Location - use the best place to meet your customer's  requirements?

A demographic study can help you succeed by placing your business in a location where there is a need for your services and your customers can reach you.

Yes, we all know the old quotation but the correct location of a business really is vital to its success. However, with current technology and, dependant upon what the business does, the location can be real, or virtual.

Take the case of Business Basics, who’s main product is information. Provided I have a computer, access to the internet, a phone and fax machine, I could run this service from any location. anvwhere in the world. No-one would know, or care. But, if I sold more tangible products I would need a retail site to sell direct to the public, or a warehouse to store and distribute goods from, for a mailorder operation.

But, it is still important to get the location right. In addition to high visibility, the public usually wants good parking facilities and attractive premises to shop in. Distributive trades need facilities for bulk vehicles and quick access to main roads and motorways.

Before you start to look for premises, decide what you need now and what you may need in a couple of years time, as you grow. Moving is expensive and disruptive to any business. You can easily loose customers and staff in the process. If you can manage something a little larger than essential, at the beginning, you have room to expand into later. Question whether you DO need a high-street presence for a shop or would your customers still fmd you if you had an out—of—town location, but advertised it effectively. Which would work best? Which most cost-effective’? DO you need a site at all— could you operate with just a website?

Finding the site

In addition to commercial property agencies, local and county councils all have economic development offices, whose job is to attract new businesses into their borough and retain existing ones. They will have a register of all the offices, shops and work units that they are aware of, for sale or to let, and often have start­up premises that they own and rent out at very favourable rates and terms. The benefits may well include electronic security and a security guard service and low-risk licence arrangements, ideal for the start-up. These will be listed in a printed or on-line format, that you can access for free. Their staff will help you find the premises you need and may also have access to some funding. to help with refurbishment or other setting-up costs.

When you have found what you need and agreed the terms, you will be faced with a lease or licence to sign. Have this document reviewed by your lawyer. You must know what your responsibilities are to the property and landlord, BEFORE you sign ! Everything is negotiable before you sign, nothing afterwards. So get it right before you get it in writing.

A landlord needs his property filled with a tenant who will pay his required rent, on time. An empty building is nothing but misery to him, but quite possibly a source of some joy to you!

If it has been empty for some time it will also be deteriorating and at more risk of vandalism, so, at that point, you have a real opportunity to negotiate more favourable terms for yourself.

Whatever the terms are that are offered, seek to get them changed. You will ask for a rent-free period to get organized, reduced period after that, all repairs to be carried out before you take over, a break-clause’ within the first year of the lease, to give you an escape route if things don’t work out or if you want to get into better premises that may come along later, etc.. etc. It can be amazing what concessions may be made, to get the property filled.

Remember, when you make these demands, you wont necessarily get them all, or any, but its worth trying. Be polite and friendly and take your time. The worst that he can do is laugh at you. But, be bold, he still wants you in!

LEASES

Whoever you deal with, do four things BEFORE you sign any lease or agreement:

1) Negotiate hard to improve the terms, reduce the costs and obtain extra benefits

2) INSIST on a break—clause at, say, 6 or 12 months

3) Have a commercial lawyer review the lease terms

4) Thoroughly check and RECORD the state of the premises, with the owner, or his agent. Insist on any faults being put right before you sign up