Even in your initial phone call to the office of the landlord, you must be careful with your presentation. For instance, if you call and say, "I want to open a karate school," they may tell you they are not interested in renting to a martial arts school. Instead, you may want to introduce your plan by saying: "I'm going to open an educational facility that specializes in family fitness and personal development with a martial arts theme. Our research shows that this area should create a strong traffic flow into your center of families coming to and from our school, so I want to make sure that the parking would be sufficient. Is there a time I can meet with you to look at the space and discuss the arrangements?" This way you are already expecting a large number of people to walk through the area, many of who may visit neighboring stores. Present yourself and your business as a benefit for the landlord to work with. As to what research, you ask? Well, how visible are you from the road? Are there schools nearby or major shopping centers or malls? Why is this area good for you?

Landlords want tenants that are going to not only pay their rent on time, but who will create traffic for the other shops in the shopping center. This is a strong point you must drive home. Your families will be shopping in the stores that surround your space. When a child is in class, the parent will likely kill time by shopping in the other stores in the plaza. Present yourself as a possible mini-anchor for the plaza.

When you meet with the landlord, it is important that you are dressed for business. That means a suit and tie for the guys and business attire for the ladies. No jeans and t-shirts. Be sure to bring along any information you have that can validate your potential as a client that is worth the risk, or even better, a must for this plaza. For instance, if you have appeared in national martial arts magazines or have any local or national press clippings on yourself, then include that in a nice information packet that will tell the landlord that you are recognized and respected within your industry. Explain the support network you have of instructors, mentors, and other organizations to show that if have questions you have experienced individuals in your field you can contact. 

Also bring along any sample advertisements that will give the landlord an idea of how you plan to market your school. This is all very important. Your job is to paint a picture of a focused and hardworking businessperson who has done his homework. You must be able to convey this message and know that running a martial arts school is a very long and difficult job. You must instill some confidence in the landlord in your ability to make the school work. The landlord has to see this business as a success and not a "could be." Any references to the school or the activities in the school should allude to large amounts of families coming into the plaza. For references that your landlord can contact should be any instructors you work with, any students you have previously had, and previous and current employers. If you aren't dedicated at your past and current 9-5 jobs, a landlord cannot assume you will be dedicated now.

Ask the landlord about parking for your special events like the grand opening, open houses or seminars you will be holding. Ask about other tenants too. I have been to schools where you could not park in front of a store no matter what events were being held. This meant visitors were told to move their cars and many had to park in a neighboring plaza or behind the school. When you create a picture in the mind of the landlord of hundreds of families coming to his plaza, he will begin to warm to the idea of having a karate school as a tenant.

Now, it's important to make a very critical point here. You do not want to appear anxious to rent or overly interested in this specific location despite how much you may like it. You want to say that you are in the exploratory stages of choosing a location and you have a number of attractive options to consider whether you do or not. Do not reveal what those options are if the landlord asks. Simply say that you would prefer to just focus on this property when dealing with him. At this point, you don't want to let the landlord know that he is up against especially if you don't have any other properties that you are looking at. If you preset this location as the only one for you, the landlord will not see any reason to negotiate with you. The landlord will tell you the price and sell you on that price as opposed to you selling him on the benefits of your business being at the location. You didn't say you were looking at properties, you just said you were considering options. The point is, you must first get the landlord to consider you as a tenant, but at the same time play the role of the reluctant renter.

When you go to the site, do not walk through with the landlord and say out loud, "Oh yeah, our dressing room can go here.  And this is perfect for a retail area, and we can put our intro room here." Those are buying signals and you do not want to show any. The more enthusiasm you show, the weaker your negotiating position becomes. On the other hand, if he sees you as a good potential renter, with hundreds of families creating traffic into the plaza, your negotiation position increases. Much of this idea follows the ideas found in the above situation. You are looking at options, that's it.

For instance, major anchor tenants like grocery stores or department stores negotiate incredibly low rent rates because they are good solid tenants who create traffic flow.  The center will live or die based upon the traffic the anchor creates.  Therefore, landlords are willing to provide the space at a discount in order to get that traffic.  The anchor, knowing this, has a very strong negotiating position going in.  You must take the mindset of the anchor or, at lest, the mini-anchor.

When it comes to negotiating for the rent price, try to get a month or two for free which will enable you to have cash to build up your school to suit your needs. In some cases, the landlord will pay for the materials if you do the labor. Another area of concern is the lease. In some cases, the landlord is agreeable to no lease for a bit more a month or a time period before a lease kicks in.

Works Consulted

• Joshua Meredith, personal experience.
• Martial Arts Professional. National Association of Professional Martial Artists- NAPMA