An international flight to leaseland ✈️ buildout business planning negotiations startups timeline Jan 07, 2025

Happy 2025, everyone. We hope you got some rest and relaxation over the holidays, since this year is sure to be…well…interesting.

 

While Abby hosted a houseful of family, I traveled across the pond to London which was, as advertised, unbelievable at Christmastime. We were very fortunate to have had perfect weather and only one mediocre meal, so all in all it was a smashing success. 

hugh grant dancing GIF

 

On the day of our return flight home, I thought about how the actual travel part of taking a big trip is largely forgotten. In these days of mobile boarding passes, we rarely have the IAD to LHR ticket stubs to keep as mementos. So unless the “getting there” was particularly memorable (like the time my p...

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🌿 Build LIFE sustainability into your business plan business planning common misconceptions money retail reality small business startups Jan 07, 2025

As new retailers we expect to sacrifice our weekends and holidays, dry-clean-only clothing, and possibly our lower backs. But we do not have to sacrifice our mental health, personal relationships, or overall well-being.

When you're planning your business, you have the opportunity and obligation to carve out the boundaries that will make your business sustainable for the long term.

Your lease will run five to ten years, so it's critical that you build a "sustainable" model that will allow you to stay healthy, stay married (if you want), participate in your child's life, etc.

So how do you do this? Start with the ideal scenario. The realities of the numbers and the things outside of your co...

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Why you don't want ChatGPT writing your business plan: Part 2 🤖 business planning client success common misconceptions pedal Dec 03, 2024

I wrote a recent newsletter about why business plans written by a ghostwriter-for-hire, or AI, or anyone-but-you are a big ‘ol waste of money. To recap - they’re generic and boring and make you look lazy, which is absolutely not the look you need when you’re walking the red carpet of retail leasing, so to speak. 

 

Jennifer Lopez Interview GIF

 

A business plan that doesn’t paint you in the most flattering light is embarrassing, but if that’s not enough to dissuade you from hiring someone to write your plan for you, there’s an even scarier issue with ghostwritten plans: they lack the specific information YOU need to find the right space, negotiate the best deal, and actually plan for successful operations…you know,...

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You can’t get what you don’t ask for 🙏 brokers business planning negotiations small business Nov 12, 2024

I (Abby) do not have any tattoos. This will come as a surprise to many, who are surely thinking “but she SO cool and edgy. So counterculture! She really makes redlines seem punk rock.” 👩🏻‍🎤

 

I do, however, have a number of retail real estate truisms that would come in handy if I ever DID have them tattooed on my body. Chief among them? “EVERYTHING IS NEGOTIABLE”

 

were the millers no ragrets GIF

 

As we negotiate our deals, Pedal Retailers learn this is true. Pedal Retailers save $115,000 on average per lease – and that’s just just the tip of the iceberg. 

 

Need three months free after you open to ramp up sales? Let’s ask for it.

Need short term parking out front for online order pickup? Let’s ask for it.

...
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Hello??? Is anyone there??? 👻 brokers business planning lease loi negotiations Oct 29, 2024
Halloween is in just a few days, and while the metaphysical realm remains mysterious, in retail real estate, one thing is certain. Ghosting is real.

 

We hear about it every day from start-up retailers. They call a “for lease” sign, have a (usually) pleasant conversation with the landlord’s broker, and then…nothing. Calls, emails and prayers all go unanswered.

 

They’ve just disappeared and left a specter of anxiety and dashed hopes. What in the flying phantasm?!

Tonight Show gif. Jimmy Fallon in front of his blue curtain, stretches his hand out to hold us off, pulling a quick dance move to dip out of frame.

 

This is usually when the haunted house in your brain kicks into full gear…

😱 Did they think my business concept was stupid?

😱 Do they think I’m an idiot who can’t pull this off?

😱 Am I such an obvious loser that their k

...
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🥬 The essential ingredient to opening a new retail business business planning common misconceptions retail reality startups Feb 06, 2024

Regular readers of this newsletter know that opening a retail space is hard work - and running one is even harder. And yet, so many of us are determined enough to attempt it - but how can you know whether you have what you need to pull it off?

We get asked this question all the time - "I have a dream of opening a [coffee shop/ crossfit gym/ vegan steakhouse], but I don't have any [money/ experience/ connections with seitan distributors]. Can I do this?

Our answer is always the same - yes, you can!

We are big believers that where there's a will there's a way. The road may not be easy, or obvious - in fact, it rarely is. Fundraising is awkward at best, defeating at worst. Recruiting experie...

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💵 When should you start fundraising? business planning fundraising money startups Jan 09, 2024

Every so often we hear from clients concerns along the lines of, "so-and-so told me that NO ONE will invest in my business until I have a signed lease."

And every time we hear that, the alarms start ringing in our brains. Here's why...

1. There are very few (if any) things in life that "NO ONE" will do. People regularly compete in hot dog eating contests. People have tigers for pets. People get married for the seventh time. You should automatically be skeptical of claims about what "everyone" or "no one" will do. Listen to what the person is telling you, but stay calm, and don't let those claims psych you out or have you thinking that there is only one way to do something. This advice appl...

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The three little pigs and their leases 🐷 business planning retail reality startups timeline Jul 25, 2023

Recently, a Pedal Retailer who is very close to lease execution said they were taken aback by how long, involved and challenging the whole process has been. They’d heard it many times before they started (from us and from others), but still it was somehow way more…well, everything…than they expected.

As is my modus operandi, I scanned my brain for the most apt metaphor, and since my home office looks straight into an eight-year-old’s hot mess of a bedroom, guess what metaphor popped up?


The Three Little Pigs 🐷


hungry year of the pig GIF by Super Simple


If you recall, The Three Little Pigs is a fable — a short story meant to teach us an important moral. Ostensibly the story is about working hard (the pigs) and greed (the wolf), b...

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