A decade feels like an eternity until it's over.

When you live inside the commercial real estate bubble, a ten year lease term doesn’t seem like a big deal — like a long weekend on the Cape (since that’s obviously where you’re going if you work in CRE.) But to many new retailers, the thought of committing to a lease for TEN WHOLE YEARS feels more like being sentenced to the federal pen for a white collar crime.

If that new retailer sounds like you, here are some things to keep in mind:

+ Your lease locks down the rules for the entire term.The longer your lease, the longer you have to operate your business on your own terms since you’ll have negotiated the rent and other important financia...

I’ve got a confession to make - I don’t pre-rinse my dishes before I put them in the dishwasher. Don’t believe in it. I heard on a podcast once that modern dishwashers are designed to wash dirty dishes, and the pre-rinse just wastes water. So, basically, I’m a #DomesticDutyQueen AND an environmentalist.

Also, I am obsessed with efficiency and I abhor extra steps. This may surprise some of you, since so many of my working hours are spent crafting and negotiating the LOI, a document with no legal standing that gets crumpled up and thrown out in favor of the almighty lease. (Hopefully recycled, because the environment.) So, what’s the point?

Let’s pretend your lease is like a house that you...

Many first-time retailers are pretty surprised to find out that it takes such a looooong time to sign a lease and get open. Some even think, “oh wow, that’s like being pregnant with a baby,” but they are wrong, because it’s really like being pregnant with a donkey. How do we know this? We googled it. Turns out, donkeys have a gestation period of 11 - 15 months (also — unrelated but fascinating — a female donkey is called a jenny.)

Anyhow, if you can get your lease signed in the time it takes to bake a human baby cake, good for you! But it’s more typical for you to be on burro-ed time (fair warning - more donkey puns coming.)

There are at least four distinct stages in the process, and these...

ICYMI:  “LOI” stands for Letter of Intent, and it refers to the short document that you and your landlord will trade back and forth to nail down the most important business terms of a potential lease -- the fundamental elements of your relationship together.

We’ve heard it so many times from first-time retailers. “Oh, I already got an LOI on that space, so this is how much the rent costs.” NO, SIR! This is not Crate&Barrel where standard shams cost $39 and a glittered foam apple costs $72. 

When you start searching for the right space, you’re not in a Crate&Barrel at all. You’re in a loud, crowded Turkish bazaar. You browse stalls until you find something that catches your eye, and then th...

Why do so many new and growing businesses make bad decisions when it comes to signing a lease? I went to the wise oracle at Delphi — just kidding, I went to the internet — to learn what (as scientifically as possible) makes a good decision.

Scholarly-ish articles and graphics on the internet repeat similar concepts of the elements deemed essential to the process of making a “good” decision. It struck me over and over again how painfully absent many of these are for people seeking to sign their first…or even second or third lease. Here's what I found...

There are the four main pillars of good decision making:

Define Goals - What exactly do I want/need?
Uncover Alternatives - What are ...

 If you had a burning rash on your face, would you really need to see a dermatologist? Well, it really depends on your tolerance for DIY solutions. You can use WebMD and YouTube and try to diagnose and remedy your affliction, but a burning rash on your face sounds pretty painful and gross, so you’d probably call an expert. 

Yes. Yes. 1000% yes. Leases are not exactly rashes, but they can certainly be painful and lead to (emotional and financial) disfigurement if not properly handled. We say this all the time, but once more for the crowd in the back…leases are five to ten year legally binding contracts. Also, they are written in Legalese, which is a foreign language to those of us whose lega...

Are Free Rent and TIs a Scam?

When I studied abroad in Florence, one of the very first things our professoressa told us about Italy was that "niente è libero" - nothing is free. (She also taught us that bottled water is more expensive than wine, and to always carry proper bus fare.)

All these years later, I still remember it, and I feel my "niente è libero" spidey senses tingling when I see an offer that seems too good to be true.

Like a free drink from a handsome stranger at the discoteca. Like a pair of very real looking Ferragamos selling for a fraction of MSRP. Like when a retail landlord offers TI ($$ towards your buildout) or free rent at the start of your lease.

Are landlord...

Maybe you’ve been managing coffee shops for years, made a billion cortados, can schedule your staff in your sleep, and now you’re ready to strike out on your own. Or maybe you’re done with corporate life, and your great resignation and passion for nitro cold brews has ignited your dreams of owning your own coffee shop. Wherever you’re starting, you need to know how to open a coffee shop like a pro, even if it’s your first time.

Here are five simple rules to opening a coffee shop without making rookie mistakes.

Rule #1: Have a business plan with financial projections.

If you’re more comfortable dialing in gorgeous washed process Ethiopian coffees than creating financial models, that’s okay...