good deals to be had, but you have to look for opportunities that are best-fit for both your business and your landlord. What I’ll cover: current market conditions in Portland; types of landlords and properties; finding your people.

Getting to Yes: Landlord’s the world over have only one question for you, “Can you pay the rent?” But what if you’re credit isn’t well-established and you don’t have a financial statement? Most reasonable landlords are willing to accept a wide variety of creative work-a-rounds – especially if your business is a good fit for the landlord’s property. What I’ll cover: how to present a non-financial financial statement; lease guarantees and prepaid rent options; other creative suggestions.

Lower rent…or carpet and paint? That is the question you will almost certainly wrestle with when considering your tenancy. Negotiating a lease requires you to haggle with the landlord much like you do when purchasing a car. The offering price for the lease is only the beginning point of negotiating. What I’ll cover: how the numbers (usually) work; what’s important to push for and how hard to push; the role of a broker and/or tenant rep.

Commercial leases can be terrifying to first-time tenants. READ your Lease! The lease is the foundation of a business relationship. If you don’t know what it says, what it tells you to do, what it tells the landlord to do, you’re guaranteed to have problems. What I’ll cover: sections of the lease that trip tenants up most (operating and maintenance expenses, insurance, taxes and fees aka “the NETS”); default and tenants’ rights; terms of art.