The more you ask the more you know and don't try and think you know it all in business

Tony Kereluke • July 14, 2016

It is ok to ask for business advice from one who owns businesses

Written by:

Tony Kereluke

CEO & Founder at Top Shelf Franchising Corp

True Story:

A restaurant owner in Calgary, Alberta Canada takes over a suffering restaurant two years ago and gets a great deal on buying the existing business. He then converts this business to his use and concept. Then proceeds to do some excellent business in addition to building up a solid repeat customer base. This week I visited the location as a customer and he informs me that the landlord is not renewing his lease. I asked him when you took over the suffering business how much term on the lease was in place. He mentions two years left. I then asked was there an option to renew after that term? Answer unfortunately was no. I asked did you hire anyone to assist you and unfortunately the answer was no again. This was really sad to hear.

This is an unfortunate circumstance I’ve heard many times and now this owner has lost his investment and will not recoup his initial investment and has basically burned two years of work building up his customer base as well.

A Few key points to take note when looking to take over an existing business:

Always always always ensure there is an option to renew the lease and if there is not one then it is advised to add this language as a condition when taking over the business. If there is less than 5 years left on the lease when buying.

1.Try to do a new lease with the landlord and terminate the old lease. This ensures you have a long term lease in place and gives you and your business stability. Also ensures that you can tighten up language in your own lease.

2.Hire a consultant to assist you to ensure that these little things are not missed and to most importantly protect your investment and business for the long term.

3.Begin with the end in mind. Meaning the longer the lease you have the better position you have to sell your business down the road. If you have a short term left on your lease you should have an option in place to renew at a new rate.

4.Give Top Shelf and our team a call to assist you and to protect yourself from future issues arising down the road.

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What's Trending?

By Tony Kereluke • May 6, 2025
What's Trending? Businesses With Cash Flow & Hard Assets/Safe Haven's With the recent turmoil in stocks correcting and swinging around like a yo yo in a kids playground. Individuals & smart money investors are seeking out hard assets/ small businesses & franchises with cash flow. I receive hundreds a calls a month from buyers looking for cash flow and focused on hard assets. This sounds like a solid simple plan of attack and is working for a select group of smart money investors. Safe haven demand is at the highest level in a very long time. No one knows what will happen tomorrow or next month with the market or economy so why not take control your own future this way. If you are looking to diversify away from financial instruments and be in the drivers seat of your hard earned work. Why not start a side hustle? Or partner up to buy a franchise business in a great location? Or add onto your existing business portfolio and purchase another business. This I am seeing a demand in calls & especially over the past 6 months. I am a big fan of physical bullion gold and silver and have invested a great deal in this space over the past 5 years and returns are there. Here is a chart of Gold 5 year and one year as of MSN money app in USD funds. Gold Per Ounce 3405 USD ‎+81.80 (‎+2.46%) Today USD PAST YEAR • AS OF MAY 6, 10:05 A.M. EDT ‎+1,073.20 (‎+46.04%) USD PAST 5 YEARS • AS OF MAY 6, 10:06 A.M. EDT ‎+1,659.10 (‎+94.98%) USD While the S +P index YTD to date is seeing a loss YTD YTD • AS OF MAY 6, 10:06 A.M. EDT ‎-282.47 (‎-4.80%) 33.40 Silver Per Ounce ‎+0.90 (‎+2.76%) Today USD PAST YEAR • AS OF MAY 6, 10:01 A.M. EDT ‎+5.99 (‎+21.89%) USD YTD • AS OF MAY 6, 10:02 A.M. EDT ‎+4.12 (‎+14.08%) This type of hard physical asset is yours only and holds no counter party risk. It is recommended to have safe storage in higher amounts & can always be sold and turned into a fiat currency anytime you wish. It's a flight for safety and a safe haven, and is working as world fiat dollars de-value with inflation chewing away slowly at it. One suggestion is to not do what everyone else does. In fact you may want to look at the opposite first. Then do your own due diligence. While I do not give out financial advice you are welcome to speak with your advisor who most likely will not talk about gold or silver or investing into a small business and will push there financials instruments so they can obtain a fee from there bank. So it is important to talk to many others in different fields. Try not to trust one source to park your cash or plan your retirement. It's just too risky to let it all ride on whim of a financial instrument and hope it keeps going up. As there is nothing better than controlling your own destiny in life. Master your own destiny is the way to go and work for it and build it they will come.