✌️ Walking away from a deal can feel great, too

Last fall, I fell deeply in love with a dress. It was no ordinary dress; it was an ankle-length, sleeveless, v-neck and v-back, empire-waisted beauty with a geometric print in “peacock” and “cinnabar.” And the designer is German, and I got a 5 on my AP German exam, so that, too.

I saw the dress on the e-comm shop of my favorite brick-and-mortar store, so if I bought this dress I would not only be mind-blowingly fabulous, but I’d also be supporting an independent retailer. Aren’t I selfless?!

But there were two minor problems. One, I had literally no occasion to warrant purchasing a new dress, and two, there was no way I could afford this dress. But you know what we say over here — where there’s a will, there’s a way!

So I made an agreement with myself. If my size of my dress made it to the 50% off sale, it was a sign from the universe. And if it made it to 60% off, I would buy it. Did I have anywhere to wear it? Still no. Could I really afford it even at 60% off…also no, but like I said, this was no ordinary dress.

Luckily enough, I had occasion to visit the brick-and-mortar store a couple months later where my dress was waiting for me on the sale rack. I played it cool pretending like I was looking at other things before I picked her up. She was glorious – structured and luminous. I took her to the fitting room. I unzipped the dress, stepped into it, zipped it up, and then…wait…it won’t zip up…okay try it without a bra…zip it…nope. Not happening. It didn’t fit, and no tailoring could make it work.

So after many months of staring at this dress online and praying to the retail gods that it would make it to deep discount, it just wasn’t a fit. Was I bummed? Yes. Was I also kind of relieved? Yes. The fact that it just didn’t fit my body absolved me of the agony of walking away from something I reallllllyyyyyy wanted but reallllyyyyy knew in my gut wasn’t a responsible decision.

💡 Here’s the part of the program where I relate this to retail real estate…

Oftentimes, when we’re evaluating space or deal, we really want it to work. It’s gorgeous, everything seems right, and we get the tingly omg this is my future feeling when we think about it. But once we enter the dressing room to see if the opportunity fits, the decision is made for us.

So in this metaphor, your body is everything that is true to you — your business plan, your financials, and your energy. The dress is everything that is true to the opportunity — the physical space, the deal economics, the energetic requirement.

And so...

🛍 If you can’t operate your business in a space, it doesn’t fit.

Your Business Plan speaks to the physical and operational requirements for running your business, and these criteria can be many or few, but they are non-negotiable. They can include things like outdoor space, loading docks, and customer parking.

One current Pedal Retailer is a climbing gym. They put big “boulders” in their gyms so they absolutely, positively must have minimum ceiling clearances of 19’. So even when the square footage of the space is right, the location is stellar, the landlord is eager, if the boulders don’t fit…we must quit…the deal. And though it’s a momentary bummer to learn that a space that seems so great isn’t going to work, the pain is fleeting and there’s no second guessing.

💰 If the financial investment doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t fit.

Your P&L Projections tell you a lot including how much rent your business can afford. And your Capital Budget tells you how much money it’s going to take to get this business up and running. Sometimes that total makes your eyes water, and you have to figure out how you’ll raise the funds. Other times the total feels expected and affordable, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should proceed. How long (according to your P&L Projections) might it take to make back your initial investment? A few years? Many years? Can you wait that long?

A recent Pedal Dream Space grad took a hard look at his Capital Budget and Projections, and while he could afford the substantial investment, and he had spent many months of hard effort planning, something didn’t sit right. He and his wife were about to be empty nesters, and when he considered the $200k investment his business required, he realized that ALTERNATIVELY he could take that money and go with his wife on a $20k vacation each year for the next 10 years. Vacations sounded like a lot more fun. Walking away felt freeing.

⚡️ If adding more to your plate gives you anxiety, it doesn’t fit.

As we’ve discussed before, once you’ve opened your first brick-and-mortar, the opportunities to open more come quickly and abundantly. It’s always flattering to feel wanted, and the thought of a new project can be very alluring when you’re deep in the daily grind of operations. Attractive spaces and seemingly affordable deals are very, very seductive. But when you apply our S.E.L.F. framework (staffing, energy, location, finances), it becomes a whole lot easier to check yourself before you wreck yourself, so to speak.

One Pedal Retailer who opened a very cool cafe a couple years ago was presented with an invitation directly from a landlord to consider a second location with a compelling financial package. But when we worked through S.E.L.F. one letter at a time, it was clear that the staffing at location #1 was not secure enough yet, and the owner's available energy to open another location was hovering near zero. The opportunity just didn’t fit, and no one had to spin their wheels or spend time and money pursuing a deal that wasn’t ultimately going to work out.

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In all of these cases, the business owners were excited, intrigued, and hopeful about the opportunities…but once they got in the fitting room and saw clearly that the dress wouldn’t zip all the way up, they could confidently and peacefully walk away. And if you would say to me, Sheila, don’t be ridiculous, new dresses come out every season and you’ll find the perfect one soon enough, then you can trust that the same is true with retail spaces. One day you’ll find the one that fits, it’ll be fabulous, and you’ll feel great in it.