Montgomery

Here’s great article in the Wall Street Journal that I think every Montgomery area small business owner would like to read:

Small Businesses Cut Costs By Renegotiation

The author points out that you don’t have to be one of the big boys to ask for and receive concessions on your contracts.

The top tips to save money are:

1. Pay your bills on time. If you have a track record of great payments, vendors may be more willing to give you a discount when you ask.

2. Ask for shorter contract times. Sometimes you if you can’t help the price, other terms are negotiable.  If you are negotiating for an equipment lease, for example, if you only feel comfortable with a 2 year commitment, instead of 5, ask for it.

3. Explain your circumstances. Vendors may come up with creative solutions themselves if they know, say, that you have recently lost a big client.

Bonus Link:

If you are a small business looking for office space, warehouse, or retail space in the Montgomery, Alabama area, you might like this article, also from the WSJ:

Finally, Renters Have Some Pull

Are you looking for a cost effective place to rent? Contact us, we can hook you up directly with the people that have space to rent.  You won’t owe us a dime for the effort.

Daily headlines remind us that big companies everywhere are laying off employees or shutting down completely.  The Montgomery area is no exception.  Suddenly, people are realizing that jobs with big companies aren’t any more “secure” than small ones. What I wonder is, what if people decide to use this an an opportunity to start a small business in Montgomery?

I was listening to the Dave Ramsey radio show the other day.  He was counseling a couple that was fearful of their future.  The husband had just received notice that his factory job was cutting back to only 3 days a week for the foreseeable future.  The wife conceded that the factory job wasn’t really husband’s dream job, and he had always viewed it as temporary even though he had been working there like 10 years.  Ramsey said, in effect, why not view this as an opportunity? He recommended the book 48 Days to the Work You Love to help them decide what they want to do with the time.

What about here in the Montgomery area? Is this the time to start your small business, to fulfill your dream to work for yourself?  But how to you get it done in a “tough times?”

Click here for a great video from WSJ that addresses just that.

They answer questions like: How do I get started? and How to finance? and How to protect my ideas? and most importantly: How to do it on a bootstrap budget?

What about you? Have you recently started a Montgomery small business? Comment here and let us hear about your experiences.

By the way, a big part of planning for a new business is figuring out how much your rent will cost. Why not let is help you figure out if you need to rent some commercial real estate in Montgomery and if so, how much it will cost. We’re glad to help, even if you never end up renting anything.

Bonus – here’s a video from 48 Days author Dan Miller – about his book No More Mondays:

The Montgomery Chamber is having a luncheon to let Montgomery area small business owners learn about the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Loan Programs.

If you own a small business in Montgomery, or are planning on having one one day, you will want to make plans to come.

Date: January 28, 2009

Time: Noon

Place: 600 S Court Street, Montgomery, 36104

Cost: $15 / members – $17 / nonmembers

Registration Deadline: Jan. 26, 2009

Contact: Heidi Ellis (334)240-6863

Usually, lack of money  / financial planning is the biggest reason that small businesses fail.  Why not go check out this event and learn all you can?

The Wall Street Journal reports in this article that the SBA loans have been affected by the credit crunch. Apparently this is really affecting women and minority owned small businesses.

I wonder if this is affecting any Montgomery area small businesses?

The Small Business Administration, through one of its programs called Community Express,  usually provides micro loans in the $5,000 range through local banks in an effort to promote the entrepreneurial efforts of citizens.  According to the WSJ:

“Originally, Community Express loans were aimed at minority-, women- and veteran-owned small businesses in low- and middle-income areas. But they now target all small-business owners who are seeking less than $25,000, and owners needing more than that who are in business zones defined as “historically underutilized” or covered by the Community Reinvestment Act.”

I wonder if this will affect start ups of small businesses or offices in Montgomery.

What do you say, reader? Do you know of an example in Montgomery where a small biz was affected by lack of a micro loan, or any funding? Please leave a reply below.

According to this article in the Montgomery Advertiser, an Atlanta developer plans to build 32 new office condos in East Montgomery.  They will be in Parliament Place which is on the corner of Vaughn and Ray Thorington Roads.

I think this is interesting news for Montgomery small businesses, especially for the office types, like lawyers, accountants, etc.  It will give yet another option for those people looking for office space; something to think about besides just a lease.

There are a few other office condos around town, but not very many in my opinion.  I have always wondered why.  I know that when I visit Tallahassee, Florida, it seems like I see them just about everywhere I go.  My father in law owns a small office condominium for his CPA practice.

So why don’t we see more office condos in Montgomery? It will be interesting to see how this develops.  I have no idea on the proposed layouts, I imagine that you can pretty much design anything.  But common sense says that they will target small businesses with more than one employee.

The typical condo buyer, I would think, would be greater than a one person show.  If it’s only you, and you aren’t expecting a lot of foot traffic, it probably makes better sense to rent a one room office in a larger building. And if you have 10 or so employees, maybe it makes better sense to have a bigger office.

That’s why I think that an office condo buyer will be a 3 or 4 employee business.  I am excited about this project and wish them the best.
Are you looking for office space to lease, or buy? Contact us, we can hook you up with someone who is ready to rent to you today!

If your Montgomery small business is like mine, you are always looking for ways to find new business without spending a load of money.

Pat Kitano has a great blog named Media Transparent.  In his latest post, he gives:

10 Steps To Successful Marketing via the Social Media

Pat lines it all up in a quick, informative slideshow.  I recommend it.

Social media is becoming a huge part of many business marketing efforts, be they large companies or small.

If you’re like me, you are always looking for ways to save some cash without sacrificing a professional operation, or too much diginty! Small businesses in Montgomery don’t have huge accounting staffs to look for ways to pinch pennies, they have to figure that out themselves.

Here are 4 ways you can save some cash in the $4 / a gallon era:

1. Send2Fax.com – there is no need to order that extra phone line just for your fax. No need for people to have to call you for a heads up before they send a fax. Send2fax.com gives you a toll free number, dedicated only to you. When people fax to it, it converts the fax to a PDF file and emails it to you. To send a fax, you simply email it to their fax number followed by @fax.send2fax.com. Only about $12 a month as opposed to about $60 for another land line.

2. PrimoPDF – finding money to start up a small business is hard enough without coughing up tons of dough for new software which you never use. If you do regular work with PDF files, there is no need to buy Adobe Acrobat at $400. Go to primopdf.com and download their free software. It allows you to print anything to a PDF file. It acts like another printer. You simply save the file for posterity, or to email someone else. Then, they don’t need any special program to open it, because the Adobe PDF reader is free.

3. Montgomery Area Small Business Incubator - This is sponsored by the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce. It is one of the best resources in Central Alabama for small businesses. Give them a call. Ask about their various programs. They can teach you the answers to questions that you haven’t even considered yet. Their education programs are backed by Montgomery’s biggest players in commerce, so it pays to let them help you.

4. Google Docs – Again, no need to shell out mega bucks for software that lets your small business create professional looking documents. Google Docs has FREE programs to replace things like Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Plus they allow you to save your documents online, and share them (via email) with whomever you want. Unless you use all of the bells and whistles of Microsoft Office, you can get by with Google Docs. I love it.

Are you a Montgomery area small business owner, and have more tips to save money? Help us all out by commenting below!

Why does Carmichael Road have so much available office space? Maybe it’s the proximity to I-85, or its “mid-town” position – close to downtown Montgomery and east Montgomery, I don’t know.

Whatever the reasons, the Carmichael Road area in Montgomery has tons of great office space for lease. There are lots of offshoots of the road, with a great mix in office type.

There several openings for leasing entire office buildings, and the offerings range from that to a multi-room office, right down to a 10 x 15 single room. It just depends on what you need, but you’re likely to find it in the Carmichael Road area. Plus, you’re close to lots of dining, hotels, and local schools.

Are you looking for office space to rent in the Carmichael Road area of Montgomery, Alabama? Click here for some listings, or click here to contact us, we will put you in touch with folks who can help you out!

Welcome to the small business resource for the Montgomery, Alabama area.

We at Real Biz Space seek to connect businesses looking for rental space, and the landlords that want to rent to them.

We also seek to provide local, timely information to help small businesses succeed.

Do you own commercial rental space in the Montgomery, Alabama area? We would love to show you how to get it rented faster and for less money.  Please contact us for details.