March 2008: Finding the Best Location for Your Business
Finding the Best Location for Your Business The more you plan for the space in advance, the more likely you will be to find a match for your needs.
By Diane Botwin
The old adage “show up prepared and pay attention” is good advice for finding a location for your office or business. The trick becomes how do you get prepared and what do you need to pay attention to in the process?
Examine Financing Options Initially, examine your financial situation and arrange for the necessary financing sooner than later. How are you going to pay for your new office or shop? Do you have a business plan? Have you spoken to a banker or investor? While it may sound a little daunting, it is a crucial component of the process. Canvas Potential Locations Once you have crunched your numbers and you have a loan commitment or an investor, identify some target locations and arm yourself with all the information you can about marketing, demographics, traffic flow, neighborhoods and other businesses located in the given areas. A broker can help you with this. Talk openly with a broker before engaging them. Tell them about your business and your ideas for your workplace. In the end, a broker can provide you access to information that you might not otherwise be able to find, such as locations, new buildings coming on the market, landlords with a good reputation and comparable lease rates. Get Help to Shape Your Space Whether you find an existing space or are choosing a space that will be newly built, this is the moment in the process where you should let your creativity soar. Don’t compromise until you have to. The best helper at this point is a designer or architect. Give a designer or architect a space to layout and tell them what you want to do in that space, right down to how you like to sit at your desk or interact with your employees or customers. With this information, the design professional can provide you with a layout. This process, often called “programming,” will make you think hard about what you want to do and the most efficient way to do it. Engage a Qualified Contractor Ask a contractor to price the ideal space you want. Finding a reputable contractor can take some work. Ask your broker, your potential landlord, your designer or architect for recommendations and check references. From the contractor’s estimate, you can determine how much you really have to compromise and figure out what your reality looks like. Continue to use your designer or architect to refine your layout until you feel good about your choices. Once you feel more certain about the costs involved and what you really want your space to look like and have in it, you can bring your business plan into line as well. This will help you understand your risk and responsibility. If you engage in this process and communicate well with your consultants and potential landlord, you will feel good about your choice of location. Try as hard as you can to let your passion, creativity and love of your business come through; because if you do, every day when you walk into your business you’ll take a nice big breath and smile as you begin your workday. Diane Botwin is the general partner of Botwin Family Partners, LP. Botwin Commercial Development and Botwin Property Management oversee the company's holdings, which include 300,000 square feet of commercial real estate in the Crossroads District, the Waldo community, Leawood and Topeka. You can reach Diane at (816) 444-4414 or
