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Tips for Securing Office Space as a Start-up Entrepreneur » OfficeFinder http://shar.es/H5tHN

OfficeFinder James Osgood

Office Space Search Video » OfficeFinder http://shar.es/H5t0c

13 May

OfficeFinder James Osgood

Lease Issues to be Aware of When Leasing Office Space » OfficeFinder Blog http://shar.es/H5tmM

13 May

OfficeFinder James Osgood

Thousands Of Google Images Infected With Malware http://ow.ly/4T6C5

12 May

OfficeFinder James Osgood

How Converse Became the Biggest Little Sneaker Brand on Facebook mashable.com/2011/05/04/con… via @mashbusiness

12 May

OfficeFinder James Osgood

Five Ways $8.5 Billion Skype Deal Benefits Microsoft adage.com/u/p9EyOb via @adage

12 May

OfficeFinder James Osgood

Facebook Leases New 1 MSF HQ http://ow.ly/4SyP7

11 May

OfficeFinder James Osgood

The Single Most Powerful Use of Social Media for Small Business http://ow.ly/4SgOB

11 May

OfficeFinder James Osgood

I uploaded a @YouTube video http://youtu.be/1PCjD4hTPxs?a I need office space!

9 May

OfficeFinder James Osgood

I subscribed to regusnorthamerica's channel on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/user/regusnorthamerica?feature=autoshare

9 May

OfficeFinder James Osgood

I liked a @YouTube video http://youtu.be/WvwZo-fgNBs?a I need a Virtual Office

9 May

OfficeFinder James Osgood

How to: General Procedure on Office Space Leasing or Renting http://ow.ly/4OPzk

6 May

OfficeFinder James Osgood

SEO Lessons Learned Through Pictures of Matt Cutts http://ow.ly/4NocO

4 May

OfficeFinder James Osgood

http://lnkd.in/QmpFxS In many of the newer high tech spaces, the office space is art in itself...

3 May

OfficeFinder James Osgood

Behind Bin Laden: The Role of Social Media http://ow.ly/4LBRF

2 May

More OfficeFinder Tweets

1. Social media: attract people interested in you, in your niche and then funnel them into other places, where you can reach them.30 minutes ago from twhirl
       
2. I'm still waiting for my stimulus funds... Looking at a SBA loan, but the paperwork is worse than buying a house.6:04 PM Aug 7th from web
       
3. RT @davelewand BOMA wants $90M from stimulus fund for smart meters http://viigo.im/0u006:03 PM Aug 7th from web
       
4. If you need the right office space at a great price without a hassle, OfficeFinder http://twurl.nl/vsuz6j We do the work!5:57 PM Aug 7th from twhirl
       
5. Top 500 WORST password http://twurl.nl/bm5zbh5:55 PM Aug 7th from twhirl
       
6. I just doubled my computer RAM to 4 GB. What a difference in speed! A really cheap upgrade that makes a big difference.2:42 PM Aug 3rd from web
       
7. Mammoth 50 thousand page expansion of the OfficeFinder.com website complete! http://twurl.nl/0wqw8k2:25 PM Aug 3rd from web
       
8. OfficeFinder Now Providing Detailed Local Specific Information on Office Space Services and Market Conditions On-Line http://twurl.nl/8niyaj2:21 PM Aug 3rd from web
       
9. Yeah. I got my invitation to Google Voice! ...But can't use it because I am at an extension and can't confirm the number. Yuch.1:46 PM Jul 30th from web
       
10. Future of real estate agent profession - Death of a Realtor? http://twurl.nl/4ndshz Are we headed the way of the Travel Agent? Maybe....1:41 PM Jul 30th from web
        
11. Microsoft will now power Yahoo! search while Yahoo! will become the exclusive sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers.5:12 PM Jul 29th from web
        
12. RT @Bizpen Wow!! Microsoft & Yahoo join forces: http://bit.ly/qPk8A The online Search world changes yet again!5:11 PM Jul 29th from web
        
13. Going head to head - Google Announces Chrome Operating system - http://twurl.nl/0oha4i - Watch out Microsoft...10:00 AM Jul 27th from web
        
14. Alexa also tell me that Average Load Time for http://Officefinder.com - Very Fast (0.859 Seconds), 88% of sites are slower.9:55 AM Jul 27th from web
        
15. http://officefinder.com is ranked number 372,525 in the world according to the Alexa Traffic Rank and is in the Office_Space category. Cool!9:54 AM Jul 27th from web
        
16. Best discussion I have heard re: Our Dumping Money Into A Giant Hole. A must see http://bit.ly/eB5eg11:15 AM Jul 24th from web
        
17. RT @ManhattanOffice Manhattan office Window cleaning. Man steps out attached by 2 hooks on ledge of a 113 yr old window & leans backward...10:47 AM Jul 22nd from web

Join us on Twitter

1. Went golfing with my 21 yr old son on Sunday. First time golfing in 20 years. I got 2 pars in a row. Don't ask about the other 16 holes....about 16 hours ago from web
       
2. Government officials say there are still many businesses that are struggling to fund their daily operations... New? Where have they been?about 16 hours ago from web
       
3. Small business credited with creating as much as 80% of new jobs, according to the SBA. Bailout is missing the mark! It's an easy fix $$->SBabout 16 hours ago from web
       
4. Obama administration is discussing ways to expand assistance to struggling small businesses WSJ http://twurl.nl/b82qvq About time....about 16 hours ago from web
       
5. Are most people are ignoring their websites to play with the new "shiny object," we call social media? http://twurl.nl/x0bxgdabout 16 hours ago from web
       
6. RT @zappos Please help try out our new social shopping site (new way to shop w/ friends)! Thx for any feedback! http://my.zappos.com4:33 PM Jul 20th from web
       
7. Microsoft's http://www.bing.com/ results look pretty good. How about for you? It has overtaken Yahoo in the 2nd search spot. Impressive.4:32 PM Jul 20th from web
       
8. @DublinMailDrop http://vipfollowers.com looks like a phishing site to me....4:29 PM Jul 20th from web in reply to DublinMailDrop
       
9. Google Voice is coming soon. Pretty cool. Intro video at http://bit.ly/OosX210:42 AM Jul 17th from web
       
10. RT @thenetworkhub Linkedin offers People Search Beta, very interesting! I'm sure lots of people will use for biz dev http://ow.ly/hoO710:37 AM Jul 17th from web
        
11. RT @thenetworkhub Fake consumer reviews on website net company $300,000 in fines http://ow.ly/hoTx10:36 AM Jul 17th from web
        
12. RT @econaddict is the recession really over? i still see yellow weeds everywhere. the system is still broken10:31 AM Jul 17th from web
        
13. For great office space at the best price without the hassle, check out http://www.officefinder.com/ #officespace #officelease4:05 PM Jul 15th from web
        
14. Back from vacation in the mountains of southern Oregon. Now I get to pay the price in playing catch up. It was worth it!4:03 PM Jul 15th from web
        
15. 80 story rotating skyscraper due to be completed in 2010. http://twurl.nl/1y11gv Amazing!4:51 PM Jul 1st from web

Now you can follow OfficeFinder on Twitter from the OfficeFinder site.

Find out what we are Tweeting about at http://twitter.officefinder.com.

I ran into a brief discussion on Twitter as to how to sign a lease (they have to be brief with a 140 character limit). Should you use your company name or personal name on the office lease?  I found these responses at Business Seek, a small business weblog:

"NO you use your tax ID number EIN. You fill paperwork out in name of corp. and you sign as president. Only need to include personal info if you make personal guarantee."

"Any time you do business you HAVE to treat yourself as an employee, you NEVER personally guarantee anything. this way the company goes under you as the President unless gross negligence on your part like you left with the cash are not liable for the expenses of the company. "

Both good advice, but both pretty naive especially when it comes to small businesses. It is unusual when a landlord does not require a personal guarantee no matter what your business structure unless the term is a month to month and there is enough of a deposit to cover any midnight moves. If you were to never personally guarantee a lease or rental for a small business, there would a very limited choice of alternatives.

Trick of the Trade

What we try to do is place a ceiling on that personal guarantee.  An example of this would be to guarantee up to 3 months worth of rental. This would be enough to cover any landlord expenses related to their cost of your acquisition, such as brokerage fees. If there are any significant tenant improvements involved, some sort of amortized guarantee could be created where the amount of the guarantee is reduced over the term of the lease. You'd probably still need to add some period of rent on top of this, but you could also negotiate to amortize reduction in this over the term of the lease. A lease guarantee is a liability that you should show on your personal financial statements. So try to minimize them as much as possible.