Are you a bad landlord?

The journey to entrepreneur is not just costly and frustrating but lonely.

In the journey to business owner, I have noted that Landlords are of two kinds. There are those who feel they bear no responsibility to the tenant so they rent spaces with missing socket covers, unfinished floors and walls, foul smelling running water, missing screens, unsecured doors and windows, missing ductless units, potholed entrances, fading exterior walls and the list goes on.

Then there are landlords who believe, that freshly painted rental spaces with security and parking are amenities that warrant a rental charge of the average 1500- 4,000 a month take home salary. Some go even further than this and ask that a year to two year’s rent should be paid in advance. Last year, I was told by a realtor who was the overseer of a plaza on the Eastern End of the island that 96,000 dollars was the minimum initial requirement if I wanted to be considered as a potential tenant for one of the plaza spaces. Understandably, the smaller and newer business owners like me would find it very difficult to get a hold of this kind of cash without first remortgaging the house or car. https://www.hgchristie.com

Do I start off with a hefty loan to offset the challenges of opening a new business or do I go for the rental that is cheaper but poorly kept? I am not sure if there is an easy answer when I think about how superficial this world is. We spend a great deal of time in the food store looking at packaging. No matter how tasty fruits could be, they never make it to the trolley because to the naked eye they do not seem to be aesthetically pleasing and subsequently appetizing.

On the other side of the spectrum, some tenants are very unconcerned or simply lack the capacity to maintain a rental space at the standard they met it. And I am not sure if the retort that this is why a security deposit is taken helps to pacify a Landlord. I am painfully aware that very often it is insufficient. Some tenants plain and simple are nasty and destructive! Perhaps though, this is the risk of doing business.

However, I do believe that Landlords can do better. The support they provide to new business owners can go a long way in not only helping that entity to keep their doors open but helping landlords to enjoy a more prosperous life. After all, why did you the landlord go through the trouble of building the plaza? It wasn’t because you simply had nothing to do with your money? I get it! You are in business to make a profit!

There are so many times when I have walked into a newly established business and I could tell from the look of things, more preparation and resources were needed. Unfortunately, the average landlord seem to think that just because someone is renting a unit means they are in possession of large sums of cash. If this were the case, the furniture would not look used, and neither would they take a thousand years just to pay the security deposits for the electricity, telephone and internet that are required for setting up a new business. Of course, these are the additional cost after the first, last and security deposit would have been paid. Opening a new business certainly does require that the entrepreneur has a well spring of cash.

I suppose though most Landlords are negligent of the fact that one can make a profit and still add value to those they are serving or those who are renting their facility. Remember the challenges you underwent to get where you are? Reflecting on those challenges might inspire Landlords to offer a rental space that is at least clean and affordable.A landlord who shares his wealth of knowledge is a Landlord who not only positions himself for success longevity but will play his part in training young business owners in how they can be more successful. All in all, I do believe that new businesses are too often killed by exorbitant rents that are being used by landlords to support lavish lifestyles, and Landlords who are ignorant of the vital role they play in driving industry.

www.academiamasters.org

March 27th, 2022