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.
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,...
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”
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.
...
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?!
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
...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...
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...
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 🐷
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...
I watched a lot of Millionaire Matchmaker in my 20s, and I find myself thinking about the show even today. I KNOW that Patti Stanger turned out to be totally problematic in a zillion different ways, but since we didn’t get cancelled when Sheila published an excellent newsletter about Anne Hathaway’s age-defying face, I’m feeling emboldened.
On the show, Patti and her team of punk rock assistants would work with a client - usually an older “millionaire” seeking a young woman to ride shotgun in his red Ferrari. Ick. Patti would usually deliver said women - but that’s not where she’d start. No, first we’d start with an amusing romp through the man’s dating history, trying to detangle what’s go...
When I got accepted to UVA (early decision, of course, because I’m an achiever) my grandmother said, “that’s great, there are lots of men there!” And wouldn’t you know — she was right! And I managed to find and date the WORST one for way too long #achiever.
My grandmother is not the only backseat driver out there. Everyone around you is going to have an opinion about whatever you're doing, and those opinions usually have zero to do with you — their opinions and “feedback” are usually entirely about their own fears and anxieties. In the best cases, the feedback is coming from a place of love, but it’s still 100% annoying.
So unless those people around you are actually experienced in what yo...
