Читать книгу Starting and Running Your Own Martial Arts School онлайн

71 страница из 75

What do you do if you want to lease a commercial space and you aren’t a very good negotiator? First, make yourself comfortable with the issues involved in your lease. Read as much as you can about commercial leases. Talk to commercial real estate agents and brokers while you’re looking at sites to learn as much as you can from them. Once you have the lease in hand, take it to a real estate attorney. She can look over the contract for you to make sure it protects your interests. Then read the lease yourself. Make sure you understand everything—every word, every provision—in the contract. Know what you are getting into before you begin negotiating.

If you still aren’t comfortable with the actual process of negotiation, you can get help. Commercial real estate agents are used to negotiating contracts. But remember, your real estate agent gets a percentage of the rent they negotiate. Their commission is paid by the landlord. During the negotiation process, real estate agents are generally very professional, but they do walk the fine line between keeping you happy and keeping their commission high. If you’re uncomfortable using your real estate agent as a go-between in the negotiation, you may be able to get a friend with real estate or negotiation experience to help you. Or you may want to hire your accountant, a broker, or a real estate attorney to represent your interests. They cost money, of course. But if they know the business, they can often get you a better lease than you could get yourself. However, once you’ve signed the contract and paid any outside consultants you’ve hired, you are on your own. Your representative doesn’t live with the results of the negotiation; you do. It is your responsibility to weigh all your options and then to live with your choices.