Idea: Rent-a-Store

The Background

I run a granola bar business. And we've been thinking about opening a store in our city. The problem is that, to rent and build out a storefront, I'd be putting at risk a minimum of $20k. Plus I'd need to sign a 2-year lease.

The other problem is that good retail spaces only come on the market very infrequently. So, if I want to wait for the perfect timing I might end up waiting forever.

The Idea

The idea is to create a business where you have a few different storefronts in good locations in your city. And they're each fully built out for different aesthetics.

Small businesses can rent these storefronts (at inflated rates) for a maximum of, say 3 months. This would be long enough for people to be able to get a good sense of the viability of their business. 

You'd also be able to have a waitlist so that you could theoretically have years worth of tenants pre-booked.

It would also get them lots of good foot traffic because your community would be excited to come try the new thing every couple months.

You, as a landlord, can collect extra money because it's a short term lease rather than long term. It's basically the Airbnb of commercial real estate.

This doesn't just have to be for retail, either. You could have similar spaces for popup restaurants, kitchens, coffee shops, etc.