Do as I say, not as I did As entrepreneurs, we research, we network, and we tap into unlimited resources, put there to help us every step of the way in our business-building. However, despite these resources, I still learn things the hard way. One of my greatest challenges has been finding a location for my business. Sounds easy enough, and it would have been if I had started in the right place. We’re in the service industry. Our little grassroots venture rapidly outgrew our home. With an expanding fleet of commercial vehicles and employees, we chose a building recently purchased by a friend, and we were anxious to move in. There was something about signing a lease that made our business feel more legitimate. We have a scalable but complex business model requiring industrial, commercial, office, warehouse, and retail space. Not wanting to spread our operation out and to be centrally located to our customer base, we thought this property, zoned as I-2 would be perfect, because it allows all of those uses. When we moved in, we began improving it. We didn’t ask permission, we just did it. The building had been sitting empty and falling apart for the better part of 10 years; surely the powers that be would be happy to see our progress. We pressure washed and painted our 6000 sq. ft. space. Offices and dividing walls were built. We hired someone to draw up a site plan. To be a retail space, we would have to build two bathrooms, a handicap ramp inside and out, a deck out front, install ADD-rated doors, and put in a drinking fountain. No problem, we’re capable.
Guest Commentary By Carrie Poff, Owner/Operator Brown Hound Tree Services, Inc. Executive Summary: How to find a home for your business.
Or so I thought. I headed down to the Roanoke City Planning Department to pull building permits. Two days later, several officials showed up in force. Unbeknownst to us, the building was in several states of violation, all needing to be corrected before permits would be issued. This is what I was trying to avoid. Better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission, right? After all, we know people who occupy buildings with no Certificates of Occupancy, and we know of businesses that don’t have paved handicap spots… but that’s beside the point. After several meetings, we would now have to tear down and rebuild all office walls, hire a Registered Design Professional and a Civil Engineer to draw up fancy printed site plans, pave a parking lot, build a fire wall, plant trees, get an electrical drop and a new meter separate from the rest of the building, and have separate trash service. They told us told point blank, “we don’t think you can afford to do this.” So here we sit, 15 months later, having invested so much already into a building that we know is the best option for
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