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...

Our society is so polarized that we can disagree on some of the most fundamental topics, like whether The Righteous Gemstones is a genius work of art (it is), or whether life is worth living without cheese (it is not).

Still, there are a few baseline things we can all agree on:

No one wants to be taken advantage of

Everyone likes a good deal

In retail real estate, your best safeguard against #1 is to use a reputable retail real estate broker. But #2 is tricky, because when it comes to brick-and-mortar business, your “good deal” is almost certainly not my “good deal”.

Your broker’s job is to ensure that the deal you’re considering is within the realm of normal for your m...

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...

You don’t need to read your lease. You just need to know what it says.

I had lunch recently with a veteran commercial insurance broker. She works for pretty large independent agency in my area, and she’s an insurance woman like I’m a retailer — born into the business and steeped in years of first-hand experience. She insures small businesses — all types of insurance and all types of businesses (shocker: scrap yards are dangerous!), and she admitted that restaurants and bars are her favorite businesses to insure...but mostly because it’s more fun to meet a client there than in a scrap yard.

Anyhoo, our conversation turned to leases (as most of my conversations do), and she spoke the...

It's flipping freezing outside, and that means we've been binging spending plenty of quality time at home with our friends Netflix and Hulu thinking about Miranda. No, not that Miranda) - we're watching true crime and thinking about Miranda Rights. You know,

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?

We got to wishing there were Miranda Rights for retail space tours. Don't get us wrong - there is no shortage of laws designe...

In my experience, the strangest part of being a retailer was the constant state of emotional turmoil. There’s a lot that goes into this feeling, but one of the biggies is the total disconnect between how you think you're supposed to feel — fabulous and empowered and like it's always (as Lizzo would say) "bad b*tch o'clock" — and reality.

Because, on the one side, you’re the boss. The owner. The founder. The creative mind behind the concept. The one in charge.

But at the exact same time, you’re always feeling bossed around by everyone and everything else pretty much all the time…

Perpetually at the mercy of your customers. Your staff. Your vendors. The weather. The HVAC system. The...

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...

Would you ever sign up to be on Married at First Sight? (That’s a TV show, mom.) No? You wouldn’t? Because it’s a terrible idea to marry someone you don’t know? Especially in public?

Well if you have enough sense to know that making a commitment like that is a bad idea, then why would you sign a lease on the first space you seriously consider? But since there are apparently no shortage of people willing to do this (the show in on season 14, wtf?!) you can bet that there are a lot of people who sign leases WAY TOO SOON. And guess what…signing a lease is a whole lot more consequential than marrying Drew the IT manager from Pensacola. 

There is a whole lot of “dating” that needs to happen bet...