Posted by: Ed Zigo
in My Blog on Jan 06, 2012
Funding your business growth… bank loans simplified.
Find out what it takes to get a Business Bank loan.
Friday, January 27, 2012 from 8-10 am.
Your chance to network directly with bankers, SBA, The Virginia Small Business Financing Authority and the Loudoun Small Business Development Center.
Cost: Free!!
Location: Loudoun County Pubic Schools Administration Building – 21000 Education Court, Ashburn, VA 20148
But you must register: click here!
Have questions??? Call 703-430-7222
Posted by: Ed Zigo
in My Blog on Nov 23, 2011
Loudoun & Fairfax Small Businesses: It’s that time of year again... the holidays.
Embraced, dreaded, chaotic, busy and seemingly arriving earlier each year, the holiday season, for most of us, is anything but restful. And, usually starting right around Halloween, our office gets calls from our tenant businesses asking what we can do to help generate sales or what they can do in the form of promotion. As a property management firm, that’s natural. Our years of experience have given us a unique perspective that can help you have a successful and productive holiday season. And while we’re not going to tell you what to do (that’s your job!), below are a few tips that might be of value. They might even help you find a little more rest during the holiday hustle and bustle...
- Use Customer Common Sense - Sometimes it’s the simple things. Try to put yourself in your customers’ shoes. How can you make things easier for them? What would make total sense to them? Here’s an example... You want your customers to have easy, convenient access to your entrance, right? Then shouldn’t you and your employees park away from your entrance? Common...or customer...sense lets the little things shine through.
- Before You Decorate - Clean up your place! Make it inviting, warm and welcoming.
- OK, Now Decorate - Tastefully! And do so with respect to the exterior. You should run any holiday decoration by your landlord - chances are, they’ll be able to help you take your ideas further! We enjoy doing our part to make our buildings welcoming and festive... without going over the top. (After all, we might lose a few customers if we decorate our space like Clark Griswold.)
- Know When Your Customer Buys - Again, we’re not going to tell you what to do, but we will tell you to determine who your customers are, why they need your product or service and why they might need it more now, during the holiday season, than throughout the rest of the year. Now you can do what you do!
- Oh, there is one thing we’ll tell you to do: BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS! We’ll say it again: BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS! That means longer, convenient hours. And this should go without saying, but when we say “convenient hours” we mean for your customer, not you!
So again, these tips are just our two cents we’ve picked up along the way. We’re not here to tell you what to do; we’re here to provide some tips based on our experience, as property managers, with countless small businesses.
And one last job for you as we head into the holidays: if we missed something at any of our properties, tell us! This goes for the biz tips above as well as the day-to-day. This time of the year is ushered in with falling leaves and even the occasional snowstorm. And while we do a terrific job of clearing, cleaning and maximizing safety at our properties in Northern Virginia, even we miss something every now and then. So if you see an issue, give the landlord a ring!
Ed Zigo is the President of Clarke-Hook Corporation, a leading development, leasing and management firm of commercial, industrial and retail properties located in the Washington DC region, Loudoun and Fairfax counties in Virginia.
Posted by: Ed Zigo
in My Blog on Nov 18, 2011
How Clarke-Hook is Becoming a Small Business Resource
Among small business owners, the landlord relationship is usually pretty standard. The tenant needs workspace and the landlord has it. Throw in the occasional maintenance work and collect a check on the first of the month and that’s what is expected. But we’re improving on that.At Clarke-Hook, we’ve always been a property manager that values trusting relationships - with our brokers, our vendors... and especially our tenants. And now we’re forging new initiatives to grow that trust and be a small business resource for our tenants that goes beyond providing space. We’re laying out a plan to provide our tenants with useful insights, tools and ideas that can help them grow their business. Because after all, our success is heavily dependent upon our tenants success - and we want to see them thrive. So what are we actually going to do? First, we are going to build a library of resources that will exist right here on the Clarke-Hook blog. We’ll cover a range of topics that are relevant to our tenants and their businesses. Examples include....
- Analyses of regional business trends and economic news
- Thoughts and insights into best business practices across various disciplines, such as marketing, bookkeeping, sales, customer engagement, hiring, negotiating, and more.
- Simple breakdowns of web tools like LinkedIn, Yelp and Twitter
- Tenant spotlights
- Unbiased reviews on business products and services that can help our tenants save time and money
- And, most importantly, topics our tenants express an interest in. (Suggestions are welcome!)
That’s how we’re out to provide more than just space. At the end of the day, this effort is about helping small business at the grassroots level. Most importantly, we’re going to let our readers form their own conclusions about what applies to their business. If, for example, you’re reading through our forthcoming post on “LinkedIn Basics,” we’re not going to tell you that you just have to sign up for LinkedIn. Instead, we’ll explain LinkedIn’s value and will pose a few questions to you that should help you figure out whether or not LinkedIn would actually be useful to your business. We’re providing a small business resource - not a sales platform. All of this content will exist here, on the Clarke-Hook blog. Visitors will be able to search for topics by category, author and more. We’re also setting up weekly email notifications, so readers can find out what’s new without having to revisit every day. We’re excited about this endeavor - and we hope it provides genuine value to our tenants, and to the region’s business community, at large. If you have any questions, we’re here for you. Just shoot us an email or call (703-378-8500). Stay tuned!
Posted by: Ed Zigo
in My Blog on Sep 30, 2011
In our business, which is regional, we work with the many departments affecting real estate including building, planning and most regularly, zoning.
Oftentimes County officials – much like we landlords! - get a bad rap…close minded…overbearing. Lengthy review processes are sometimes to blame for missed business opportunities or at the least, causing hiccups in the transition of businesses moving or expanding or simply redesigning its space to make it more functional.
Delays, especially, can kill deals...add time and money while the businesses and the building owners lose money….delays in opening …..lost rent.
Not the case in Loudoun….County officials have been very helpful and willing to make things happen.
Sometimes the answer is not what you hoped for…but, hey, that's their job …to enforce codes and ensure proper administration. But, they respond quickly and provide a fair explanation. Recently, we had a chance to meet with County officials to clarify a somewhat confusing issue…..We spent a good portion of the morning trying to work acceptable alternatives to a problem.
They just didn't reject a proposal …they sat with us and worked with us……and, no matter the outcome…it was a great experience.
That, dear readers, is a local government providing proof positive that they are open for business.
