THE JOY OF MOVING “Its $7,000 per month, you pay the insurance and taxes and all utilities, you are responsible for all leasehold expenses and you must sign a ten year lease.” Gulp! These were stiff terms and I really couldn’t afford them. I hesitated and then said…..well, we’ll come back to that. For any small business owner, moving their business to a new location is both exciting and nerve wracking. Searching for a new site, negotiating the lease, notifying customers and then making the physical move itself are each steps that are fraught with pitfalls and dangers. Let’s take a quick look at each step. Take your time searching for a site. If your lease runs out in October, start looking in January or sooner. Location, location, location. Take your time and find the right place. One thing I always looked for in a new site was the condition of the building. Since my budget was always tight, I wanted a new site that didn’t need massive leasehold improvements. What I know about construction you could fit in a thimble and still have room for everything I know about cars. So I always avoided sites that needed lots of work. But, hey! When I did have to rebuild, I found that it wasn’t so much about what I knew about construction. It was a matter of managing people and managing deadlines, planning and scheduling. Hey, I could do that. You don’t have to be Frank Lloyd Wright to get a building project done on time. Prior to negotiating a lease, a little primer wouldn’t hurt. I had no clue when I signed my first and it cost me. Negotiating a new lease without training or preparation is like buying a car before you know how to drive. Here’s the most important lesson: Everything is negotiable. Everything! If the market is soft, landlords will be more agreeable, anxious to get a consistently paying tenant signed up. That’s the time to push hard. I’ve negotiated over a dozen leases in the last 25 years and I’ve always managed to get free rent for a number of months, adjusted Triple Net clauses (that’s where the tenant pays the property tax, insurance and utilities) on the building; allowances for leasehold improvements, escape clauses and many other deals. Ask for everything. All they can do is say no. If the space market is tight, you will get less but don’t sell yourself short. Landlords will always value a tenant who consistently pays on time. SmallBiz Rule #34: When negotiating, always ask for the stars and settle for the moon. Never be afraid to ask for something more. When I titled this column the “Joy of Moving”, I should have put a little picture of myself up there with my tongue in my cheek. I’ve got to tell you….there is NO JOY in moving. Orchestrating the actual physical move is as close to a living nightmare as you will experience on this planet. Nothing I can say in this limited space will help you to adequately prepare for a move. Oh wait, my editor just smacked me on the head and reminded me that I need to cram massive knowledge into this column every day. No excuses, he says. OK, how about this one tip: Get your key people together and brainstorm. Make a list of every function that needs to be done in relationship to the move. Ordering phone installation, scheduling construction, mailing customer notices out, color-coding the furniture. Everything, big and small. Put it all on the list (if you don’t get at least 50 things, you aren’t trying hard enough) and then assign one person to be responsible for each, set deadline dates for completion, sort the list by deadline and print out a copy for everyone. Then live by it daily as your blueprint for success. Now, back to my negotiating session. The landlord’s proposed terms were too steep so I pondered and then said, “I’ve got a better idea. How about $5,000 per month, six free months, no triple net, a five year lease with a 3-year escape clause and you kick in $10,000 for leasehold improvements?” It was probably fifteen minutes before the landlord could stop laughing. That was my first clue that I had pushed a bit too hard. But now we had a starting point for negotiations. After some tweaking, we both came away feeling OK about the deal I learned some great lessons and gained a long term ally. Go ahead, push the limits. Ask for more!