u/Fit_Inside7437

I'm preparing to rent my first commercial space to grow my existing home based business. Located in Manitoba.

There's a spot that's been for lease for 2 years I've been wanting. The landlord finally demised it into smaller units, and has leased 2 of 3 units. There is 1 remaining unit, which happens to be the one I want. The problem for me is, it's a shell space. They have demised the walls, and have 200A electrical panel installed, but no bathroom, no electrical... nothing.

1200sq ft. They are asking $3500/month rent including CAM. This seems ridiculous to me given all the work required.

I want to go in asking for the world because I think they'll negotiate given it's been 2 years. Will they laugh at me if I go in asking for rent $2900/month, TI of $20/sq ft, and for the landlord to put in basic electrical, bathroom, HVAC? Any suggestions on how to get the best possible deal here to keep my monthly rent lower and not go way over budget on construction? I'm an attractive tenant for the block based on my related business and the neighboring business.

Hi all,

not new to Belize but I'm going back solo and struggling with the logistics a bit.

I've done San Ignacio>San Pedro before. Did ATM/Xuantunich/Hol Chan last time.

I'm wanting to do different activities and wondering where you'd recommend staying as I can't figure out distances. I want something near the river and lost in the jungle.

I'm wanting to see either Tikal or Cahal Pech this trip. I found a great place to stay near Belmopan but I think that may be too far. Any recommendations where to stay that is really in the jungle but nearby SI?

Because I'm solo (female), should I rent a car for my days on the mainland or will a Taxi be just as much?

I just received a call (after I had another phishing scam type call for my business) stating they were calling from Google Ads and wanted to speak with the manager (I'm a home business, it's just me). They didn't use my name or anything, just asked to speak with ___ business and the manager.

This is a fraud, isn't it? I did run a Google Ad long ago but haven't lately, and the phone number on my account is different than the one they called me at which tells me it might be linked with the phishing scam before.

In Canada - I just got a very legit looking email from someone claiming to be from CIPO, stating they have examined by application and in order to apply for Protection I needed to pay the remaining invoice. They had all my personal info already, I didn't give them any new info, especially not any financial info. I recently applied for a trademark so I guess they pulled it off the database.

Once I got their email with instructions, I noted it came from a strange address and was a "pay now" link. I googled and sure enough it's a known scam.

My question is... what happens, now that they know my business and what not.. if they start targeting my Google reviews and anything else? I've heard that's an extortion scam too.

I have been running a small cat/small critter boarding business from my home for the last 2 years. I started on one of the popular platforms for a month before just going it alone (plus they took a lot of fees...) And the response I've had has been fantastic. I built 6 spots in my home for boarding and I'm full most of the year. I turn away requests a fair amount, though not sure it's enough to justify overhead costs. Plus, I haven't done any advertising in over a year.... all my business is from search engines or word of mouth.

I'm looking at opening an actual location and operating similarly to what I do now. I work full time M-F unfortunately, and would not leave my secure and well paying job until I know the business is profitable to live off of. So for the first couple years, I would need to hire someone to do mornings, while I do evenings/weekends.

My question to everyone is:

How do we feel about no overnight staff? I've done some research and looks like the only places who have overnight 'cat staff' are the dog facilities who have cat boarding attached (which I hate for obvious reasons). Dogs are completely different obviously and need someone there to be let outside/prevent fights etc. The cat-only places don't have staff after 10pm. Neither do any of our rescues/shelters/vet clinics. I can understand the concern with fire/crime/CO, etc but I would put measures in place like cameras, sensors, alarms, etc, and will live about 10-15 minutes away or less.

What does your area do? Do your cat hotels have overnight staff? Is this a huge deterrent? As a cat owner, I don't know I would personally use a service without overnight staff because that's the point of boarding, but I also just get a drop in sitter when I go away and my cat's are without anyone most of the time anyway so it doesn't make sense to me. Thoughts?

Hi folks,

I'll start by saying I'm in my 40s, not new to the workforce at all or owning a business. However, I have been a civil servant for the last 21 years and I found a passion which I turned into a legit business 2 years ago and it just keeps growing. But, because I'm limited on space in my home, i can't grow any more. I'm toying with the idea of opening up a brick and mortar location to expand services, while still working my job full time (that dang pension...) but there's a few concerns I have I'm wondering if any other small business owners can comment on.

1. is it really that hard to find good staff? I keep hearing no one wants to work/not reliable, or the ones who do want way above their "worth" (meaning they want top pay for no experience).

2. is this economy as bad as it seems? or is your business still doing fine when you look at pre-covid and recovery from covid?

3. Has anyone juggled starting a physical business location while still working full time? What were some mistakes you made or things that worked well?

Hello,

Based in Manitoba. I'm a very small home based business owner with a pet sitting company. I have been around for over a year. My business name is registered with my province.

I've just been made aware an American company with a presence in Canada acquired another pet sitting platform in the US (not yet in Canada) and it shares the same name/similar name to mine. From what I can search on CIPO, they haven't applied to trademark the name in Canada yet, so I just did but I know that database isn't current if applications were done in the last couple months.

I'm just wondering what else I should be doing to try and protect myself (I don't really care about the name, I just don't want to have to rebrand and confuse my clients). Would I have common-law rights to the name in my Province since I was here first? An information anyone can provide would be so appreciated.