Business Location
Location

Business location is critical to some businesses; irrelevant to others. When you choose a business location, consider:

  • Access to your customers and potential employees
  • For walk-in businesses, the traffic count and available parking
  • Cost of transportation and/or shipping from that location
  • Whether there is a cluster of similar businesses to attract customers and give your business synergy
  • For technology companies, whether there are nearby colleges or nearby technology cluster to inspire new ideas
  • Cost of doing business - taxes, utilities, business taxes
  • Cost of living and lifestyle for you and your employees
  • Cost of lease and leasehold (tenant) improvements
  • Growth rate of the area
  • Whether the location is zoned for your business use
  • Tax incentives offered by the community

Click here for more ideas of what to consider in selecting a business location.

Incentives to hire employees are found in the Employer Assistance section.

Information About Commercial Leases

Signing a commercial lease is like signing a loan document: it commits your finances for the next few years. Below are resources to help you understand and negotiate commercial leases. Lease documents are usually prepared by the building owner, and may not have the best protections for the person leasing the space. Therefore, we suggest that before signing a lease document, that you review it with an experienced attorney.

Basics for negotiating a commercial lease

What is negotiable in a lease

10 Tips for Negotiating a Commercial Real Estate Lease

What should be in a lease - information from the SBA

Typical commercial lease terms

Understanding commercial leases - explains different types of leases and lease terms

HUBZones

The SBA's HUBZone program provides incentives for government agencies to purchase goods and services from historically distressed areas and Indian areas. The government's goal is to have 3% of all purchases come from HUBZones (23% of all purchases are to come from small business as a whole). Businesses must apply to be HUB-zone certified and must comply with the following:

  • The business' primary office must be located in a HUBZone

  • It must be owned and controlled by one or more US Citizen(s)

  • At least 35% of its employees must reside in a HUBZone.

What to do:

Go to http://map.sba.gov/hubzone/maps/ and enter your city to see if there are any areas designated as HUBZones. It is easiest to use the Address-Town-County Search, rather than the map, because the map only shows the larger HUB areas.

HUB Zones

If you are locating in a HUBZone, go to http://www.sba.gov/content/applying-hubzone-program to apply.

EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program

Immigrant investing in the US?

Immigrants that invest in new businesses or in distressed businesses and create jobs can receive EB-5 visas. At a minimum, you must

  • Create full-time 10 jobs within 2 years

  • Invest $1 million or $500,000 for high unemployment areas

There are regional centers across the US that can confirm that you meet the EB-5 requirements and help you through the process. Here is a list of the centers.

Here is more information about the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.