Can I share a win?
Our commercial lease is up for renewal and with it the dreaded ‘market review’ where my REA proposed a 15% increase in rent, making it 35% higher than when I moved there 5 years ago and 50% higher by the end of the next term.
Knowing this would mean the end of my business and facing the thought of closing down, I spent a morning walking the main streets of town and counting empty shops to make my case against the rent rise.
That morning I met the new owner of literally the only other space that would work for us, who was renovating the shop to rent it out. Got taking and secured the lease- it’s almost half of what we’d be paying if we stayed where we are and it’s a better location!
I told my REA today that I won’t be renewing, even through I had intended to stay the full 15 years available on the lease, due to the cost.
Dear reader, she panicked! She responded in 7 minutes to see what they could do to change my mind. She offered NO increase for the first year of the new term lol
So reading between the lines, these muppets got greedy and tried to get a 15% increase when the landlord simply wanted to keep the tenancy in place and in doing so set it up so that I lucked in to a cheaper and better space. They just lost the landlords a guaranteed $350k+ over the next 5 years because they’ll have a hell of a time finding a new tenant in this market, at that price! They’ll also have to cover their own outgoings at $10k+ a year lol
FAFO I guess.
Anyway, thanks for reading if you made it this far, I just had to share my first win in what feels like a really long time with people who get what small business owners are up against. The last 18 months have been so hard but moving and saving so much in rent has renewed me and given me so much hope for the future of my shop. Calling the bad REA’s bluff is just the cherry on top!