THE PROBLEM WITH RENT

Business do not thrive in a vacuum. Whether you decide to operate from home or a specially designated office space, you are not absolved from the realities of the rent problem. Ghana has a rent policy that is as applicable with businesses as much as it is with domestic residence. Nevertheless, the truth is that rent charges would increase without regard to the success or otherwise of your business. It is important to forecast these potential increases and adopt best strategies to effectively handle them.

Rent hikes and underpricing are a result of a disequilibrium in the market demand and supply for housing. Substantively thence, it is necessary to understand that rising rent prices are an indication of high demand for same. At this rate, it is nearly impossible for real estate and home owners to consider reductions in the rent charges. This means extra costs for your business, one you may just not be ready for as a startup.

In this wake, consider a long term ‘Buy Your Building’ program. This is a bold agenda and comes with significant sacrifices and commitments. The net effect in the long run is however tremendous. It affords you the chance to recoup extra costs that may have been incurred in previous years and lets your business entrench its vision to be permanent. Given that you have committed such significant resources to purchasing your office space, chances are that you definitely would not want to fall out of business. Inadvertently, you kill two birds with a stone.

An alternative to the sole purchase of your rent space is to share the absolute cost with other businesses that occupy the space with you. This joint rent ownership is healthy only when the businesses involved produce dissimilar goods or services. The summary prospects are much the same as the ‘Buy your building’ program described above, except that it is relatively less expensive since the cost is shared with others.

Perhaps, the most important option you can consider is to rent out portions of your business space to other entities in order to increase your disposable income. Of course, this must only be done with the permission of the owner of the facility. The idea here is to ensure that no space is left vacant when it can fetch additional income. Rent out your conference facility to a group that needs it more than you probably do, sell your unused parking area to private entities that may request access to the facility you are located in etc.

At Korsell, we believe your business must thrive regardless of the circumstance you operate under. If there is a problem with rent such as undue rent charge increases and shock evictions, we recommend you talk to the Rent Control body in Ghana for the best redress. Nevertheless, adopt these strategies and keep your business operational. Remember it is important for your customers to identify you with a central location at all times.

 

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