Impressions - April 2014 - 56

Embroidery Production

products, and then never give a thought
to having insurance to cover these things
if lost in a ﬁre, ﬂood or even a robbery. Yes,
insurance costs money. But what happens
if you lose everything in a ﬁre? Just like
homeowner's insurance, ﬂood insurance is
not automatically included in your business policy. Depending on where your
business is located, it can be worth the
extra cost. Also, if you are operating from
your home and have a swimming pool,
trampoline, swings, steps or other "hazards," you may want to add riders to your
policy to cover someone getting hurt. You
don't know how important this will be until you need it.
There are many other things to consider
when operating a business from your home.
For instance, some subdivisions that will not
allow delivery trucks every day to the same
location. Check with your homeowner's
association for guidelines.
Also, you may need to make a separate
handicap-accessible entrance to the business, or bathroom. And if you can't have a
business sign on your property, you need
to make sure sidewalks and steps are up
to code. There are a lot of things to consider and look into before starting your
business.
The most negative thing about working
from home is time management. Seeing a
sink full of dishes leads to doing a load of
laundry. This leads to going to the store,
which leads to starting dinner. Before long,
it's time to pick up the kids and you haven't
even turned on the embroidery machine. If
you don't have a separate phone for your
business, you will be working after hours.

People will buy the
best tools and top-of-the-line
products, and then never
give a thought to having
insurance to cover these
things if lost in a ﬁre, ﬂood or
even a robbery. Insurance is
a necessary investment.

Impressions | April/May 2014

Standalone buildings are
nice because you can set your own
hours, have private parking, and decorate
and paint the colors you want.

And if you don't have a separate area for
your business that can be closed off from
your living area, it also may lead to working longer hours than you expected.

STRIP MALL STRATEGIES
There are many reasons to expand your
business. You may have outgrown your
current location, need to add more equipment, need a better location or maybe it is
just time for a change.
If you decide expansion is needed,
check out the possibilities for a new location. Choices include standalone buildings, strip malls, industrial parks or large
shopping malls with anchor stores.
Standalone buildings are nice because
you can set your own hours, have access to
private parking, and you can decorate and

paint your space with the colors you want.
You also have the option to buy or lease.
When leasing, never let someone tell you,
"This is a standard lease agreement." There
could be hidden items - like replacing
hot water tanks, windows, ﬂoors, and even
roofs and sidewalks - that can cost you
big money if something goes wrong. Make
sure your lawyer reads your lease agreement just to be safe. If you don't like the
terms contained therein, you can make
amendments to it and negotiate to get
what you want. Make sure insurance is included, and then get your own policy to
cover your items.
Strip malls are popping up everywhere,
but picking the right one doesn't mean you
should opt for the cheapest rent. First, look
around to discover the other types of businesses in the mall. If you don't have a lot of
money to spend on advertising, then make
sure there is plenty of walk-by or drive-by
trafﬁc. Businesses like coffee shops, cafés,
hair and nail salons, ﬂorists, grocery stores
- or even dance or karate studios - will
draw people to your business.
The same goes for industrial areas.
A few years ago, I was asked to help a
company in Chattanooga, Tenn., that
was struggling and considering closing its
doors. Just two years prior, the business
had moved to a small industrial park -
with space for 11 other businesses - located on a main road with heavy trafﬁc.
Upon arrival, I immediately noticed
that the sign for the industrial park was
parallel to the road, which meant you
could not read it without taking your eyes
off the road. All the individual signs were
the same size and painted the same colors,
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Impressions - April 2014

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