The location decision is made once and lived with for years. Businesses routinely choose on rent per square metre, which is the least important of the factors that will actually determine whether the premises work.

Start with what the premises has to do

Do customers come to you? Then visibility, passing traffic, parking and safety dominate everything else.

Do you go to customers? Then you are buying storage and a base, and you should be paying accordingly — a retail-priced location for work that generates no walk-in trade is money spent on nothing.

Is it production or storage? Then access, loading, power capacity, floor loading and ceiling height matter more than the address.

Cost the whole occupancy

Rent is one line. Add operating costs, rates, levies, utilities, security, insurance, and the fit-out you will need before you can trade.

Then add the escalation over the term. A lower rent with a high escalation can cost more over five years than a higher rent with a modest one, and the comparison is rarely done.

Check the infrastructure before you commit

  • Power capacity for your equipment — upgrading supply is expensive and slow.
  • Internet availability at that exact address, confirmed with the provider. Installations can take months.
  • Water and drainage, particularly for anything involving food.
  • Loading and access for your deliveries and your customers'.
  • Backup power — whether the building has any, and whether you may install.

Visit at different times

An area is a different place at nine in the morning, at five, on a Saturday, and after dark. Traffic, parking, safety and passing trade all change.

Talk to the businesses already there. They will tell you about the landlord, the operating costs and the problems, and they are usually candid.

Leave room, but not too much

Premises you outgrow in a year mean moving again, which is disruptive and expensive. Premises twice what you need mean paying for empty space for years.

A shorter initial term with an option to extend is frequently the better answer to that uncertainty than guessing at the size.

Consider the alternatives properly

Coworking, a serviced office, sharing space with a compatible business, or continuing from home for another year. All are cheaper and more flexible than a lease, and all are dismissed too quickly by businesses that feel they ought to have premises.

General guidance on commercial practice, not property or legal advice. Confirm zoning and lease terms before committing.