Your commercial space can define how your business operates. But if you’re not careful it can also be an albatross hanging around your neck, frustrating your business goals with excessive costs and unexpected limitations.
Key provisions to address
Before signing off on a commercial lease you should have it fully vetted. That’s the only way to know exactly what you’re getting into. An attorney who is well-versed in this area of the law can help you analyze key provisions of the agreement, including the following:
- Use restrictions: You can’t enter into a lease agreement that’s going to restrict your business practices. Therefore, you’ll want to carefully read through any use clauses in the agreement to ensure that they’re clear and easily understood. If they’re not, then you’ll need to negotiate changes so that you’re not taken by surprise further down the road.
- Rent changes: Depending on the provisions in your commercial lease, your rent may increase or decrease depending on a number of mechanisms. You need to understand what those triggering events are and what your rent is going to look like in both the short-term and the long-term. After all, if your lease is for a significant period of time, then any rent increases that you see could pose a significant financial burden.
- Restrictions of subletting and assignment: It’s impossible to predict the future, but you’ll want to prepare for the worst-case scenario just in case things don’t go as planned. For example, if your business ends up on rocky footing at some point, you may want to downsize and escape the financial burden of your lease. Instead of the breaking the lease, which could prove to be a costly decision, you might want to assign the lease to another business or sublet the property. You’ll want to know upfront if this is allowable under the lease agreement and consider whether those are terms that you want to negotiate.
Don’t get trapped in a bad agreement
Far too many business owners think that they can’t negotiate the terms of a commercial lease. Although that might be true in some situations, in most instances you’re going to have the ability to advocate for terms that are favorable to you.
If you think that you could benefit from having an advocate on your side in these matters, then you shouldn’t hesitate to reach out to a firm that you think is a good fit for you and your business.
