You may be thinking about starting a business, but completely exhausted, just thinking about how to start planning and looking for real estate.  I interviewed my friend Saadia Sheikh of Weinert's Real Estate, here in Dallas, TX.  We're breaking down the ins and outs of what you'll need when looking for a property, and how and why you should look for help from a Commercial Real Estate Agent.

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When should you pull in a realtor – Should it be before you even start putting together your business plan (because that plan will require numbers), or once you’re ready to either lease or purchase that commercial real estate?  It’s important to contact a commercial real estate agent vs. a residential.  It’s two completely different specialties, and your commercial realtor will have the most update to date market information when it comes to putting the numbers together for your business plan.

Second, you definitely want to bring...

Brittany Malone is the Owner and Founder of Bodacious Boot Co.  She never intended to start a boot line, but instead started her entrepreneur journey when she opened her own boutique.  However, she became frustrated by how she was treated from a very popular boot line that she sold at her store.  Between long delays in receiving boots and market saturation, she decided it was time to start her own line, and to do it better.  For a year she sold them exclusively in her own boutique until other stores started asking how they could get their hands on them.  In just a few short years, she has built her brand to stores nationwide, and her sales climbing dramatically each year.

How did she start a boot line?  After a chance meeting of someone who had a line of men’s boots, Brittany decided to team up and start a product line for women.

What was the first step she took in this business venture? Just coming up with only a couple of boot designs to get...

If you're on the fence about putting a website up for your business, step away from that fence.  Step far, far away, and don't give it another thought.  The answer is YES, you definitely need a website.  So I talked to marketing expert Melanie Neal with Zella Ruby Media to break down website basics, understand the things you should and should not include on your website, and how you can go about setting one up.

So why should you have a website? Yes, Your business can grow exponentially by having a good online presence.  Here are three big why's:

1. The first question you should ask does your competitors have a website.  If the answer is, that they do, and you don’t, then they already have a large competitive edge over you.
2. It allows you to legitimize your business.  If people are searching for various businesses, if you don’t have a website, and the other businesses that they’re considering do, then you’re that quickly taken out...