Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I am starting to seek out commercial warehouse space to lease.

What advice do fellow entrepreneurs have to offer?


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Steven Lewis
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“Do or do not... there is no try.” - Yoda

How much warehouse space are you looking for? Just like any lease, you have to make sure the lease works for you. Are you going to be delivering from this space, and will trucks be dropping product off to ship. Will you be there all the time?

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check on insurance rates, and double check the agreement for what your responsible for in the lease.

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He who gets greedy like a pig, gets slaughtered like a hog.

Thank you for your reply Raisecapital02 and tikki50.

tikki50 - Thank you. I am adding your suggestions to my list.

Raisecapital02 - Well the size so far is looking to be around 7K sq ft. I would like a larger one but I am trying as hard as I can to keep start-up costs low due to not having any money at this point.

We will need to move product in and out of the location.

My business with be receiving surplus IT equipment from clients who have hired us to either recover as much capital from the equipment via remarketing or proper disposal via recycling and selling components on the secondary market.

I am interested if fellow SuN members have any suggestions to be aware of.  Any experiences that if done over again you would do differently. I am reading as much as I can on the subject of commercial leasing and will eventually move forward but am doing what I can to be informed.

Thanks again.


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Steven Lewis
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“Do or do not... there is no try.” - Yoda

Hi  Sdlewis ,

 

First, I would make sure you needed to lease a warehouse as apposed to using a third party warehousing operation.  It’s vastly cheaper to pay somebody with an existing warehouse to handle your warehousing needs than to lease a warehouse.  It depends on the volume of merchandise you are moving.

 

If you do lease a warehouse, have a knowledgeable real estate agent review the lease.  Commercial lease are not like home lease.  Maintenance clauses for example, need to specify who is responsible fro both inside and outside maintenance.  One person I know leased a facility.  When the roof started leaking after the first rain storm, that person found out their lease agreement did not cover outside repairs.  Nor did the lease cover damages to the product from the water that leaked in.

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Goals are attainable at any age. It just seems to take longer the older we get. - S. Patrick Culshaw

Thanks nevadascul!

I will use your advice.


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Steven Lewis
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“Do or do not... there is no try.” - Yoda

I`d like to hear some more info on this topic, too. I want to rent a studio space to have more of a place to work out of.

I`m thinking I`d want about 700-1000 sqft and I have about $1000-$2000 a month to spend. Is that even feasible? If I`m not running a business, will I still need to pay for insurance and CAM? Are there any other fees which I don`t know about?

Thanks!


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John George
merchant services

Hi jgeorgie,

 

First, what do you need the space for?  Are you just processing transactions or shipping product?  Have you considered sharing an office with someone?  Many businesses in the Vegas area lease an office space in an existing business.  All the tenants in this arrangement pay for the receptionist and upkeep of the common areas in the office.  They also have free use of the conference rooms and meeting rooms within the main office area.  This is a much cheaper and faster way to setup an office.  

 

If you are shipping a limited amount of product, you could also share an office with someone with a compatible business.  This arrangement might also drive additional business your way.  Or, you could have a 3^rd party warehouse (public warehouse) handle your product and shipping needs.  You would ship them your product to warehouse.  When you get an order for product, you fax the order to the warehouse.  Their staff would handle everything else.

 

As far as insurance, you always need insurance.

 

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Goals are attainable at any age. It just seems to take longer the older we get. - S. Patrick Culshaw

When leasing any office or warehouse space, a couple of things to pay attention to are repair & maintenance items and CAM (Common Area Maintenance) and Operating expenses.

For industrial/warehouse space you usually you pay a lower rental rate but you are responsible for ALL repair and maintenance items including HVAC equipment. The landlord is typically only responsible for exterior and foundation repairs (roof, exterior walls, roof, parking lot, hidden plumbing). The landlord will bill you for a proportionate share of CAM expenses. In addition to rent and CAM you are responsible for property taxes, insurance, and utilities.

The thing to watch out for here is that the property is in good condition to start with, you don`t want the Landlord passing off needed repairs to you.

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Office space`s are usually full-service leases, where you pay a higher rental rate and the landlord is responsible for most repair & maintenance items including janitorial service. In addition, you may pay a proportionate share of Operating Expenses, Taxes, and Insurance over a pre-determined Base Year amount. They may also bill you for Excess utility usage (if you have a lot of equipment) and overtime HVAC (use after regular building hours).

 

 

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Rebecka Melson | Virtual Business Services | www.vbsofok.com

Thanks Rebecka!

This is all very useful and I appreciate your advice.




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Steven Lewis
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“Do or do not... there is no try.” - Yoda