Before you enter into any agreement, you want to know all of the little details involved in making your decision. When you are attempting to sign a lease in a mall, you will want to be sure that you are well aware of everything that can and will affect you in the future.

Things You Should Know Before Signing A Lease:

1. How Long Will The Lease Run?

The first thing that you are going to want to figure out is how long the lease is going to run for. A lot of landlords try to pin down tenants to the longest leases possible. This is in order to keep their vacancies to a minimum, so that they do not lose money with empty properties. Nowadays, a lot of tenants actually want long leases because it is a great way to hedge against inflation. Because rents are rising so quickly in major cities, if you are in one of the areas seeing this kind of rise, you might actually want to look for a long lease. Always determine what kind of area you are in and whether or not you would benefit more from a short term or a long term lease.

2. How Much Is The Rent?

Another thing that you are going to want to figure out is how much the rent is going to be on a monthly basis. Rent, unlike a lot of the costs of doing business is going to be primarily fixed. This means that you should enter it into your budget as such. Make cost comparisons when you are trying to find the ideal space and you should be able to find the best spot for your business.

3. Can You Sublease?

Another thing that you might want to consider and ask is whether or not you can sublease. What happens if you are two years into your 10 year lease and you realize that your business is burning money and/or your company is growing so much that you need to find a bigger place. What happens in this situation will largely depend on an extremely delicate situation considering your landlord will have you cornered. It is important to understand whether or not you are going to have the flexibility to sublease before you enter into an agreement. This will offer you some flexibility and allow you to really operate and run your business as you best see fit. It will also help minimize a lot of the risk.

Many businesses do not factor in the cost of their lease properly. Be sure to analyze all of the above factors before entering into any kind of agreement. Along with labor, utilities and of course cost of goods and services, diligent research and proper analyzation of all your fixed costs is one of the most important things you can do before signing a lease.