Millions of business owners entrepreneurs and professionals lease their location there are tens of millions of square feet of commercial space for lease right across North America hi I'm Dale Willerton founder of the lease coach a network of certified lease consultants who exclusively helps tenants all across North America if you're planning on negotiating a lease for a brand new business or if you have an existing location and you need to negotiate a renewal these are some tips you'll want to jot down tip number one create competition for your tenancy it would be a mistake to negotiate on just your favorite location you want as many landlords as possible desiring your tenancy that will give you a negotiating advantage if you're faced with a lease renewal do not hand your renewal over to your existing landlord on a silver platter make them re-- or in your tenancy look around see what's new on the market and create some competition tip number two give yourself enough time for a brand new lease agreement it will often take up to six months to get the business open a month and a half for site selection maybe a month to go over the offer to lease and negotiate the formal lease agreement then the space needs to be designed and eventually built out five or six months can go by very quickly for a renewal we recommend that you start nine to twelve months in advance the key here is to do as much negotiating as you can before you have to decide whether or not you should exercise your renewal option tip number three do your homework talk to as many tenants as you possibly can they will share valuable information with you about how their lease negotiations went some of those tenants may be moving out of the building and you need that information before you sign a five-year lease and moving yourself as well when you're negotiating the term or the length of your lease agreement remember it does not have to be five years in length if you're planning on opening up a retail business say in a shopping center a good time of year to open up is October but if your lease agreement comes up for renewal five years later write again in October at the peak season you will be at a disadvantage rather than take a 60 month lease consider taking a 63 month lease or perhaps a 56 month lease the general rule of thumb is that your lease agreement should begin going into your peak season and your lease agreement should terminate going into your slow season also remember a deposit is not mandatory they may call it a security deposit but in fact you may not be a security risk at all deposits are very negotiable tip number four don't be afraid to ask for more than you expect to get if you're negotiating for a tenant allowance that's the amount of money a landlord will give you as an incentive or as an inducement to help you build out the location if you're negotiating a tenant allowance for $30,000 it makes sense to start by negotiating for forty or fifty thousand dollars giving...
