Thursday, May 30, 2013

Wow, I could have had a startup V8!

Sometimes it feels like I need to schedule my bathroom breaks it's so busy. There's seems like there's never a shortage of fires or even dull, menial things to do. The fires seem to grow out of control quickly, and no matter how long I procrastinate, there are no magic elves that complete the other daily tasks. I'm sure this is not just a startup phenomena but universal for any small and medium businessperson.

Dude! You spent your precious time doing what?!?
We find ourselves spending time working on tasks that are important but are not core to our business or do not add clear enterprise value. Still, we need to pay the bills. Employees like to work with lights on, it seems. It's excusable when there is no other option, but sometimes there are expert service providers at economical or even free prices that will do the work for you. You have people. This is especially true and important when it comes to real estate.

I've recently gone through two different office searches using a combination of drive-bys, online searches, cold calls, and office visits. I can't tell you how much time I personally spent driving around, calling, visiting and searching online. Yet, there are corporate real estate professionals that would have done this for me. They spend their time and expertise to filter and curate, for free. That's a 4-letter word that any entrepreneur can enjoy.

The sheer fact that its cost effective is great, but the biggest benefit is the time that you recover to spend on the task list items that are core to your business and your clients. Additionally, these professionals not only know the market better than you or I, but since:
  1. This is their job, they know the latest before it happens and shows up on showcase.com.
  2. They know how to negotiate, what to ask for, and what to look for in leasing agreements.
  3. They are doing this for not only you, but for many others like you, so they have economy of scale and knowledge.
Here in Dallas, there are some local corporate real estate professionals, like Brian Brooks (Brian.Brooks@cnl.com) and Campbell Henry (Campbell.Henry@cnl.com) of CNL Commercial Real Estate that focus specifically on startups and entrepreneurs that not only need to worry about getting comfy, convenient and cheap digs that attract talent but have an eye to the future for when they need to grow or reduce.

It's always good to have people in the know, especially when you're struggling to find time for a bathroom break.