{"id":2166,"date":"2026-04-22T10:00:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T15:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbossmgm.com\/?post_type=tribe_events&#038;p=2166"},"modified":"2026-04-21T22:29:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:29:28","slug":"before-you-sign-the-lease","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/sbossmgm.com\/index.php\/event\/before-you-sign-the-lease\/","title":{"rendered":"Before You Sign The Lease"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most small business owners spend weeks \u2014 sometimes months \u2014 searching for the perfect space. They imagine their customers walking through the door, picture where the signage will go, and start making plans before anyone has asked a single question about zoning, inspections, or what it actually takes to legally open in that building. By the time they find out the space doesn&#8217;t meet code, or the zoning doesn&#8217;t allow their business type, or the Certificate of Occupancy process will take three months, they&#8217;ve already committed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before You Sign The Lease is designed to prevent that. This workshop walks small business owners through the critical steps that should happen before a lease ever gets signed \u2014 the questions to ask, the offices to contact, and the process to understand so that when you find the right space, you&#8217;re ready to move forward without costly surprises.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Led by City of Montgomery Inspections Chief Pat McGilberry, the session covers three core areas:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>ZONING<\/strong> \u2014 What it is, why it matters, and how to verify that your intended use is permitted at a given location before you invest time and money into a space. Not every business can operate in every zone \u2014 and finding out after you&#8217;ve signed is a problem SBOSS is helping you avoid.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>INSPECTIONS<\/strong> \u2014 What a pre-lease inspection looks at, what business owners should be looking for themselves before they sign off on a space, and what condition a property needs to be in before it&#8217;s ready for occupancy. This is the part of the process most first-time commercial tenants skip entirely.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY<\/strong> \u2014 The step-by-step process for obtaining your CO in Montgomery: what it requires, what triggers a new CO requirement, how long the process typically takes, and what happens if you try to open without one.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We may also touch on lease negotiation basics \u2014 understanding what terms are actually negotiable and what to ask for before you put pen to paper.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are actively looking for a space, preparing to sign a lease, or planning ahead for a future location, this workshop is the foundation. Come with your questions. Leave with a clear picture of exactly what to do before you commit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><button style=\"background-color: #003479; color: white; padding: 12px 24px; border: none; border-radius: 6px; font-size: 16px; cursor: pointer;\"> <a style=\"color: white; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/startupspace.app\/detail-normal-events\/70107\/2026_04_21\/10_59?b_link=event_type%3Dupcoming%26page%3D1%26search_group%3D580%26search_radius%3D50&amp;group_id=NTgw \">Register Now<\/a> <\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SBOSS opens Small Business Week with Before You Sign The Lease \u2014 a free workshop for Montgomery small business owners on May 4 at Dream Maker Studio. Led by Inspections Chief Pat McGilberry, the session covers zoning verification, pre-lease inspections, Certificate of Occupancy steps, and lease negotiation basics. Part of SBOSS Small Business Month 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[100,97,105,99,101,104,102,50,103,107,106,98],"tribe_events_cat":[],"class_list":["post-2166","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-certificate-of-occupancy","tag-commercial-lease","tag-dream-maker-studio","tag-inspections","tag-montgomery-al","tag-pat-mcgilberry","tag-sboss","tag-small-business","tag-small-business-week-2026","tag-stamp-event","tag-the-sboss-score","tag-zoning"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbossmgm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/2166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbossmgm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbossmgm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbossmgm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbossmgm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2166"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sbossmgm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/2166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2168,"href":"https:\/\/sbossmgm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/2166\/revisions\/2168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbossmgm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbossmgm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbossmgm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2166"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbossmgm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=2166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}