New Shop....

[PrimaDonna]

We are going through some transition around here. As great as it's been for the office to be in the house while the kids were young...it's time to move off site.

We are growing and its time to keep the techs out of the house and I will be adding an Admin/CSR so we need a real office/shop as home base.

We were hoping to buy, but have some other things in flux right now so it wasn't possible to do that. Finding the space to accommodate what we need has been a challenge. But, something came up just a few miles from the house. The building shares property with a car wash, so it's even more perfect for having a place to dump our waste water.

It's a bit rough on the inside, but we will be sprucing up the place, especially the office part. Exciting and a bit scary to take this step. Lease starts mid December, when we slow down for the winter season. We'll have time to fix up the place over the winter.



Building on the bottom right is it. Car wash in the front.

Office Area:

View from Office into shop area:

Exterior

From garage door looking toward office

 

[Desk Jockey]

Looks great! Nice location.

Should give you plenty of room for your truck and rug cleaning too!

 

[ruff]

Looks good. Congratulations. Be nice to somewhat separate the business from personal life.

A different subject: How do you get the aerials pictures?

 

[J Scott W]

Your move sounds a lot like ours. as the business grew, we (my wife mostly) wanted the techs out of the house. We rented and later bought a place that had been a veterinary clinic.

A lease payment, loan payment can be a real motiviator to make some sales. Being located on a main highweay also brought in a ot of business from folks who passed by and saw our sign. Living in a small town, I thought everyone already knew us. But, a visible location helped a lot. More than paid for the monthly payments and utlities from that increased business or maybe it paid for the CSR (but not both).

 

[PrimaDonna]

How do you get the aerials pictures?

Bing maps.

https://www.bing.com/maps/

Type in the address and click the "Birds Eye" tab. Then you get the aerial images. Use the + and - in the upper right hand comer to zoom in and out and the curved arrows let you turn the image to see it from all different angles. Fun site to play around with.

 

[Brian H]

I can't tell from the picture, but is there a floor drain? I assume you will be parking your trucks inside and you need to be concerned about rain/snow dripping off the trucks.

Is the landlord giving you anything to help with the remodeling?

 

[FB7777]

Very cool, how many trucks are you running?

 

[PrimaDonna]

I can't tell from the picture, but is there a floor drain?

No, but we don't have one in our current set up either. We've been here 5 years and no issues. The water dries and we can sweep the road salt debris up.

Is the landlord giving you anything to help with the remodeling?

Nada...it's not how it "works with commercial property" he said. No biggie. We will paint the office, possibly lay new carpet. And we will turbo the shop floor and be good to go. We are on a time constraint and have had difficulty finding what we needed with out going out 30-45 minutes from where we are. It was less than we anticipated having to pay, in the right area, and has the bonus of letting us dump waste take water in the car wash. Beggers can't be choosers so we can spruce up the place on our dime.

Very cool, how many trucks are you running?

2

 

[Spurlington]

Cars get a wash then pull up to your bldg for interior cleaning

 

[Brian H]

Nada...it's not how it "works with commercial property" he said. No biggie.

Everything is negotiable, especially if it's been on the market for a while.

With a little sprucing up, it does look like a nice set up!! Will you be able to get some signage on the main road both for branding as well as a drop off location for area rugs?

 

[PrimaDonna]

Will you be able to get some signage on the main road both for branding as well as a drop off location for area rugs?

Yes, he said there will be a sign that goes up. Not sure how much we are going to put in to this now, as it is likely a temporary set up. We have some personal things to take care of before we can purchase a commercial property. Ideally that will all be taken care of within the year. But we may also end up liking this place and only having to worry about paying rent, so we will have to see.

 

[Desk Jockey]

before we can purchase a commercial property. Ideally that will all be taken care of within the year. But we may also end up liking this place and only having to worry about paying rent, so we will have to see.

Lease doesn't have to be a negative if you are unsure if you are staying there. Its much easier to get out of a lease, than to try an sell property and not lose money. Just make sure its a short term lease instead of long term.
or do as the"brilliant" Chavez brothers have when plans change, buy high and try to sell low.

 

[mirf]

Good for you.I am sure it will work out and keep home peaceful.

 

[Ron K]

Donna, Are you washing rugs? If so I have a 15'X18' wash pit for sale.

 

[PrimaDonna]

Donna, Are you washing rugs? If so I have a 15'X18' wash pit for sale.

We may take you up on that!

 

[hogjowl]

As soon as they see the garage doors, the local Alabama fans will show up and start applying.

 

[PrimaDonna]

Just make sure its a short term lease

One year....year to year. Same terms as last tenant and he ended up being there 9 years. The owner is a real old school "hand shake" lease kind of guy. The "lease" form he had still has the fill in the blank for the year and it starts with 19___.

 

[dealtimeman]

How much per month? SQft?

 

[PrimaDonna]

How much per month? SQft?

Not sure of total sq. ft. We didn't measure, he didn't provide. But we know the vans will fit and the office is plenty big for what we need.

$900. We didn't think we'd get into anything for less than $1500-$2000 so we are glad to have found this.