Yurt, studio-apartment, mansion, mid-century split level…whatever. Most of us are lucky enough to have somewhere to call home. 🏠 That means that everyone comes to the table with a varying level of real estate knowledge. Have you rented an apartment? Bought a house? Binge watched House Hunters on HGTV (who hasn’t?) If that’s the case, you’ve brushed up against the residential real estate world.

So many people who come to us eager to start a business want to transpose their residential knowledge into this new commercial context.

I'm here today to break down why you should leave your residential baggage at home when searching for retail space.

Here are a few of the biggies we hear a...

Like all long term relationships, your feelings toward your business will change and evolve over time. I don't know a seasoned retailer who doesn't have a big ol' mixed bag of feelings about their business. Few things in life can bring so much joy and frustration, pride and defeat - sometimes in a single day.

For retailers just starting out, it can be confusing and a little scary when they start feeling REAL feelings (other than excitement and joy) about their budding business. Is it time to throw in the towel? Probably not.

Go with me here on a little analogy trip...

The romance starts with butterflies and flirting: What if instead of counting these beans all day, I finally open...

One of us at Pedal is in full wedding-planning mode, and the other is mid-way through year eight of marriage. We LOVE using the marriage metaphor for leasing, because this sh!t is SERIOUS, and it's not always pretty.

Here's how we see the leasing process through this exceedingly relevant lens:

Writing your business plan is an exercise in self-exploration. It's your time to travel through Europe with all your belongings on your back, drinking cheap wine, and going to that sketchy club with Franz-with-the-hair from Bruges. When you come back home, you'll return to your life, but you'll know yourself (and probably some other people) a whole lot better.

Okay, so this "self-exploration" isn'...