business information – Page 8 – The Sundance Company

January 10, 2012December 5, 2011 sundancecompany business information, office productivity, The Sundance Company

The Case for Building Your Employees a Tree House

Do you have an eccentirc boss? Or perhaps a normal boss who has culitvated an eccentric workplace? Check out this interesting read on Inc.com about what one CEO did to foster creativity and innovation in his company. And it involves a tree house. But you already knew that thanks to the title of the blog. Enjoy!

About The Sundance Company
Established in 1976, The Sundance Company has the experience to help you with your commercial real estate needs in Boise, Meridian, Nampa, and the greater Treasure Valley. If your requirements include property management, leasing, real estate development, project planning, construction or space planning then look to us. The Sundance Company has more than 1.5 million square feet of office and industrial space available in prime Boise and Meridian locations. More information is available at www.sundanceco.com or 208.322.7300.

January 3, 2012January 3, 2012 sundancecompany business information, The Sundance Company

Top Tech Trends of 2011

Now that we have bid farewell to 2011, what are some of the things we can learn from last year? Well The folks at G+(not to be confused with Google+) have developed an infographic on the top technology trends of online for 2011. The list is topped with Group Buying, a technology that exploded earlier in the year and has now become a feature that virtually every community has copied and incorporated into their strategy. Geolocation applications, tablets, cloud-based productivity apps, online video in Enterprise, Online Q&A, Crowdfunding, and Mobile Photo Sharing Apps also topped the list.

In other words, all we want is to do more and enjoy more, absolutely everywhere we are. That’s seem reasonable, right? For the full list of 2011′s tech trends, check out the infographic below.

December 14, 2011December 14, 2011 sundancecompany business information, office productivity, The Sundance Company

Will You Be Mobile Lurking During The Holidays?

Are you going to disconnect from work over the holidays? It is not so easy thanks to mobile technology.

November 1, 2011October 27, 2011 sundancecompany business information, commercial real estate, Commercial real estate news, office productivity, The Sundance Company

Is the iPad an essential tool in commercial real estate?

Well that was the question posed on the LoopNet blog recently, and you might be surprised at the answer. Turns out that a lot of folks in the commercial real estate industry are finding out it is quite the tool in conducting everyday business. Follow the link to read the rest of the story, http://blog.loopnet.com/2011/10/ipad-becomes-essential-tool-for-brokers.html

Do you use an iPad to help with your commercial real estate business? Are you considering using one after reading the story?

September 26, 2011September 5, 2011 sundancecompany business information, commercial real estate, Commercial real estate news, Economy news, The Sundance Company

Real Estate Signboard Strategy

As a real estate agent, your success in attracting listings is going to be faster if you have a lot of signboards placed on properties in your local market. Quite simply, the more the local people see your name on signboards the more they will identify with you and remember you when the time comes to sell.

No vendor wants to list their property for sale or lease with an agent or salesperson that is unknown. For that reason when you start off working in the industry or when entering a new area you should do a lot of work in the first few months to build your name. It’s called personal branding. The most successful salespeople have it. Most other salespeople have little of it.

When you start to build your brand you should regard it as an ongoing task that will not stop. The bigger your personal brand, the better things will be for you.

It sounds simple as a base concept in territory management and selling real estate. However such a principle needs to be stated again here as it is overlooked by so many. In absolutely all respects your success in real estate sales is almost totally up to you and how you market yourself.

So now let’s go back to the point of putting lots of signboards into your real estate market. Here are the rules to the process:

1. Getting them placed on properties located on main roads is very important as it will give you free advertising.

2. The signs have to be of similar branding and colour to build consistency and image.

3. Always put your name on the sign boards and include a mobile phone number for out of hours contact.

4. Keep the signboards free of graffiti as that will send the wrong message to the other vendors in the area.

5. Within reason use the maximum signboard size that the local council will let you use.

6. Put some property reference number on the sign so the person calling can easily identify the property to you.

7. The sign has to be located in the best position on the property so it is seen by passing people and traffic.

8. Make sure the sign is secure so you do not have a damages claim from a falling sign.

9. If possible use a photo sign that features your photograph as well as some photo from the property. This will also help with your personal branding.

10. When something is sold or leased, make sure you get a label placed on the existing sign so the market knows of your success.

When correctly approached your signboard strategy can go a long way to helping you build market share for your real estate office and you personally, and that signboard will attract more listings and inquiries your way.

About The Sundance Company

Established in 1976, The Sundance Company has the experience to help you with your commercial real estate needs in Boise, Meridian, Nampa, and the greater Treasure Valley. If your requirements include property management, leasing, real estate development, project planning, construction or space planning then look to us. The Sundance Company has more than 1.5 million square feet of office and industrial space available in prime Boise and Meridian locations. More information is available at www.sundanceco.com or 208.322.7300.

August 25, 2011August 5, 2011 sundancecompany business information, Economy news, The Sundance Company

Does Your Company Use Technology For Customer Service?

If not, learn how you can use technology in creative ways to help provide your customers with the best service on the planet and outshine your competition. Here are some ways you can use your website to provide cutting-edge service that your customers will love:

1. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): No matter what business you’re in there are probably a few questions that customers ask repeatedly. Wouldn’t it make sense to collect those questions and produce a page with that content as well as the answers? This way your customers can save a phone call and get some, if not most, of their questions answered quickly just by going to the FAQ page.

2. Downloads: People love free stuff, and your website is a great place to provide it, but that material should have value to your customers. Has someone in your organization written a white paper that would be of interest to your target market? If so, then publish it on your website and make it easy to find. If you’re in the software business provide fully-functional, downloadable trial versions of your products that are good for 30 days. If you sell electronics, then publish the user manuals in PDF format on your site.

3. Blog: Publish a blog on your website and update it regularly with fresh articles on subjects of interest to your customers. Not just fluffy sales pieces that don’t offer any useful information, but real content that saves them time, money or both. Show that you’re interested in providing valuable and timely material that will benefit them, free of charge.

Some of the best ideas out there will come from your customers. Listen to them. Ask them for input and be willing to implement their ideas. You might be surprised by what you’ve been missing or how making some simple adjustments can make a huge difference. Never be too stubborn to consider a suggestion, and always consider your customers’ perspective when evaluating how your business can be improved. Cool technology is no substitute for good, old-fashioned customer service. In short, use common sense and always treat people like you would want to be treated.

August 11, 2011August 5, 2011 sundancecompany Boise Commercial Real Estate, boise valley commercial real estate, business information, commercial real estate, Commercial real estate news, Meridian Commercial Real Estate, The Sundance Company

The More You Know: Commercial Real Estate Terms You Should Understand

Learning basic commercial real estate lease terms will help you build your knowledge in the commercial real estate investing arena. The following terms should be understood before signing a commercial lease:

Common Area Maintenance (CAM): This is a very important commercial real estate lease term to know. Most of the time when you have a multi-tenant building, you factor in charges for CAM. Usually tenants pay $12 a square foot for annual rent, plus a certain percentage for CAM. So CAM for a building is passed on to tenants.

Many of the issues considered in the commercial arena are not even available in residential leasing. For instance, if your commercial real estate investment target is small office warehouses, strip malls, or strip retail centers, CAM is one of the items you need to research.

Before you start renting or buying those types of facilities, you should know what the standard CAM is for your type of property. Sometimes in some smaller properties, there is no CAM, since the landlord pays it.

That’s all part of your costs as a landlord in this type of property. It’s not a pass-through, because you can’t legitimately pass through CAM expenses to your tenants, if no one in the area who owns a similar property is having their tenants pay it.

Percentage Leases: When you pay a fixed rent plus a percentage of sales over and above the fixed rental, you have a percentage lease arrangement. You will probably not run into percentage rent situations very often as a landlord. Most of the time, percentage rents are used in retail businesses located in large shopping centers and other similar areas.

You might charge percentage rent, if you had a $2,000,000 shopping center with a JC Penny’s, Sears, or Dillard’s, and the attraction of those mega stores brought traffic to your store. Therefore, they want to become your partner, in effect, by charging you a percentage. This is not common in small to moderate businesses.

Ground/Land Leases: This type of arrangement is where the tenant rents the land and builds on the property. Any way in which you improve the grounds, including any buildings, usually belong to the landlord when the lease ends. This is actually a form of financing.

You’ll find many ground tenants in high-cost land areas, like New York City. People don’t want to tie up personal capital in owning a piece of land when they could be putting that money into business operations. The standard land lease is a very long-term lease.

Sublease: A sublease is when you lease the whole property and then sublease a portion of it to someone else. For example, you might rent 10,000 square feet from a landlord. If you don’t need all that room, you have the right to put your own tenant onto the property using a sublease.

Assignment: An assignment is very similar to a sublease, in that you initiate the rental lease. However, you become a landlord by assigning the entire property to one or more tenants whom you manage.

There was a time when real estate investors would lease property and negotiate a very low rental rate. Then they would assign that same property to tenants at a much higher rate. Their real estate business consisted entirely of collecting money from their assignment.

Assignment Not Allowed: In some commercial leases, there’s a sublease clause stating that you are allowed to sublease the entire property, subject to the landlord’s approval. This clause, in effect, means that you cannot assign the lease. Particularly when you get into larger properties, you’ll want to be sure to personally check personally the credit of everybody who expresses interest in leasing your property. Tip: Assignments can get you into trouble. If you don’t know whether the assignee is credit worthy, don’t assign under any conditions.

Understanding commercial real estate lease terms will benefit you in the long run pastedGraphic.pdf , and remember always have your commercial real estate leases reviewed by a real estate attorney.

July 30, 2011July 6, 2011 sundancecompany business information, The Sundance Company

Tools and Tips For Saving Money and Time For Your Business

Going “green” might sound expensive, but it actually can help save your business time and money in the long run. Plus, being eco-friendly is easy and could be a fun activity for you and your employees. Here are a few easy things you can do to help save the planet while also reducing your overhead.

Cut down on paper – Use note-taking software. During a meeting, nobody in the room should be filling up legal pads with pages of notes. Note-taking software offers an easier way to take notes, which can help save a ton of paper. An example is Microsoft Office OneNote, which comes with MS Office suite. A favorite is currently Evernote, which is compatible with Mac OS X, iPhone, Windows XP/Vista/7, Windows Mobile and Palm Pre. Also, you might want to check out new technologies like Netbooks, Kindles and iPads, which make note-taking much easier and speedier.

Get rid of the fax machine and fax online – Faxing online does not require paper or toner. It doesn’t even require a fax machine! Online fax allows you to send and receive PDF faxes, which means that you can pick and choose which faxes you’d like to print and which you’d like to delete. Not only will you save paper and toner, but you’ll also save energy required to run a fax machine. This will keep your energy bill low, and you won’t need to spend money maintaining a piece of hardware.

Order mini-cards or business cards printed on recycled card stock – One way to cut your paper consumption in half is by cutting your cards in half. Instead of ordering regular business cards, consider buying mini business cards. They are small, inexpensive, and light-weight. Nobody has any room in their wallets to carry extra cards anyway, so make it easy for yourself and for your contacts. You could also order business cards printed on recycled paper and/or find a company that prints with soy ink, which requires less energy to produce than petroleum-based ink.

Make recycling easy – Put office recycling bins in strategic places – People will want to recycle, as long as you make it easy to do. Putting a paper recycling bin next to the office printer can have a dramatic effect. You can also stick a recycling bin for glass and cans in the office kitchen or break-room. Create handy signs and reminders to help point people to the bins.

Designate a box for old electronics and one of ink cartridges – Don’t throw the defunct junk away; put it in a box and take it to an authorized e-waste recycler. A lot of corporate chains now have recycling programs and allow you to drop off your old electronics and ink cartridges to be recycled. Some places will accept electronic brands like Dell for free, or they may charge a nominal fee to take your old office equipment.

Reward employees for going green – Reward employees who choose to walk or bike to work. If you’re employees aren’t driving, then you don’t have to pay for their parking. Put the money you’re saving back in their hands by giving them a bonus for green commuting. You can also get your office excited about walking, running or biking by entering in a local marathon or race for charity. Healthy employees are happy employees, so encourage green commuting in your office.

Ban Styrofoam and initiate contests for best office mugs/lunch boxes/dishes – Styrofoam is bad. It can’t be recycled, and worse, it doesn’t biodegrade. Avoid buying disposable cups and plates for your office. Instead, buy washable mugs and cups. You can also ask employees to bring a personal mug to work and turn it into a contest for the best/funniest office mug. You could also try this contest with lunch bags or dishes. Reward the winner with a cash prize or voucher for free lunch. You might be spending some money on the prize, but in the long run you’ll save a whole lot more by not buying disposable items.

July 23, 2011July 6, 2011 sundancecompany business information, The Sundance Company

What’s In A Name?

Your business name is the first impression you get to leave on your customers. It’s no surprise that people spend a lot of time and money on selecting the right business name. A bad name can make you the butt of people’s jokes (e.g. iPad), or worse, it can scare customers away. Make sure you choose the best name possible by following some of these rules:

1. Choose positive words. The first rule of creating an appealing business name is to choose words that have a positive connotation and make people feel happy inside. When brainstorming, you’ll notice the difference between warm and fuzzy words and words that fall flat. For instance, there’s a self-service dog wash called Mud Puppies that is rather popular. Consider the difference between Mud Puppies and Mud Dogs. The place services dogs of all ages, but the word “puppies” is infinitely way cuter than “dogs.” The denotation is the same, but the connotation is different. Mud Dogs has a dirty connotation, while Mud Puppies has a cute, playful connotation.

2. Appeal to what people already know/like. This is in the same vein as choosing words with a positive connotation. There are plenty of trends out there for you to draw inspiration from, such as the Do-It-Yourself movement, eco-friendly/green trend or health conscious trends. Again, you’ll have to sit down and brainstorm ideas that appeal to consumer, but you (hopefully) won’t be reinventing the wheel. In addition to trends, music, movies, popular websites and even celebrities offer a source of inspiration. An exercise you could to would be to list your own favorites/likes and see if you can find a gold nugget somewhere.

3. Think local….or think global. If you’re a local business, try getting inspired by landmarks, popular spots and familiar locations around town. For instance, the company 360 Partners here in Austin was named after Loop 360 (Capital of Texas Highway), which runs right by their office. However, beware of picking something ubiquitous or cheesy. (In Texas, you’ll see Lonestar [Something] anywhere you go.) You want to sound familiar, but you also want to stand out from the crowd. Perhaps you’re not a local business. Maybe you have an e-commerce business that serves customers around the country and/or the world. You can still use a locale-inspired name, but you may want to try broader terms that have more universal appeal.

Amazon is a great example of a brand that references a specific location but also has universal appeal. JetBlue is an example of a company that bucks the trend and doesn’t incorporate a location (such as competitors American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Northwest Airlines, etc.). Their name works, largely because it paints a lovely, serene picture. Think about what you want your business to say. Is it important for you to emphasize something local and familiar or to have widespread appeal? You decide.

4. Be memorable. This might be the hardest thing to do when thinking up your business name. A lot of companies struggle with the balance between uniqueness and accessibility. Google is now a household name, but virtually nobody knew what a google was until the company made the word famous. A very special or esoteric name may be great for trademark purposes and online search purposes (less competition), but you’ll probably have to do a bit more work educating people about what your company actually does when you start out.