Your New Store Front

Starting a new business can be a daunting, risky venture, but Osceola Chamber Main Street (OCMS) is offering a way to smooth the start up.

OCMS received a $5,000 business innovation grant from Main Street Iowa in 2014 and is using it to set up a short-term leasing website.

The website is called www.yournewstorefront.com. The website allows a person the option to lease commercial property in Osceola for a short-term of 1 day to 90 days.

“They could go somewhere, try it for up to 90 days and then see if they wanted to open it permanently, which is our ultimate goal,” said Derek Lumsden, executive director of OCMS. “Or, for a new start up businesses to do the same thing — come in, try out the market and then see if it’s worth having a permanent presence in Osceola.”

How does it work?

Lumsden said it works similar to Hotels.com. Business owners can sign up for certain dates that they want to come in and depart, and then be charged per square foot on the space.

If a person rents for 30 days or less, it’s 10 cents a square foot. If a person stays up to 90 days, it’s four cents a square foot. So, from 31 to 90 days, it’s four cents a square foot.

Basically, the short-term leases start out as only $10 per 100 square feet of space, with utilities included. If business owners stay longer than a month, the lease prices drop to $4 per 100 square feet of space.

All of the listings are in Osceola’s downtown district and are accessible by major highways and pedestrian traffic.

“We did it primarily for business expansion,” Lumsden said. “If someone wanted to try something new, and they weren’t sure if it was going to take off.”

Darlene’s Delights

OCMS set up the Your New Store Front website in late December and have already had a business owner take advantage of it. This would be Darlene’s Delight’s, which is located on the west side of the square in Osceola. The new business specializes in homemade cakes.

“We’ve had some more interest in it since she’s been in, and we’re actually looking to expand the website, as well,” Lumsden said.

According to Lumsden, a big advantage to using the benefits of the leasing website is the renting options because most places make a renter sign for at least a year, if not more. Plus, the renter would also have to factor in the water, electric and utility bills.

Through the Your New Store Front website, all of those extra costs are included in the square foot price.

“The building owners have signed up because they have properties that may have been sitting vacant or they have extra space that they can’t use or can’t seem to rent,” Lumsden said. “This gives them a short-term option to see if somebody might like it, and then, hopefully, those agreements will develop into long-term leasing agreements for those businesses. So, it’s a win-win for both the property owner and the business owner.”