When you’re the new kid on the business block, you shouldn’t be wasting time with conflicts. You’ve got so many other things to be dealing with, after all. But when you move your startup out of your bedroom or garage and into a commercial property? Then you’ve got to start thinking about conflict prevention. Specifically, you need to think about the businesses that are housed in the commercial properties around you!
You need to be able to stop any potential conflicts with your “neighbours” before they actually turn into conflicts. To nip these issues in the bud, so to speak! So we’re going to take a quick look at potential problems that you need to think about. This is going to involve you coming to some sort of agreement about certain things when you become “neighbours”. After all, you don’t want any of this to escalate into legal action…
What your building looks like
You may not think that this would be of any concern to anyone other than you. But this is an issue in the same way that it can be an issue in residential real estate. The condition of one property in the same area as another can have an effect on the value of both. So the state of your commercial property does actually concern those on the other property! Of course, this becomes less of a concern if you’re both renting the space.
Property lines
Where does your property begin and their property end? This is something you need to consider whether you’re renting or you bought the place outright. If you’re renting, the landlord should have made clear exactly what parts of the property you can do business on. But if you’re working in a commercial park, things can become a bit more tricky. The areas outside the building will probably become your main concern. Perhaps you don’t want people trespassing on your commercial property. If you own the property, you could hire fencing contractors to make the property divides clear!
Noise
Noise may not have been an issue that you considered before. After all, how much of a nuisance can the noise at work be? It’s not as if you’re doing any recreational there, right? Well, what if you’re having an office party of some kind? Or you’re hosting an event for visiting clients? If other commercial properties are close by, then you need to consider them before doing things like this. Even if events take place after your regular working hours, there may still be people working in the other properties.
Parking
Even when you own the property outright, car parking facilities at your location may not be yours. Nearby businesses will often have to share the use of a car park. It could be worth getting together with other business owners to see if you can come up with a fair system of shared use. Maybe you could agree to keep to certain sides or levels of the car park? Even if it’s just an informal agreement, it can really help with relations between you!