As an emerging growth business, achieving the proper real estate solution can be a challenge. It’s important to consider the needs of your company, your project budget and real estate overhead projections, and longer-term plans. Four items to evaluate when making your next real estate decision:

1. Term Flexibility. How will your real estate choice accommodate downfield changes in your business, such as headcount growth or changes in the geography of your real estate need?  Short-term leases, co-working spaces, and subleasing options often are helpful to channel this flexibility into your real estate decision-making.

2. Location. How will your real estate choice help your business to recruit—and retain—key talent?  A central location, with excellent connectivity to mass transit (especially rail transit), bicycle transit, and recreational amenities, often present uniquely excellent opportunities.

3. Company Culture. How does your real estate strategy align with your company’s core culture and brand?  Well-designed and fit-out space affects staff morale, creativity, and productivity—all in a profoundly positive way.

4. Capital Preservation. Capital is scarce; maximizing the use of that capital to drive operations and growth of your business is critical, especially before your business fully commercializes.  Will your real estate choice be viewed as prudent by the business’s founders, investors, and other stakeholders?

Solving properly for these four questions can set up your business to minimize short-term real estate risk and, most importantly, for long-term success.