by eclewis | Aug 24, 2015 | Business News
Growth in Denver and What that Means for Small Business
For this post, we are going to talk about something that has been on a lot of people’s minds for at least the past few years. We are talking about growth in Denver, and what a key concern with this growth should be for small businesses.
The Metro Denver’s population growth rate has held steady at a high level of 1.5% annually between 2004 and 2014 according to the MetroDenver Economic Development Corporation. In January of this year, Forbes ranked Denver #6 among the top twenty fastest growing cities in the country. More recently, in June, Metro Denver ranked #1 in economic job growth among the top ten Metropolitan Statistical Areas.
With the growing population, as well as the booming economic environment, these people and businesses all have to go somewhere. As to be expected, the Denver area has been experiencing some growing pains, especially when it comes to both residential and commercial space availability and rates. Over the past year, rental rates for offices in Denver jumped up 7.5 percent, which amounts to the 6th biggest jump in the country. Residential rental rates increased 9% over the last year, the highest in the country, even higher than notoriously high rental markets like San Francisco. So what does all of this growth mean for a small business owner?
Whether you operate a small business as a landlord of commercial or residential space, or are a small business that is a tenant of commercial space, with this growth and rising rental rates, people have a lot more at stake when it comes to their leases. Your small business might not be able to stay afloat with a large unexpected rent increase on its commercial space or it might not be able to afford to move somewhere else. Similarly, if you are a landlord, your tenants might not be able to afford higher rates or might be looking over leases more critically, since they are paying more. Either way, with more money at stake, people are more likely to get into a dispute leading to a legal battle over a lease now more than before.
After all, rates are high, so tenants are more likely to want to fight to stay where they are now or might try and get away with more at their rented space due to the high price they are paying. All of this means that there is no better time to look over your leases, whether you are a lessor or lessee, than right now. This goes for leases that are currently in effect, and ones that might be coming up. You should be sure that you know exactly what terms are in those leases, exactly when they will end, and all the other details and problems that could arise. Even if you have looked at your leases, give them another look, and have an experienced attorney look them over too. This is not an area you want to have any surprises in, as they can be quite costly. Investing some time and money now with your leases can save a lot of money and headache down the road. Additionally, you should consider preparing now for upcoming lease negotiations that will likely happen in this tight market, and knowing what the existing lease contains is the first step in that process.
If you need legal help in writing or reviewing your leases as a landlord of rental properties or as a tenant of commercial space, then don’t hesitate to reach out and contact the Law Office of E.C. Lewis, P.C., home of your Denver Small Business Attorney, Elizabeth Lewis, at 720-258-6647 or email her at elizabeth.lewis@eclewis.com.
Contact Us Today
Law Office of E.C. Lewis, P.C.
Your Denver Business Attorney
LICENSED IN COLORADO AND NORTH CAROLINA
Mailing Address:
501 S. Cherry Street, Suite 1100
Denver, CO 80246
720-258-6647
Elizabeth.Lewis@eclewis.com
Real Estate Services for Business Owners
Elizabeth Lewis provides the following real estate law services to small and medium sized business owners in Denver and throughout Colorado:
- Commercial real estate purchases
- Legal review of commercial real estate leases
- Protecting your assets
by eclewis | Aug 24, 2015 | Business News
Be a Customer of Your Own Business
Two years ago, a study found that 81% of consumers perform research online before making a major purchase. That figure rose 20% from the previous year, and has likely continued to rise.
More and more people take a look online before even visiting a business. They want to be sure that they have what they are looking for, that the prices are reasonable, that the service is friendly, and ultimately that they are not wasting their time. This can be more nuanced depending on the type of business of course. For example, if you have a restaurant or bar, then people probably look online for your menu, prices, and maybe some reviews or photos of the place took get a better idea of the atmosphere. I know I do. These themes can still apply if you are selling goods from a home-based business or performing digital services too. Are your products or services of good quality? Do you have good customer service? What is the overall experience like?
For answers to all of these questions, people look online. So if you are trying to see what is going on in the minds of your potential customers, you should trying being a customer of your own business. Google your business name or some keywords a customer might use (preferably in a different web browser or at least signed out of any profiles you use and with all of your temporary internet data like cookies and history cleared—this way your results are less likely to be tainted by your own usage) and see what comes up. Is your website at the top? If it is that’s great, and you can move on to looking at your homepage. Is the key information someone needs readily available like phone number, location, a summary of what you do, etc.? Try to be critical, and this can open up areas that you can improve for your website or Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Beyond your own website in the Google search results, what else do you see? Are there Google Reviews for your business? Did Yelp or another review website show up? What about social media pages for your business like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram? It’s important that you regularly take a look at what a new potential customer might see when searching for your business or others like yours.
Look and see if there are bad reviews out there, if your social media pages or website’s blog haven’t been updated for a while, or if there are other red flags concerning your business. These issues can make potential customers second-guess trying your business or even scare them away entirely. These insights can offer you key items available for enhancing your business’ online presence and marketing message to be sure that customers are having the kind of experience you want them to have.
If you’ve done all these things and are satisfied with the message and experience that your business is offering to the public online, then maybe it is time to start getting more feedback from clients. Try talking with regular customers or implementing a survey to see what people think your business could do better.
If you need legal advice on making a change to your business, or are ready to start a new business of your own, then don’t hesitate to reach out and contact the Law Office of E.C. Lewis, P.C., home of your Denver Business Attorney, Elizabeth Lewis, at 720-258-6647 or email her at elizabeth.lewis@eclewis.com.
Contact Us Today
Law Office of E.C. Lewis, P.C.
Your Denver Business Attorney
LICENSED IN COLORADO AND NORTH CAROLINA
Mailing Address:
501 S. Cherry Street, Suite 1100
Denver, CO 80246
720-258-6647
Elizabeth.Lewis@eclewis.com
Real Estate Services for Business Owners
Elizabeth Lewis provides the following real estate law services to small and medium sized business owners in Denver and throughout Colorado:
- Commercial real estate purchases
- Legal review of commercial real estate leases
- Protecting your assets
by eclewis | Jul 22, 2015 | Business News
Marketing Your Business or Yourself, the Elevator Pitch
Perhaps you’ve heard about this idea before or even told yourself that you would come up with one but haven’t yet. It’s the so-called “Elevator Pitch.” It is all about being able to pitch your business, idea, or yourself to someone in the minute or so that it takes to ride in an elevator with someone. It sounds easy right? It can be harder than you think, but it is time to finally put one together so you are armed with it when the need arises.
The general idea is that you describe yourself or your business in a dynamic way that is succinct but sticks with the listener. Just like with a well-timed pause, less can be more when it comes to making a pitch to someone. When crafting an elevator pitch, you should be thinking about what would be important to the listener. What keeps them up at night? What problems do you solve for people? These are the questions that can prompt you to create a good elevator pitch. However, you want to make sure you include some passion too, to keep it interesting.
So a good elevator pitch would generally cover the following areas:
- What you do and how you do it differently than others
- Explain what problem it is that you solve
- Describe the value that you add
- Close with a call to action (hire me, invest in my business, etc.)
The first part is to try and come up with a catchy way to explain what you do and how it is different from others. However, you should not dwell on the competitors if there are any, remember, this pitch is about you and why you do things differently. This is distinct from just what makes you better than the competition. You can then expand on this by describing a common problem that people face and how you or your business solves it in a way that makes economic sense. Incorporated within the entire pitch is the idea of value. Whether that means that you do what you do more efficiently and affordably than others or if you are adding some new value that others don’t, you just need to make that value clear to your listener.
Once you put together a great elevator pitch, it’s a good idea to think about what you will say next. If you get their attention with your pitch and respond with “tell me more,” you should be prepared for that too. Come up with the “what’s next” part of your pitch. This can include what the next direct steps are in order for them to do what your call to action consisted of (hire you, invest in you, etc.). Another approach is to offer some examples or hypotheticals of how what you do has or can succeed.
All of these concepts can apply whether you already own a business and are trying to get new clients, customers, or investors, if you are seeking out investors or partners to start a new business, or if you are just trying to get hired individually. After all, this type of pitch is a great way to network for a new internship or job too.
If you need legal advice on making a change to your business, or are ready to start a new business of your own, then don’t hesitate to reach out and contact the Law Office of E.C. Lewis, P.C., home of your Denver Business Attorney, Elizabeth Lewis, at 720-258-6647 or email her at elizabeth.lewis@eclewis.com.
Contact Us Today
Law Office of E.C. Lewis, P.C.
Your Denver Business Attorney
LICENSED IN COLORADO AND NORTH CAROLINA
Mailing Address:
501 S. Cherry Street, Suite 1100
Denver, CO 80246
720-258-6647
Elizabeth.Lewis@eclewis.com
Real Estate Services for Business Owners
Elizabeth Lewis provides the following real estate law services to small and medium sized business owners in Denver and throughout Colorado:
- Commercial real estate purchases
- Legal review of commercial real estate leases
- Protecting your assets
by eclewis | Jul 15, 2015 | Business News
When most people think about innovation today, they often think about groundbreaking new technology. While this is often what leads to exciting new changes, innovation is about more than the latest technology. Instead, it can be about taking a look back in order to move forward. Older methods and technology have a certain reliability and history to them, which can still have untapped potential.
Take a look at Google’s cell phone service, which was announced just in April called Project Fi. What Project Fi does is allow your smartphone to make phone calls, send text messages, and use data all over Wi-Fi, when you have it, and if you don’t, then it uses one of two different traditional cellular networks (Sprint & T-Mobile). This is a great example of repurposing old technology (Wi-Fi) for a new and innovative solution to modern issues. Cell phone reception can still be weak indoors but Wi-Fi is available in so many places that this can largely solve that problem. Additionally, even the fastest cell phone data speeds pale in comparison to typical Wi-Fi speeds, so why not use that instead and save money in the process?
Project Fi is all about saving money, its plans start at $20 per month for unlimited talk/text + $10 for each GB of cell data you buy. Project Fi’s plans only have you pay for data that you use, and refund you for what you don’t. Seems kind of weird to think that for years the envy of cell phone plans were newer, faster, and unlimited data usage, and now the latest smartphone plan is actually encouraging you to use older tech (Wi-Fi) and reward you for using less data than ever (over cell networks anyway).
Use Google as an example and think about ways that you can find a novel use for older technology, equipment, or methods that are reliable like Wi-Fi. If one of the most innovative companies on the planet found a way to do it, then so can you. After all, if innovation is all about thinking outside the box and being creative, then why limit yourself to only the latest tech?
Today’s tech-centric culture is surprisingly looking to the past more than you might think. Consider the popularity of organic and use of simple/natural ingredients in foods at grocers like Whole Foods, or the demand for handmade goods from sellers at Etsy. Try not to think about new technology as a replacement to older methods, but instead a supplement, just another tool in the toolbox of ways that you can accomplish, build, or make something new.
If you need legal advice on making a change to your business, or are ready to start a new business of your own, then don’t hesitate to reach out and contact the Law Office of E.C. Lewis, P.C., home of your Denver Business Attorney, Elizabeth Lewis, at 720-258-6647 or email her at elizabeth.lewis@eclewis.com.
by eclewis | Jul 3, 2015 | Business News
This year’s rankings by CNBC for best states for business are in, and Colorado has taken the #4 spot. This comes as a significant, but not surprising, improvement from last year, where we discussed CO’s position at #8 in the CNBC rankings. Take a look at a complete breakdown of the rankings by state and categories here.
The rankings are conducted by scoring each state on 10 key categories including the following (in order starting with the most valuable to the overall score): Workforce, Cost of Doing Business, Infrastructure, Economy, Quality of Life, Technology & Innovation, Education, Business Friendliness, Cost of Living, and Access to Capital. Colorado managed to snag top ten rankings in four categories including: Economy (3rd), Quality of Life (9th), Tech & Innovation (5th), and Access to Capital (8th). Colorado was noted for it’s strong economy with a low unemployment rate of 4.3% and its innovation.
I was surprised to see that the Centennial State only got 9th in the quality of life category, especially since it tied with Iowa for this position. There is so much great outdoor recreation to explore here in Colorado, but you can scrutinize the methodology and rankings yourself with the methodological breakdown available here.
Overall, this news comes as yet another of the growing number of reasons and reports demonstrating that Colorado is a great place to live and a great place to do business. Now could be a great time for you to get started and put your entrepreneurial spirit to work.
If you a ready to start doing business in Colorado, then don’t hesitate to contact the Law Office of E.C. Lewis, P.C., home of your Denver Small Business Attorney, Elizabeth Lewis, at 720-258-6647 or email her at elizabeth.lewis@eclewis.com.
by eclewis | Jun 17, 2015 | Business News
On Monday, June 15th, the Colorado Supreme Court issued its ruling in Coats v. Dish, LLC, this was a high profile case in Colorado symbolizing the clash between Colorado law permitting medical marijuana use, Federal law’s criminal approach to all marijuana use, and employers’ anti-drug policies banning marijuana use. All three of these issues came together in this case between Dish Network and Mr. Coats, a former employee of the company.
Mr. Coats is a quadriplegic who tested positive for marijuana while he was employed as a customer service representative by Dish Network. He defended his use by saying that it was done after work for medical reasons and that it was legal in the state of Colorado, and he stated that he would continue to use medical marijuana. He was subsequently fired, and Mr. Coats filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Dish Network, claiming that his medical marijuana use was protected by Colorado’s “lawful activities statute.” C.R.S. 24-34-402.5 full text available here.
The relevant part of this law for this case was a portion of section 1:
“(1) It shall be a discriminatory or unfair employment practice for an employer to terminate the employment of any employee due to that employee’s engaging in any lawful activity off the premises of the employer during nonworking hours…”
This law is a small exception to the general rule that if you are an at-will employee, then you can be fired by your employer for any or no reason at any time without direct legal consequences. This law protects employees from engaging in lawful activities that they engage in off the employer’s premises during nonworking hours. Note however that there are some exceptions even to this exception where employers may still fire for lawful, off duty conduct, but those were not at issue in this case.
Some news reports covering this story have imprecisely framed the issue. They claim that the CO Supreme Court was ruling on whether or not employees of businesses can use marijuana “off-duty.” This portrayal suggests that anyone who is employed and uses medical marijuana can no longer use it because of the ruling. This is not quite right.
What the CO Supreme Court was actually deciding was whether or not Colorado’s “lawful activities statute,” discussed above, protects employees who use medical marijuana from being fired for using it off the premises during nonworking hours. Ultimately, the CO Supreme Court determined that the word “lawful” in the law is not limited to Colorado law only. Instead, they held that it meant that it must be lawful under Colorado and Federal law, and that since all marijuana use is criminal under Federal law, then medical marijuana use would not be classified as “lawful” under the statute and would not be covered by the statute.
You may be thinking about the recent actions by the Federal government not to intervene in states where marijuana use is legal and how that related to this decision. The CO Supreme Court addressed this in a footnote:
“The Department of Justice has announced that it will not prosecute cancer patients or those with debilitating conditions who use medical marijuana in accordance with state law. Similarly, in December 2014, Congress passed the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act that prohibited the Department of Justice from using funds made available through the Act to prevent Colorado and states with similar medical marijuana laws from “implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.” Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, Pub. Law No. 113-235, § 538, 128 Stat. 2130, 2217 (2015). However, marijuana is still a Schedule I substance, and no medical marijuana exception yet exists in the CSA. As such, medical marijuana use remains prohibited under the CSA.”
Ultimately, this case means that if an employer fires you for using medical marijuana, the “lawful activities” statute does not protect you, so it is up to the employer to decide if medical marijuana use is acceptable. In practice, this may mean that, employed persons cannot use medical marijuana, but legally speaking, it is up to the employer to make that decision. As a Colorado business, this means that it is up to you to decide how you want to address medical marijuana use by employees, and it appears that this decision has not restricted your authority to manage employee drug use any differently than before this case was decided.
If you have questions about employment laws relating to your business, please contact the Law Office of E.C. Lewis, P.C., home of your Denver Business Attorney, Elizabeth Lewis, at 720-258-6647 or email her at elizabeth.lewis@eclewis.com.
