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.

Renegotiating Your Spa Lease

Selecting great locations for spas has been one of my favorite aspects of working with new clients in the start-up phase of their new business. Having secured over a hundred locations and worked with commercial brokers, developers and attorneys, I felt it would be beneficial to slant the article from the perspective of a spa owner who hadn't negotiated favorable terms, or was unaware of certain clauses or hadn't anticpated a tough economy and needed to work with their landlord.

I interviewed a couple of the brokers that I have worked with in the past as well as several spa owners that I had not had the pleasure of working with. I wish new spa owners would seek professional guidance before signing a legally binding contract on a 3, 5, or 10 year lease. It would save them time, money and energy.

For more information on the article go to www.dayspamagazine.com

Massage Therapy Journal

Having written several articles on finding a great location for a spa, I discovered that massage therapists have different needs, budgets, referral systems and markets. Writing for MTJ was a great experience and I look forward to writing more for them in the future. My article, "Location, Location, Location" featured in the Fall 2007 edition.

For more info: http://www.amtamassage.org/

Medical Spa Report (May 2007)

After receiving a number of calls from spa owners seeking either to sell their business or to buy an existing business to reduce start-up costs, I thought it would be helpful to write an article on the topic.

Below is an excerpt from Medical Spa Magazine. For the online version: http://www.medicalspareport.com/medicalspareport/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=421184

Market Value
Development expert Camille E. Hoheb shares some key factors to consider when buying or selling a medical spa.
May 1, 2007
By:Camille E. Hoheb
Medical Spa Report
Pages 1 2

Having helped develop more than 100 medical spas nationwide since 2002, I've witnessed explosive growth in the industry. Conversely, in the last six months, I've also observed an increasing number of medical spas changing ownership or closing altogether. Now is a dynamic time—some medical spa owners are looking to get out, while others are interested in getting in. If you fall into either category, read on for added insight into the buying and selling process.

MediCal Spas February 2007

While securing locations for spa clients across the country, I realized there was a need to help educate entrepeneurs on how to go about negotiating a lease and so I wrote "Real Estate RX: A Healthy Prescription for Negotiations".