Loaded Bow

Where you are located affects your clients, income and business overall. Where you work affects your overall being, state of mind and health as well as that of your employees. In a few months we will thoroughly cover Work Space and feature some amazing, creative spaces that are functioning as businesses and we will look at some innovative work spaces that are brand new concepts which provide freelance professionals to have a space in which to work outside of their homes. In Work Space month we will also feature work spaces that change our work habits and look at how the work space culture in general is changing.

Loaded Bow’s real estate Specialist Monica Dahl

But today we are begining our ongoing talks with real estate goddess Monica Dahl! We love her style and immense focus. Monica has achieved great success in a market saturated with agents, but her talent and personality have brought her to where she is now and let me tell you, this lady loves life!

Some questions we posed to Monica as she debuts on Loaded Bow are:  How do we get a rental space, what are our goals when searching and how does a lady keep her overhead down while hunting for the perfect venue to host her idea turning it into a business dream!?!?

About Monica:  Monica Dahl is a successful realtor in White Rock, British Colombia. In her first full year in the business she made the coveted “Medallion Club” (Top 10% of all licensed Realtors in the Fraser Valley).

Monica has an extensive background in sales and marketing. She holds a Marketing diploma from BCIT in Marketing and Professional Sales, and a Business Commerce Degree from Royal Roads University in Entrepreneurial Management. Her valuable experience, formal training, advanced grip on technology combined with her enthusiasm and dedication provide her with the skills needed to work for you. Monica offers her clients professional service when it comes to marketing and promoting their homes or finding them the perfect new home.

As Helmut Dahl’sdaughter, Monica grew up with real estate in her blood. She enjoys every aspect of the real estate business and is excited to be working in White Rock/ South Surrey, where she grew up. She remains an active member of the community by volunteer coaching the grade 8 girl’s basketball team at Semiahmoo Secondary.

Monica’s true passion is working with people. She enjoys helping people in every aspect of real estate and goes above and beyond the call of duty to make the sale or purchase of their home a great experience. Monica’s outgoing personality, strong work ethic, and attention to detail are the key to making your real estate dreams a reality.

Loaded Bow:  When a young lady wants to go into business for herself, how should she budget for how much of her total overhead she wants to spend on a rental space?

Monica Dahl:  This defiantly depends on the type of business you are planning on opening. You can anticipate spending the majority of your over head on a location.  You will spend more on a location that is receiving a lot of foot traffic and exposure.  For example, a store front location on a main street or in a mall will run higher than a second floor spot with no exposure to foot traffic. On the other hand if you are looking for an office space that does not need public traffic, it will be less rent.  You crunch the numbers to get your “break even profits per day number”. 

Using simple, fictional numbers:  If you rent for $1000 per month and your costs per month (including paying yourself) are $2000, then for a ’break even’ month will need $3000 of revenue, so you need to know you can generate $100 per day to afford a space that costs you $1000 per month.  If you don’t feel confident that you can generate $100 per day to get $3000 for the month, then you need to cut some of your costs (often by not paying yourself) or finding a space that is cheaper to rent.  This is a great thing to go over with your accountant or a business mentor or financial-planner-friend (doesn’t everyone have one of these?!;).

LB:  Should she look for the ideal space or to save some money, work with one she can renovate and make her own?

MD:  Location, Location, Location… It would be great to find a space that fits the business you are planning on opening, your personal style and is in a great location for the price that is reasonable for you. However, the reality is these opportunities are few and far between. Again, depending on your business you can expect to always change a few things of the space you choose whether it be as simple as paint and flooring or more extreme to electrical, plumbing, built-ins and construction. My recommendation is to choose location over any other factor… you can always work with what you have, but you can not change the area or street your space is on.

LB: Do any Landlords give a grace month if you come up short and cannot pay your rent?

MD:  Don’t count on it… this is the landlords business. However, it depends on the landlord and the current market for commercial space. A landlord may end a tenancy if rent is unpaid; by giving notice to end the tenancy effective on a date that is not earlier than 10 days after the date the tenant receives the notice. The tenant then has 5 days to pay the rent or must vacate. It is smart to create a close relationship with your landlord and to pay your rent on time!

LB:  Is rent a write-off for an entrepreneur?

MD:  95% of the time rent is a write-off depending on your business. You should always discuss this with your accountant.

LB: How would being in a shared space affect a business? Would it work with two un-related businesses?

MD:  Two businesses running out of one space is a great idea.
A few things you should keep in mind with this option:
     1. Both businesses must be on the same page in terms of customer service, hours of operation, and strategic direction.
     2. Two businesses means double the employees. Trusting your staff is a big part of running a business and with more employees you must be careful that everyone is trustworthy and cautious about locking-up and acting responsible for both businesses.
     3. Both businesses have to be on the cohesive with marketing and promotions. For example if one business is adverting every week in the local paper and creating a lot of traffic that the other business is benefiting from it is only fair for both to pay for the advertisements or take turns running different promotions.

This could work with two unrelated businesses as long as they agree to the above items.

LB:  Can rent be paid with Visa?

MD:  Typically rent is paid with post dated cheques. This depends on the landlord.  For everything else, there’s MasterCard.

LB:  Are there agencies to help people find an ideal space for their new business?

MD:  Yes, there are commercial agencies that can help you find that perfect space for your business. Before speaking to an agent make some decisions on the space you are looking for, your agent with expect you to know:
- Area you would like
- Approximate amount of square footage needed
- Price per month your business could afford
- Special considerations needed for your business
You can take a look at some commercial properties to buy and rent here.

LB:  If there are two people running the business, how do they know whose name to pay the rent through?

Should they always just have one bank account for the business and get every payment going through that one account?
MD:  Yes, the best way to handle the finances is to create a business account, separate from your personal account. There are three business organizations that can be formed for businesses with 2 or more partners: General Partnership, Limited Partnership and a Corporation. You should speak with a lawyer and an accountant to decide which would be best for your business and partners included.

LB: Who pays for fixing a rented space, the renter or the landlord? How is this determined?

MD:  Depending on the extent of renovations that need to be completed the renter and landlord must negotiation these terms. If the renovations are very specific to your business you can expect to incur the cost. If the renovation will improve the building as a whole and standing the test to time, you will have a better chance enticing the landlord to pitch in.

LB:  Where can renters find info on their rights?

MD:  Renters can find information on British Columbia commercial tenancy rights

LB:  What is the difference between a Fixed Term and Periodic Tenancy?

MD:  Fixed Term: A commercial lease can be granted for a fixed period, no matter how long or how short. A commercial lease for a fixed term automatically ends when the term is over.
Periodic Tenancy: Is a tenancy which automatically renews itself on the last day of the term from a further term of the same length unit it is terminated by either party with proper notice.

LB:  What is the standard security deposit when renting a commercial space?

MD:  There is no standard, unlike residential deposits that are typically half of one month rent as far as commercial tenancies are concerned, there are no legal restrictions regarding security deposits. This is an item left open for negotiation.

Zoe+Loaded Bow