Hi, I've been negotiating with a landlord and now they want to see a business plan for my pho restaurant. I have some idea what I want to do but can someone tell me what's the best way to proceed. Obviously I dont have a business plan. So is this the only way to get a lease?
Thanks.
I get this question/inquiry a lot. Even if you're super experienced with commercial lease negotiation, the landlord is pretty much in control of his own property and gets to set his requirements. For a new business, having a solid business plan goes a long way toward convincing the landlord to even consider negotiating with you.
Put yourself in the landlord's shoes. Would you let anyone come in and lease your unit without showing what they plan to do? Would you like to be confident that the new business has a good chance for success? Restaurant business is tough, and a landlord would rather not re-list his unit every few months because the last restaurant tenant just didn't know what they were doing and couldn't pay his rent.
My advice is to never start lease negotiation without first having a good business plan in hand. Besides helping you describe your business to your prospective landlord, a good business plan can also serve as an excellent negotiating tool in your favor. I'd be more than happy to further consult on how to do this.
So bottom line is: It's not the only way but whatever the landlord wants to see (within the law and within reason), you should provide.
@chuynh
Hi Can you help me create a business plan? I can write well but need a little guidance. Thanks.
Please go to /pho-restaurant-business-plan/ and book an appointment to discuss. I look forward to get you going on this. Thank you.
If they request to see your business plan and you don't have one, then that should be the first thing you work on. From my experience, some landlords don't care about business plans or even whether or or not you'll be successful, but most do care and want to know if you know what you're doing. So it's always best to prepare with a good business plan before you go talk about leasing.
@victran320 and @haleyax87 : Another method to get a lease, though quite unconventional, is to offer your landlord a full year or even 2 years rent to be paid upfront. Let's be absolutely clear, almost all landlords worry about whether their tenants will pay rent on time. If you don't have a business plan, have no restaurant experience, or for various reasons won't or can't give what the landlord demands and thus will not qualify in the landlord's view, then prepaying rent is an excellent way to get in if you're cash-rich.
This is no joke. I have worked on projects which had this as a serious consideration during negotiation, and one instance when this was the deciding factor. The landlord was gladly accepting the cash offer upfront.
