Everywhere you look today, someone is trying to pin blame. Whether it was the last minute pass in the Super Bowl, defense that that let down and caused the loss in last night’s hockey game or the too rapid expansion at the wrong time that caused a drop in the share price, everybody is an armchair quarterback. Everybody is an expert………..after the fact.

So, it’s not unusual to hear restaurateurs placing the blame for poor sales on the new location. After all, we have been brought up on the old adage, ‘Location, Location, Location’.  So when that new location doesn’t live up to the expectations, it’s somebody’s fault, right? Somebody other than you, that is.
A few years ago, you would have blamed the landlord.  Yeah, the promised traffic wasn’t there, the tenant mix was all wrong, rents were too high, the marketing was all wrong, and the list went on and on. And there was a time when the landlord listened.  Not anymore. If you aren’t ‘cuttin’ it’, a replacement is just outside of the landlord’s door.

So, who do you blame? In today’s market where most of the deals are handled by brokers, it becomes “the bloody broker’s fault”.  Now, at the risk of upsetting a few brokers, not all of these ‘facilitators’ are what they are cracked up to be. Yes, there are a lot of good ones……..but there are also a lot of not-so-good ones too. So it’s easy to point the finger because every tenant has a ‘broker story’ to fall back on.
But all too often it’s not the broker that is at fault.  Way too often, the fault might be a little closer to home. In fact, the biggest impediment to doing a good deal, even a great deal, might just be sitting in your chair……….right now!  You, the tenant might just be the guilty party.
No, I don’t need to point out that as the tenant, at the end of the day, the responsibility is yours. You are signing off on the deals. No, that’s too obvious. I will, however, point out that as a retailer in today’s very competitive market, information sharing, or to be more precise the lack of information sharing is a common fault. I’m not talking about sharing your deep, dark secrets with the world.  You can leave that for the internet.  No, I’m referring to sharing your plans, ideas and yes, your requirements, with the broker that you have retained to perform a service. As trite and as over used as it might be, you would not want a doctor to perform surgery without knowing that you are allergic to certain medications.
The broker is part of your team, a close confidant. And to successfully complete the assigned task, he/she must know what you absolutely must have, what you’d like to have and what your plans are, both short and long term. Oh yeah, and that ‘hired gun’ must have access to you, quick access.  Unless he/she is a signing officer, he/she doesn’t make decisions for you.  You are paying them for their expertise and their guidance but the decision is still yours alone.  Even the great brokers don’t perform well in a vacuum.
One other point to consider, while location is important, that’s not where it stops.  In fact the new spin on that old adage could be ‘Location, Service, Service’…………It’s a very competitive market and you can’t take your eye of the goal for a second. After all, it is your goal.  If you’re pointing fingers, you might find yourself facing a mirror…………WP