Defining requirements

The basic element of preparations for renting a warehouse is to analyse the situation and specify your needs. In addition to the basic criteria, i.e. the amount of rent and location, there are many other equally important parameters that should be taken into account.

In particular, you need to answer the question about the required space:

• how many metres of storage space are needed,
• how many metres of office space are required.

The requirements for a warehouse are of equal importance:

• Minimum required height
• Electrical connection required
• Whether building heating is required or not
• Whether railway siding is required or not
• Building security required (monitoring, CCTV, alarm)

We should also answer questions about commuting and transporting goods:

• the cars that will transport goods to warehouses,
• whether parking and manoeuvring space for trucks is required, and
• should the building be equipped with docks, unloading ramps or a cross-dock mechanism.

In special cases, it will also be important:

• whether production is possible in the building,
• whether the machines/ goods stored require a special load-bearing capacity of the floor, and
• whether the stored goods require a specially prepared building (flammable substances, for example).

At this point, you should devote some time to reflect on the development of your company – i.e. whether in the next months or years it will be necessary to increase the rented space for proper functioning. In the case of logistics centres, the rental of additional space should not be a problem, while opting for a free-standing warehouse, you will not be able to easily increase the rented space.

Let’s also remember to estimate for what period you would like to rent a warehouse. If you rent a warehouse for a longer period, the chances of getting better commercial terms are higher and additionally the owner of the building will be more inclined to make appropriate fit-out works at their own expense.

Defining the budget

Typically, defining a rental budget for a warehouse is done in one of two ways:

• we have a strictly defined budget, which we can not exceed, or
• we have rigid requirements and we look for the most economical solution that satisfies us.

In the case of a strictly defined budget, we very often have to decide to make a smaller or larger compromise, such as:

• choice of a different location than preferred,
• reduction or increase of office space, or
• choice of older, less modern warehouse.

Unfortunately, the need to compromise and the choice of what we can give up often takes a lot of time, which is the biggest drawback of this solution.

In the second case, when we have rigidly defined requirements, the selection process seems simpler because:

• we are sending out the criteria we have defined to the owners of potential facilities, and
• we compare the offers received.

At this moment the biggest challenge will be to correctly define the requirements. What are the disadvantages of this approach? First of all, the key element will be to define our requirements, which only seems to be a simple activity. Secondly, when analysing the currently available space, it may turn out that an offer that does not meet our requirements in 100% is very attractive in price terms and we can reject it too hastily.

However, regardless of the path chosen, self-definition of the budget may turn out to be an arduous task. It often happens that the owners of many warehouses do not display official rental prices, and even if we have access to them, the final commercial terms (rent-free months, costs of space adaptation and many others) can significantly affect the final price.

Therefore, we encourage you to take advantage of the help and experience of our agents who, knowing the market very well, can advise and determine the budget.