A Brief Guide to Purchasing the Right Commercial Space for Your Small Business

What to Consider When Choosing Commercial Space

When beginning the process of purchasing commercial real estate for your business, it is important to consider a number of variables to ensure the purchased space is optimal for you.

Location

The first consideration is, of course, location. Consider your business model and who accesses it on a day to day basis. You will need to be accessible to your staff and customers. And have you thought about how close you need to be to vendors, and suppliers, or even highway access? Depending on the variables most important to your business, those will help you define a good location.

Allowable Use

After you’ve identified the geographic location that will serve your small business, you can begin to narrow down spaces by their allowable use. If you’re opening up a restaurant, a previous restaurant space will be zoned to suit that need. But if you’ve identified a retail space that you would like to build out into a restaurant, the space may not be zoned to do so. A commercial real estate broker will be able to help you with this aspect of the process.

Business Limitations

You will also need to consider the limitations of properties you are viewing. For example commercial space in a historic downtown area may have limitations on allowable changes that can be made to the exterior or interior space. Make sure that your intentions for the property are in line with what your permissible to do.

Growth

Another important factor to consider with a commercial property is can you grow with it? Given the growth path of your business model, you will have to think about if and when you will need more space. And if you do, how will you be able to accommodate your growth with a purchased property? You may need to consider that leased space is better until you reach a certain size.

Access and Parking

Finally, considerations will need to be made for ease of access, parking, and accessibility compliance. Can your customers get to your property easily and will they be able to park once they arrive? Will you need to comply with any accessibility regulations like the Americans With Disabilities Act?

A commercial real estate broker will be absolutely vital in helping you identify the best space for your small business. If you’re interested in speaking to a commercial real estate broker about your small business space needs contact Transworld Commercial Real Estate.

Rachael Holstein is the Marketing Manager for Transworld Commercial Real Estate. Her work experience has been largely focused on business development and marketing in business brokerage, finance, architecture, property management, and information technology. A long time resident of Cleveland, Ohio, she attained her undergrad from John Carroll University and her Master’s Degree from Cleveland State University. In 2013, she relocated to Denver with her husband, Joe, and her furry companions to explore the mile high lifestyle!