Need some opinions re: my business

[Pompal 09.]

A little background......I rent two 600 sq ft spaces in a small retail/professional space. The 2 spaces are connected, one space is a yoga studio and the other is broken into a waiting area, two treatment rooms and a very small office/storage space. We opened in Aug of 04 and struggled to get the yoga program off the ground for close to a year. It then started to really build, as did the massage practice, and we're now doing quite well. My main yoga instructor came to me (she's an IC) and expressed concern over the growing number of students she's had to turn away because space is limited. We talked things over and she decided to stay put for a while, see what happens.

There was a church in our building who took up the next 3 spaces in the complex. They moved out in the fall and there space is now being turned back into 3 seperate spaces. The yoga instructor contacted the landlord about expanding into one of the spaces. Unfortunately, the only space available is on the other end of the building. She is moving into that space, with my blessing. My issue comes with the 600 sq ft of space that was the yoga studio.

My lease is up at the end of July but she'll likely be moving out by April 1st. That's several months of rent that I have no help with. There is a pediatric audiologist who contacted the landlord who wants the space beginning April 1st. The landlord is willing to rewrite my lease, removing that space so I have no responsibility over it. That's great, but I'm really struggling with giving up that space. The reiki master I have working out of the office is sure that it's a bad idea to give it up, that I'll kick myself later. She's really pushing the issue, making me wonder if I am doing the right thing by giving it up.

I don't really know what I'm looking for, I just need some help organizing my thoughts. Help!

 

[sussan]

So, to help in organizing your thoughts........

What are your goals for your business? What do you envision for your business next year? In 3 years? What do you like about your business now/don't like? Take into consideration your personal priorities of $, time, and work sitiuation when making your business plan.

So, in short, make the decisions you need to make based on your business plan/goals. Which path is going to get you where you want/need to go smoothly/quickest with the most security?

Put some more thought into it, or if you have, let the forum know what your goals are and then we can give your our 2cents about what we think you should do.

Noel,

Oh yeah, and it is fortunate and exciting to have options....go back to that thought if you get stressed out about it.

 

[pat z]

Out of everything you wrote, this is what stood out to me:

The reiki master I have working out of the office is sure that it's a bad idea to give it up, that I'll kick myself later. She's really pushing the issue, making me wonder if I am doing the right thing by giving it up.

Rent it out to the Reiki Master.

 

[Meilien]

Thanks all. Just writing everything out helped me organize my thoughts a bit. Originally when this all came about I was disappointed. My wellness center I had envisioned was falling apart. Since then, I've been able to see that this is a good thing. The fact that the yoga program is growing out of it's space is and indication that this area is finally beginning to accept alternatives to their conservative lifestyles. I do have a very solid massage practice though almost all of my income gets poured back into the business in the form of rent, utilities, supplies and marketing. I'm ready to be bringing more home. With the decrease in space I'll have less stress personally about financial issues. Rent and utilities will be cut in half. Yoga was almost covering the rent and utilities, but not quite.

I've entertained the idea of subletting the space to the PA but that's not a possibility. Landlord and PA want no parts of that.

I've also more than entertained the idea of having the Reiki Master take it over. We've talked about it and she's not ready to make a commitment. So I figure, if she's not ready for that commintment, she can't expect me to be ready to take on the commitment.

So, I've decided to give it up. It will allow me to concentrate more on my massage business, bring home a few extra dollars and revamp my vision for the future.

Thanks again, even just for reading!