Finding a good location for your chiropractic office is essential, yet negotiating the lease is also an important step. Here are the mistakes most doctors do when they lease an office and how to avoid them.

Spend on improvements

Depending on the size of the landlord, you can negotiate who will pay for property improvements. Most large landlords are willing to pay for improvements, which is a major advantage for you. Having a tenant improvement allowance gives you the freedom to customize the space to yours needs, without having to invest your own money.  Dr. Melepura, pain management specialist, was able to invest the money in hiring personnel and advertising the new location, which is a big advantage for a startup. Growing the business is the main priority in the early stages of establishing your chiropractic office, so ask for an improvement allowance.

Personal guarantees

Commercial landlords usually ask for a personal guarantee, which protects them if the tenant's business fails. From your point of view, this can become very problematic, as you will have to pay the lease, even if the office is closed. If you sublease to another professional and they decide to leave before the lease is over, you will be liable for the entire amount of money.

Removing the clause can be very difficult, but always ask if you can give up on it or reduce the amount of money, if something unexpected happens. Another way is to provide a bigger security deposit, for as much as 6 months, instead of the traditional 2 months.

Signing for a short lease can be a problem

When you think about signing a lease for 5 years, it might seem like a very long time, but in most cases it's a short period. If you sign a lease that is too short you will stumble a number of problems. First, you won't be able to amortize the lease contract, especially because most contracts on short term have a higher monthly payment, compared to contracts on long terms, like 10 years lease contracts.
Another important thing you need to account for is the fact your patients have become accustomed with the location, which means that changing the office again might equal losing most of your patients.

At the end of the lease contract

Lease contracts include a makegood provision, which asks the tenant to return the space in its initial form. This means destroying all the changes you've made, like adding new flooring or placing drywall. Most chiropractors take this clause as it is, but it can be removed. Landlords use this clause to provide a clean space for the next tenant, but they often charge the old tenant the costs of demolition, without actually doing anything and leasing to the next tenant the space as it was left from the old one. This is a common practice, especially if the old and new tenant have the same type of business, for example a chiropractic office.

Before you sign the lease contract read it carefully and negotiate each clause which might become problematic for you in the future.