Mark Hagg ⋅ Portland, OR American Equipment Company, Inc. ⋅ 40 years experience

I just sold my business of 40 years. The value of my property, including warehouse and offices exceeded the business value by about 20%, Getting the money for the business is the hardest part and you probably will just receive a "sorry but our bank will not be able to finance property for a new business" (especially if your business is a new restaurant - not a franchise).

A new building comes with a lot of additional costs - security cameras, signage, phone system, insurance coverage, etc. I purchased the property and built the warehouse with offices after being in business for 10 years.

Do yourself a great favor, do not borrow money from family or friends.

I would advise starting you business or buying a franchise and get four or more years of profitability and an established excellent credit record.

My last advice would be to not start a new business. Buy a competitor, the competitors employees and customer base. You might even go to work for the competitor for a year and then work out a purchase agreement. The used value of vehicles, desks, security systems, etc is often 50% of new cost.

Good luck.

edward cornejo ⋅ Encinitas, CA Deloitte ⋅ 20 years experience

I agree with most of the responses here that the decision is based upon what type of business you plan to launch. It it's not a business where Clients will expect to come to your office, it is advantageous from a risk and operating cash point of view to start with a home office, even if you plan to have a few employees (note that your homeowners insurance rate may increase if you're running a home-based business). Once your business grows and you have a regular cash-flow, then you can evaluate at that time whether you want to lease commercial office space.

Reed Benet ⋅ Birmingham, MI U.S. Marine Corps, Captain ⋅ 4 years served

We've started a business -- herohomes.com -- specifically to find and inform our fellow vets that you can use your no-money-down up to $417-721K of VA Loan Guaranty backed home buying power to buy and be a resident landlord in 2-5 unit properties with one commercial unit. Costs you nothing for us to help you. SBA 504 loans lows for owner/user property, but not with residential in it. Might be worth checking into, and change the gravity of all the reasonable conservative advice you are getting? Sign up there and say hello to Ian for me. Reed M. Benet Reed@herohomes.com

William Orr ⋅ Greenwood, IN Edward Jones Investments ⋅ 4 years experience

What type of business are you pursuing?

Tim Keefe ⋅ Washington, DC U.S. Army, Specialist ⋅ 6 years served

I'd go for rent, but this also depends on the kind of business you'll be operating.

If it's tech related, and one that requires some back-end infrastructure, then look into going with Amazon Web Services for the backend, and then consider using co-working spaces like WeWork. With both, you pay by the hour and only for what you need.

John Muchmore ⋅ Saddle Brook, NJ North Jersey Truck Center, Inc ⋅ 35 years experience

I would definitely rent in the beginning until you have a financially sound business. Remember most new businesses go out of business because they run out of cash. Debt is to be taken very seriously and avoided especially in an economy where we don't know where it is going. Do your business plan and make it realistic. If is doesn't work on paper it will not work in the real world. Owning your own business is great but it is very tough especially in the beginning. Make sure you are willing to work 24/7 for many years. Good luck and all the best.

John Green ⋅ Cary, NC Information Technology ⋅ 40 years experience

Do you have a business plan ?

Jennifer Polhemus ⋅ Santa Monica, CA Precision Research (self-employed) ⋅ 25 years experience

Owning real estate carries its own risk -- so that's double the risk when you are starting out.Seems like a bad idea, since just starting a business carries so much risk. If you find a way to pilot your business first (preferably with strategic alliances, and not 100% solo), then you can gauge your future options more clearly. Have you contacted your local small business development center yet (attached to a community college perhaps) and/or sought advice from SCORE.org?

Taube Weiner ⋅ Dedham, MA TransitionsbyTaube.com ⋅ 30 years experience

Hi Kat,
Have you done any market surveying to see if your business is viable. What kind of business are you planning on. Have you gone to the SBA in your area to get help?

Taube Weiner (pronounced Toby)