Setting Up Shop

All businesses are not created equal, but one question all entrepreneurs must answer when they decide to launch a business is where it will be located.

Options range from a home-based office to leased or purchased space, or alternative space-sharing agreements.

Making the right choice, however, should be fairly straightforward, according to Bob McCroskey, owner of Bob McCroskey Real Estate.

“The most important thing is what they can afford,” McCroskey said. “That’s just a given. You need to know what they’re doing and who their clientele is going to be — retail, office, whatever they need.”

Rayanna Anderson, director of the Small Business and Technology Development Center at Missouri State University, said regardless of a company’s industry, its owner must be mindful of not exceeding industry standards on what is appropriate to spend on overhead.

“The lowest  … might be in some sort of warehousing, and it increases from there,” Anderson said. “Retail is the highest per square footage as a percent of sales.”

Anderson said manufacturers, for example, should spend no more than 3 percent to 5 percent of revenues on space, whereas retail could reach 10 percent.

“Some business owners are more concerned with visibility and exposure. Others are more concerned about convenience and access,” added Todd Chambers, owner of Chambers Real Estate Services. “So the search for property really needs to be catered to what the business is.”

Chambers said leasing has been slow for the last couple of years, but it’s picking up.

“Things are starting to open up a bit with restaurants and even with some regional and national retailers,” he said. “There’s also people locally that are looking to start a business. It’s not uncommon to hear from people that are looking to start a business and needing retail or office space for a startup.”

Needs define the quest
For some entrepreneurs, finding just the right space is tough, as was the case for David Crump and Ken Bash, co-owners of BioEmbedded, which manufactures silicon mock vessels for medical device developers.

“We’re kind of like a mini manufacturing plant,” Crump said. We do a lot of engineering ourselves — saws and grinders and messy, dirty stuff. At the other extreme, where we need to make the vessels themselves, it needs to be ultra clean and environmentally controlled.”

Adding to the challenge: They only needed about 1,000 square feet, which Crump wanted to be within walking or easy driving distance of his other venture, Global Fayre, in downtown Springfield.

Then, there was the stink factor.

“It’s pretty smelly, so that meant we couldn’t be near restaurants or general retail, so that kind of pushed me further away from downtown,” Crump said.

Finding the right spot wasn’t easy.

“There was lots of office space, lots of really crude manufacturing space … not many places offered a bit of both,” he said. “I guess I was looking on and off for about three to six months.”
McCroskey helped Crump with the search and finally located a building on East Trafficway that would accommodate all of BioEmbedded’s needs and, possibly, space for future growth. On Jan. 1, Crump and partner Bash began moving into the space, which they are leasing for an undisclosed amount for six months, with rolling three-month options.

When home works
For some types of companies, and particularly those in service fields, having a home office makes sense. Sometimes, though, it’s even a good fit for manufacturing and distribution.

Susanne Wilson owns 8 Between Us All Natural Skin Care in Nixa, a business that was hatched when she and friend Melanie Wilson  — who have eight kids between the two of them — wanted to launch a business that would allow them to be around their homes during the day.

About two years ago, Susanne Wilson got the company off the ground and began creating a full line of all-natural, food-grade skin-care products, ranging from lip gloss to skin oils that require a controlled environment.

“Because our products are all food-based, it’s easier for us to keep it at home than to find a facility and build a kitchen, which is what we’d have to do,” Wilson said. “Being at home works really (well) for us.”

But Wilson points out that storage is always an issue.

“I would love to have an outside place that would have climate control and humidity control, but that’s not possible for us,” she said. “We’ve had to work around the space we have in our homes.”

For her, that includes a downstairs beauty shop that is no longer in use. She has it set up now where she can control humidity, which is essential for preventing bacteria and mold growth.
Right now, 8 Between Us products are carried locally at MaMa Jean’s Natural Foods LLC, but Wilson knows that eventually, operating out of her home may not make sense.

“If we grow to where we are supplying product on even just a regional level like to Whole Foods or bigger stores, we’re going to have to have an outside housing source,” she said. “That’s why I’ve been kind of hesitant to push the growth issue. Right now, we can handle this. We get much bigger, we’re not going to be able to handle it.”

Creative space
For some small-business owners, working from home can make it awkward to welcome clients, or maybe, they miss the personal interaction that comes from working in a traditional office setting.

To help meet that need, architect and property manager Billy Kimmons worked with Panther and Associates LLC to develop the 519 Office Share, at 519 E. Walnut St.

The 519 Office Share — which officially opens the first week of March — features seven offices available for lease, ranging from 64 square feet to about 150 square feet. Prices for the offices range from $300 to $400 per month, and the cost includes use of reception, conference and break rooms. Also included are telephone, fax and Internet services.

Right now, Kimmons and Joseph Wantuck of Wantuck Law Firm LLC are the office share’s only tenants.

“Just like me, every business owner is going to grow tired of (working alone) eventually, and you’re going to want some kind of space outside your home,” said Kimmons, who opened BK Architects LLC as a home-based business in 2008.

“Sometimes you just get lonely working from home,” he said.[[In-content Ad]]