Cafe de Vie

Starting a business is exciting.

It is also frightening.

Every entrepreneur who has considered opening a restaurant, bakery, café, food concept, or retail operation has probably experienced the same internal debate:

“What if it works?”

followed very quickly by:

“But what if it doesn’t?”

That second question is often what stops people from taking the first step.

I know because I have been there myself.

My Bakery Idea During COVID

During the COVID period, at a time when the future was extremely uncertain, I seriously considered opening a bakery specializing in Manakeesh, one of the most popular and beloved Lebanese foods.

As a Lebanese entrepreneur, this was a concept very close to me. I knew the product, understood the culture behind it, and believed there was an opportunity to introduce a quality Manakeesh concept to a broader market.

I had already thought about the investment required, the operation, the product, the market and the potential.

But like any entrepreneur, I had to ask myself:

How much am I willing to lose if things don’t go according to plan?

COVID made that question even more important.

Yet, surprisingly, the biggest factor that kept pushing me back wasn’t necessarily the cost of equipment, food, labour or even construction.

It was the lease agreement.

The Five-Year Commitment

Imagine this scenario.

You find what you believe is the perfect location.

You conduct your market study.

You look at demographics.

You analyze traffic.

You study the competition.

You calculate your projected sales.

You negotiate your financing.

You invest in construction, equipment, signage, furniture, marketing and inventory.

And then you sign a five-year lease.

You open.

The first year is difficult, but you remain optimistic.

Then, after 18 or 24 months, you realize something isn’t working.

Maybe the traffic isn’t what you expected.

Maybe consumer behaviour has changed.

Maybe a new commercial hub has developed five minutes away.

Maybe a major competitor opened nearby.

Maybe the neighbourhood changed.

Maybe your rent is simply too high for the level of sales the location can generate.

Or maybe your concept is actually working — just not in that location.

You start looking for another location.

And then you discover the problem:

You are still locked into the original lease.

Leaving could mean paying significant penalties, remaining responsible for rent, or negotiating an expensive exit.

At that point, the entrepreneur isn’t simply trying to save a business.

They are trying to escape a contract.

Is This Really Encouraging Entrepreneurship?

This is where I believe we need to have a bigger conversation.

We constantly talk about encouraging entrepreneurship.

We encourage people to open restaurants.

We celebrate local businesses.

We encourage young entrepreneurs to take risks and invest in their communities.

But perhaps we also need to ask:

Are we creating an environment where entrepreneurs can take calculated risks without exposing themselves to disproportionate long-term liabilities?

A five-year commitment can be very difficult for an established company.

For a new entrepreneur investing their personal savings, borrowing money, and putting their family finances at risk, it can be enormous.

And restaurants are particularly vulnerable because the industry changes incredibly quickly.

Consumer trends change.

Delivery changes.

Neighbourhoods change.

Traffic patterns change.

Competition changes.

Food costs change.

Labour costs change.

And sometimes, despite doing everything correctly, the location simply doesn’t work.

What About Shopping Malls?

The same issue becomes even more complicated when we talk about shopping malls.

Of course, every restaurant operator would love to have a location inside a successful mall with significant foot traffic.

But that foot traffic comes with a price.

There can be base rent, additional rent, common-area charges, marketing fees, percentage rent and other obligations — depending on the agreement.

And then there is the length of the commitment.

The entrepreneur may be taking a significant financial risk before even selling the first meal.

The question becomes:

How can we create a better balance between the interests of the landlord and the interests of the entrepreneur?

What If We Rethought the Traditional Lease?

I’m not suggesting that landlords should carry all the risk.

They have investments to protect too.

They have mortgages, property taxes, maintenance costs, financing obligations and their own business models.

But perhaps there is an opportunity for a different model.

What if there were more flexible commercial lease structures specifically designed for entrepreneurs and new businesses?

For example:

– Two-year initial terms instead of five-year commitments.
– Performance-based renewal options.
– Break clauses after 18 or 24 months.
– Reasonable early-exit provisions.
– Gradually increasing rent structures during the first years.
– Shorter pilot leases for new concepts.
– Shared-risk models between landlord and tenant.
– Opportunities to transfer a lease to another qualified operator.
– More standardized and transparent lease terms for small businesses.

The objective would not be to eliminate risk.

Entrepreneurship will always involve risk.

The objective would be to make that risk manageable.

Could There Be an Organization for Restaurateurs?

This is where I believe there could be an interesting opportunity.

What if there were an organization, agency, association or even a specialized advisory platform whose mission was to help entrepreneurs navigate commercial leases?

Not necessarily an organization that “fights landlords.”

Quite the opposite.

An organization that helps create better deals for both sides.

Imagine a platform where a new restaurateur could say:

«”I want to open a Lebanese bakery. I have a certain investment budget. I need approximately 1,500 square feet. I want a location with strong daytime traffic. But I cannot take a five-year commitment without an exit option.”»

The organization could help the entrepreneur:

– Evaluate potential locations.
– Analyze the lease.
– Identify hidden costs.
– Negotiate better terms.
– Compare different properties.
– Understand the real occupancy cost.
– Identify landlords willing to work with new entrepreneurs.
– Negotiate reasonable exit clauses.
– Connect entrepreneurs with landlords offering more flexible arrangements.

And on the other side, landlords could benefit by having access to serious, qualified entrepreneurs who have already been assessed and advised.

That’s not an adversarial relationship.

That’s a partnership.

What If Landlords Became Part of the Solution?

Imagine a landlord saying:

“I have a vacant 2,000-square-foot space. I’m willing to offer a two-year initial lease with an option to renew, provided the tenant meets certain conditions.”

That flexibility could be incredibly attractive to an entrepreneur.

Yes, there may be more turnover.

Yes, the landlord may have to deal with more frequent leasing activity.

But there could also be a significant benefit:

More entrepreneurs might actually be willing to take the first step.

And more entrepreneurs opening businesses means more activity, more employment, more customers, more investment and potentially more value for the property itself.

We Need to Reduce the Fear of Failure

One of the biggest barriers to entrepreneurship isn’t always lack of ideas.

It isn’t always lack of capital.

Sometimes it’s the fear of being trapped.

An entrepreneur can accept that a business might fail.

They can accept that they might lose some of their investment.

They can accept that the market might not respond as expected.

What is much harder to accept is the possibility of losing money on a business that no longer exists because you are still legally obligated to pay for the space.

That is a very different type of risk.

And perhaps this is where the commercial real estate industry and the entrepreneurial community need to start talking to each other.

My Question to Entrepreneurs, Landlords and Investors

I would love to hear from people who have actually experienced this.

Have you ever opened a restaurant or retail business, only to realize one or two years later that the location wasn’t right?

Did you try to move?

What happened with your lease?

How much did it cost you to get out?

And if you are a landlord:

Would you consider offering a shorter initial lease or a reasonable break clause to a qualified new entrepreneur?

Maybe the answer isn’t a two-year lease.

Maybe it’s three years.

Maybe it’s a performance-based structure.

Maybe it’s an option to exit after 24 months under specific conditions.

I don’t pretend to have the perfect solution.

But I believe there is a conversation worth having.

Because if we genuinely want to encourage local entrepreneurship, perhaps we need to make it easier for entrepreneurs to take a calculated risk — without making one bad location a five-year financial sentence.

I almost opened that Manakeesh bakery during COVID.

Maybe one day I still will.

But if I do, one thing is certain:

Before I look at the oven, the menu or the logo, I’ll be looking very carefully at the lease.

#Entrepreneurship #RestaurantBusiness #Restaurants #CommercialRealEstate #Leasing #SmallBusiness #Hospitality #FoodService #RestaurantEntrepreneur #BusinessStrategy #Manakeesh