SUITENET INSIGHTS:
(By John Studd) John Studd is a Canadian businessman and journalist travelling throughout the world, writing down his experiences in corporate housing and extended stays and publishing it here at SuiteNet...read more
SUITENET INSIGHTS:
(By John Studd) Throughout the numerous business trips I am compelled to embark on every year, I have learned many valuable lessons, not the least of which is this: Try, at all costs, to avoid any place that caters...read more
SUITENET INSIGHTS:
(By John Studd) Being a bizpat means spending a lot of time away from your wife and family, extended or otherwise. Not only is it difficult to find enough time for everybody when your actually at home, but after...read more
FREQUENTLY VISITED CITIES:
TRAVEL PARTNERS:
By John Demers
Not only did I spend 25 years in the furniture business as a representative for Broyhill Furniture, Dixie Furniture, Burlington House Furniture and a couple of dozen more. I owned one of the most successful corporate housing businesses in the United States for 15 years. Because of this, I just might be the most qualified person in the country to speak on the subject.
Whenever there is a gathering of corporate housing owners the subject of owning furniture opposed to leasing from a furniture rental company always comes up. Just think of all the extra profit at the end of the year. Well…not so fast!
There have been many corporate housing companies that I have known to have their own furniture. Except for those who own their own apartment buildings, I might come up with one who might be successful with owning furniture…maybe.
It’s hard to write that huge check to the furniture rental company month after month. And, at the end of the year, your accountant reminds you of the $350,000, $450,000, $550,000 you spent when you could purchase your own furniture. Let’s take a look at what it takes to have your own furniture.
Having your own furniture is having another business. For entrepreneurs, focus should be the word of the day, every day. Now you have two real but separate businesses. Focus is suddenly blurred for most people. It is commonly said that only one in ten businesses succeed. It might be closer to one in twenty or thirty. Can you afford to lose focus?
Do you know how to buy furniture? If you pay retail from your local furniture dealer or if you purchase it from local furniture broker (same as retail by the time they tack on freight taxes, handling and such) you’ve lost before you begin. You must buy directly from the furniture manufacturers at the furniture markets. Do you know your way around the furniture markets? It is very hard to even get admitted to the markets.
You need money to buy your own furniture. If you finance the whole amount, the furniture will be worn out before it is paid for except for the steel bed frames. You need trucks, a warehouse, and extra help to move and clean the furniture. Let’s not forget the furniture refinishers. What about insurance on the furniture, on the warehouse and on your new truck? If you are going to farm out all these services, you are really back in the rental arena.
When it comes right down to the facts, the cost of renting furniture is in your rent and the cost is covered. To make things worse, because you own your furniture, you now feel that you can become more competitive and start lowering your prices to get the deals. Now you are really giving away the farm. Do you really want to own your own furniture?
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