Renegotiating your spa or salon lease

Having secured over a hundred spa leases and worked with landlords, tenants, attorneys and brokers, I have collected skills and experience and want to share some advise. I notice that over the last several months, there have been a good number of blog "hits" searching for "how to renegotiate your lease".

Here are a few pitfalls and mistakes that are fairly common.
Don't wait until a month before your lease ends to renegotiate your lease. By then your pretty much backed into a corner. If you haven't thought through the worst case scenario - which is having to move - finding a new location, building it out, having your business interrupted is bad for business. The best time to renegotiate a lease is 4-6 months prior to termination. It gives you enough time to think through your short term and long term business goals and time is on your side.

Don't try to engage your former broker to renegotiate your lease for you. There is no upside to him/her to lower your rental rate. If the lease has terminated and you engage your former broker thinking they will save you money - guess what. The landlord will pay them their commission and that will be built into your lease and you will end up paying their commission.

Retaining an attorney for lease negotiations. A landlord doesn't want to go through an attorney for a lease renewal and why would you want to pay big bucks when you already have agreed upon terms? If you are going to go this route - at least hire a real estate attorney and not a generalist. If your going to hire an attorney - engaging a real estate attorney - preferably one that has worked on leases for small businesses - is the way to go.

Lastly, if you are interested in lease review and coaching to reduce your rent or to strategize before your lease terms have expired, please contact me at contact@globalspaandwellness.com
As they say in the real estate industry, I'm ready, willing and able to help you.

Spa Person of the Year

Colleague and friend, Felicia Brown of Inspire Skin and Body and Spalutions is up for nomination for "Spa Person of the Year"

When I voted earlier, Felicia had 30% of the votes and was in the lead!

Click Here to Vote!

Please cast your vote after reviewing the candidates profile and help spread the word by asking your colleagues and industry associates to do the same.
VOTE FOR THE SPA PERSON 2009

Join the DSA Annual Meeting on March 16 in Las Vegas during the Day Spa Expo to cheer the winner!

The California Wildfires - AGAIN

In the last 3 days over 10,000 people have been evacuated from there homes and hundreds of homes have been destroyed. Reports are saying with the dry air, winds and climate, the conditions are prime for creating fires.

Last year I wrote about the California Wildfires and how the affected the spa industry from massage and skincare schools, to spa business, to a 5 diamond resort and many, many personal accounts. Disaster preparedness is such an important topic that the Day Spa Association created a "Disaster Forum" and I was pleased to secure copyright permissions from Skin, Inc from the article below...

I invite you to take a moment to read these articles and take the proper precautions to safeguard your family, home and business.

Best Wishes,

Camille

The California Wildfires and The Spa Industry
http://www.skininc.com/spabusiness/leaders/spas/13944742.html
Here's the intro to the article: Through conversation with peers in the industry, I was intrigued with their stories of evacuation, closures and affected lives. It was then that I realized how widespread and reaching the impact was on the industry—from spas, to esthetic schools, to skin care manufacturers and beyond. My interviews were conducted both by phone conversations and through e-mails, and represent a cross section of skin care professionals spanning from Simi Valley, California, to San Diego. Many thanks to those who shared their stories in the midst of picking up the pieces and moving toward normalizing their daily lives at work and at home.

Here's another article on the CA wildfires aimed specific to massage therapy practices.

Massage Therapists React to the California Wildfires
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTMLfire on Sunday on the local news until .... ERMI, eager to help first responders cope during disasters...www.globalspaandwellness.com/pdf/Wildfires_MNB_MA_08.pdf -

Here's a good resource that I hadn't included in the two previous articles because the focus was on families and residences. Please take a moment to read.

http://www.firesafety.gov/