What to look for in renting a work space?

[Leen]

Hi there!

My DH and I are in the process of buying a home in a small town/community just 10 minutes away from this larger city that we currently live in (and where our DS and I are currently in massage school; DH also is currently working as an IC at the school).

We have been asked by some of the people who live and work where we are moving to, basically how soon we're going to "open up shop" in the area. This is a community of four small cities "combined" (the one where our new house is is around 6700 residents, for instance. All four are about the same size, so put together the size of a smallish city, I think?). Anyway.

So last week while we were talking to someone about "stuff n things", he says "come take a look here" and leads us down the hall from his office to show us a suite that is for lease. It has two rooms and a reception/entry area, a separate entrance (although it is in the back of the building), and the bathrooms are shared "down the hall" from the suite. One of the rooms is somewhat small- maybe 10'x12'? I am not a good judge of space at all! The other room is much larger and would make a very nice massage/treatment room. The entry/reception area is somewhat oddly-shaped (almost L shaped), but would work pretty well, I think.

There would be a bit of changing that would need to be done in order to make the suite suitable for us- the smaller room does not currently have a door, and the door to the larger room is see-through glass. We'd have to get those changed for sure! The door from the suite into the hallway where the other tenants' offices and the bathrooms are is also see-through glass, which would not be a problem, as it would lend a sort of continuity for folks getting from the suite to the bathrooms that are just down the hall.

Also down the hall (in between the men's and ladies' rooms) is a breakroom/kitchen, complete with fridge, microwave, dishwasher, and sink, the use of which are included for all tenants, the man said. He said that all the utilities are also included in the rent except for a direct line, if we even needed one (for computer or phone; we would probably not even need it, at least not at first, as we have a laptop we can transport from home, and we use our cell phones for business stuff for now). He also said that the landlord/building owner is VERY easy to work with, and that he hasn't even asked him to commit to a specific lease term (instead is pretty much month-to-month). The lease terms he did mention are more along the lines of 6-12 months, rather than the 3-5 years I was told by another commercial place when I was doing a project for my B&E class in January.

The building owner is a well-known Realtor in the area and his business is in this building, so he is there all the time and any issues are dealt with promptly, the man said. Our buyer's agent, a lady my DH and I really respect, also knows this Realtor, and has spoken very highly of him (even before either of us knew this suite was available). So that is another "plus"- reputation!

One of the BIGGEST draws for me for this place is the way the other tenant (who was the inspector we hired for the house we are buying) described what seems like a basically "built-in clientèle". He said there are 12 real estate agents who have offices in the building, as well as the employees of a title company AND the bank that also leases space from the owner. He said that all of these people would be THRILLED to have us in the building- literally a few steps away.

The building is in a very good part of town, easily accessible and easy to find. It is also right across the street from a Starbucks! (Don't ask me why this seems important to me- something about those who frequent Starbucks maybe also being good potential clients? Maybe the fact that we could easily get our own Starbucks "fix"? Who knows? LOL!)

The whole four-city area is working on development and growing, and this will be a great time to get in. I don't know how many other MT's are already in the area, but if they are, they're not advertising very heavily/not easily noticed (as in signage visible from the main streets). The particular suite is not on the front side of the building, but in the back; however, the inspector said that everyone in the building has space on the main sign somewhere (I admit I wasn't quite fully understanding what he meant here; we were there after dark and so did not see the sign he was referring to).

I have mentioned this possibility to our Realtor (who does not work out of this office, but again, she does know the owner), and she has said that she would be happy to act as our agent/negotiator if we do decide that we want to look further at this space. She has said that she can also help us look for/at other commercial spots as well, because she "knows how to find them" and I am clueless, LOL! I do think that it would be a good idea to at least look at a few other places in the area, if any are available, but I am feeling really drawn to this one place at the moment.

We will have my DH and DS working full time, and me working part time (I am wanting to work just 2-3 days a week, so I can still be MOM to the other kids at home. This is VERY important to us!)

So, what are your major "Must Have's" and "No-No's" for work space? Should we absolutely have THREE massage rooms, even if I am not there full-time? I am still working on figuring out what we even need to be looking for!

 

[FUHummer]

First of all, you guys are in a great place! Just starting your business, open to new opportunities, etc. You will do great. Thoughts off the top of my head:

1-Therapists in the area: most therapists in my area do not have road signage. I would make no assumptions based on this. Do a search. First, find all the phone books in your area (if there are more than one) and check the massage section, spa section, physical therapy, etc. Then look on the internet. Do a search for your city/area plus massage therapy. plus massage. Plus bodywork. You really need to know who your local competitors are and roadside signage is not a good indicator, at least not where I am.

2. You are a new location. I don't know how busy MTs are in your area, but you may not even need more than 1 massage room, esp. if you only want to work 2-3 days. You may not need a space so large. I know you want to grow, but how fast? Even a full time therapist only works about 20 hours a week. It could be easy to schedule 2 therapists in one room working 20 hours a week. Since probably ya'll won't be having a full time schedule right away, you could certainly do with less rooms.

3. Price other commerical space in the area. Is it comparable?

4. The people in the building wanting massage sounds great....but truly, it is just talk. They might want massage, they might not. They might want massage, but not have the time. Etc. Talk to these people, have DH give them some massage and see if they like ya'll. That is very thin ice to be basing a major decision on.

5. Find out if it's really month to month. If thats the case, you can get the place for a few months while you find a better place. The construction that needs to be done on it makes it sound a little less than ideal. Also, couldn't you just cover up the glass door with a sarong or wall hanging or something? Construction is expensive and you are just starting out.

Just my thoughts! I tend to be critical, so please take it with a grain of salt. But hopefully that will help you think things through more.

 

[finalmaster1234]

First of all, you guys are in a great place! Just starting your business, open to new opportunities, etc. You will do great. Thoughts off the top of my head:

Thanks for the encouragement!

1-Therapists in the area: most therapists in my area do not have road signage. I would make no assumptions based on this. Do a search. First, find all the phone books in your area (if there are more than one) and check the massage section, spa section, physical therapy, etc. Then look on the internet. Do a search for your city/area plus massage therapy. plus massage. Plus bodywork. You really need to know who your local competitors are and roadside signage is not a good indicator, at least not where I am.

This is a good idea. I KNOW that there are a LOT of MT's in the city where we are now- the school is also here, with its lower prices and tons of therapists who work there. My DH is almost at the "bottom of the totem pole" based on when he started with them, and they have a funky way of assigning sessions, to boot. He is doing "ok" there, but I think there is much room for improvement!

2. You are a new location. I don't know how busy MTs are in your area, but you may not even need more than 1 massage room, esp. if you only want to work 2-3 days. You may not need a space so large. I know you want to grow, but how fast? Even a full time therapist only works about 20 hours a week. It could be easy to schedule 2 therapists in one room working 20 hours a week. Since probably ya'll won't be having a full time schedule right away, you could certainly do with less rooms.

One thing I was thinking was possibly using the smaller room for chair massages. We definitely have a LOT of things to consider with setting us up- it will be much different than DH just on his own. He had been doing only outcalls until he started working at the school. The school has given him much steadier work, but I can't imagine that all three of us would get enough work there to do well! We will need to have SOME sort of at least semi-full-time work, as this is our sole means of support! We are planning on DH continuing to work at the school until demand forces him to have to be choosing between there and our place. Hum, that is a good point to consider even there- if he is working part of the time at the school, there is even less need for "extra" rooms!

3. Price other commerical space in the area. Is it comparable?

Yes, this is something that I do think we need to do before making ANY decisions. Just like I would not buy the first house we looked at, and then suddenly this one came into the picture that is as perfect for us as it can get on our budget! Whatever we do need will show up when it is time, won't it?

4. The people in the building wanting massage sounds great....but truly, it is just talk. They might want massage, they might not. They might want massage, but not have the time. Etc. Talk to these people, have DH give them some massage and see if they like ya'll. That is very thin ice to be basing a major decision on.

This is a very good point.

5. Find out if it's really month to month. If thats the case, you can get the place for a few months while you find a better place. The construction that needs to be done on it makes it sound a little less than ideal. Also, couldn't you just cover up the glass door with a sarong or wall hanging or something? Construction is expensive and you are just starting out.

ALL that needs to be done, as far as I can tell right now, is the addition and/or changing of the door(s). Doors are easy- it is walls and windows and bathrooms that are hard/expensive. And yes, I would look into maybe covering the glass door with something pretty and not see-through. If we were to take the place, and did decide to use the smaller, door-less room as a "walk-in/appointment-based chair room), (and possibly even for extra storage in there too), we wouldn't even NEED a door on that room then! Or possibly as the office space. It would depend on the price, etc.. The possibility of it being a monthly deal would be awesome- I was thinking that, too- we could move in there to get started, and keep our eyes open for the PERFECT place!

Just my thoughts! I tend to be critical, so please take it with a grain of salt. But hopefully that will help you think things through more.

Salt included! LOL! Yes, we do want to think this through thoroughly- this is why I posted here!

 

[nonyaaa]

The space sounds nice! I agree with your idea of using the smaller room for chair massage - that came to mind as I was reading your description. Busy agents may not have time for an hour of table massage, but if they have a headache, they'll probably be able to zip over for 15-20 minutes of chair time. (Just don't mess up their hair too much!) Our business gets many people dropping in for a quick chair massage, though we are known for quality table massage.

The Starbucks could be good. They probably won't let you offer chair massage to promote yourself there, but maybe they will. (Corporate policy may prevent it.) At my last place, tons of clients would stop at Caribou Coffee just before or just after their massage. The folks that enjoyed relaxing on our tables also liked getting wired on espresso!

Don't count on getting your business from the office tenants. Instead, look at surrounding businesses to see what kind of foot traffic they attract. Most of the time, business offices aren't much good for this... but coffee places, eateries, bakeries, etc. may be excellent. How can you make your business conveniently visible and accessable to the patrons of those businesses? Can you work out promotional arrangements with those business owners? Would any of them be interested in having you provide on-site chair massage, or buy gift certificates, or arrange employee discounts?

The space is only as good as the location. A "perfect" space in a lousy location is really a "lousy" space. If the location is pretty good and the space is pretty good, then you've got something!

Best of luck! Sounds exciting!

 

[iguessifuwant]

The space sounds nice! I agree with your idea of using the smaller room for chair massage - that came to mind as I was reading your description. Busy agents may not have time for an hour of table massage, but if they have a headache, they'll probably be able to zip over for 15-20 minutes of chair time. (Just don't mess up their hair too much!) Our business gets many people dropping in for a quick chair massage, though we are known for quality table massage.

The Starbucks could be good. They probably won't let you offer chair massage to promote yourself there, but maybe they will. (Corporate policy may prevent it.) At my last place, tons of clients would stop at Caribou Coffee just before or just after their massage. The folks that enjoyed relaxing on our tables also liked getting wired on espresso!

Don't count on getting your business from the office tenants. Instead, look at surrounding businesses to see what kind of foot traffic they attract. Most of the time, business offices aren't much good for this... but coffee places, eateries, bakeries, etc. may be excellent. How can you make your business conveniently visible and accessable to the patrons of those businesses? Can you work out promotional arrangements with those business owners? Would any of them be interested in having you provide on-site chair massage, or buy gift certificates, or arrange employee discounts?

The space is only as good as the location. A "perfect" space in a lousy location is really a "lousy" space. If the location is pretty good and the space is pretty good, then you've got something!

Best of luck! Sounds exciting!

dh and i drove by the place again last night (before sunset). i wanted to see how it appeared to us in daylight, when we knew where we were going, what we were looking for, and what sorts of places are around it.

there is a sign for the whole building out front- we'd be able to be part of it. i don't think there would be any problem with directing people to 'xyz real estate building- it's around back before you get to the bank drive-through'. i think people could find it easily enough.

dh was concerned that there are only 3 parking spots right by the doorway. he thinks the bank people would be taking those all up. i think we could talk to the building owner about maybe being allowed to 'have' those spots for our clients, taking the sometimes physically challenging aspects of why people come for massages into consideration (that sentence made no sense- did it?). i imagine that somehow we'd be able to get things worked out.

i also spoke with my school director about the space- she thinks it might be a really good deal for us. i am waiting to hear back from our realtor whether she has talked to the building owner yet or not. (i did tell her 'no rush', and we are not quite ready to actually make any commitments yet. i think it would be a good idea to at least wait till we've closed on our house first- for many reasons! but i do want to be doing my research!).

as for promotional arrangements, the inspector who told us about the place mentioned 'welcome packets' that the realtors make up for their new homeowner clients- putting a coupon in those could be a REALLY good idea ('congratulations on your new home! stressed out from the move? come see us for 10% off your first session [or some sort of add-on or something like that]). we would also do a press release to announce our 'grand opening'. there really are tons of options- which is part of the problem (knowing what to do, when, and how)!

as far as location goes- the building is in a GREAT location. our question is whether the BACK of the building is also a great location. if we had enough signs, and it is easy enough to get to, then it should be fine. we don't want to get lost in the mix. we also don't want to try to sign up for a place we realistically can't really afford yet (which as far as what i have been seeing lately, without the help of our realtor, most of the retail spaces available are way out of our price range, and this one should not be).

i'll post back after we have more information! this is a very scary step to be taking, but we know that it is one that we NEED to be taking if we want our business to be any more than 'so so'.