Medre Library
Starting a practice
Real estate choices in the first two years, when every signature follows you.
The first two years of a practice are when every dollar belongs in the chair, not the walls, and every signature follows you longer than you expect. The real estate decisions here are cheap to get right and expensive to undo.
This shelf covers the choices a new owner actually faces: how much space to take when you cannot yet predict your own volume, whether a short lease or a long one fits a market you do not know, and why the location decision outweighs almost everything else you will obsess over in year one. A logo gets repainted. A lease follows you for a decade.
None of this assumes you should buy, or lease, or wait. It assumes you want to understand the tradeoff before a landlord frames it for you. Where we would tell a young practice to stay flexible, we say so. Where committing early is the cheaper move, we say that too.
Everything on this shelf (3)
Why your first lease matters more than your logo.
The location decision compounds for a decade. The branding decision gets repainted in year three. How to weight your first-space choices accordingly.
Short lease or long lease when you don't know your market yet.
Flexibility has a price and commitment has a different one. A way to choose that starts with your two-year forecast, not the landlord's term sheet.
How much space do you really need for your first practice?
Too small feels cramped; too big strains cash flow for years. How to size your first space around workflow, not a square-foot guess.
The space-sizing checklist
A one-page way to size your first space around workflow instead of a square-foot guess. Print it and walk the plan.
Bring us the document.
A renewal notice, a term sheet, a sale-leaseback offer, or just the town you want to practice in. Thirty minutes with the founders, real numbers, no deck. A straight answer if the answer is no.
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