*We originally ran the blog series in 2007. Since I'm on vacation this week (and we're in the middle of launch season), I thought we'd run it again. Hope it's helpful!).
Yesterday, we talked about the logistics of a facility. Today, let's talk about the facility as a whole as well as the equipment in your rental facility and whether or not you should take advantage of the free "stuff" that is already installed.
During the inital walk-through and negotiations with your future landlord, consider the building as a whole - not just as the meeting spaces you will engage at the beginning. Make sure there is more than one large meeting space for adults. For instance, if you meet in a school's gymnasium, and there happens to be a basketball tournament over the weekend - where else could you meet within that facility? Figure out an exit plan and / or a work around solution now in the event of maintenance problems, basketball tournaments, fire, etc.
A lot of people ask us if they should buy equipment from us or use the permanently equipment within that facility (i.e. Using the Theatres Projectors in a Movie Theatre). This determination is usually done on a case-by-case basis by PCI.
Take, for instance the Projector we talked about above. The Projector is the means of livelihood for a theatre. It only takes one accident to break the projector, placing a tremendous amount of stress on your relationship with the Theatre Manager and, quite possibly, a tremendous strain on your budget.
That said, there are many good reasons to utilize permanently installed equipment, but before you make that determination – remember the moving scenario and then ask yourself a couple of questions:
- If you utilize that equipment, will you still be able to move ministries as needed?
- Do you want to create worship or meeting experiences elsewhere in the middle of the week? If so, does utilizing the facilities’ equipment still make sense?
It is often a good decision to invest in your own equipment up-front, rather than run the risk of mitigating your landlord’s ability to safeguard his investment, and spend thousands of more dollars in the long run! These kinds of questions can be worked through with your Portable Church® Consultant during the course of your partnership. We will coach you towards the right solution for your church. There are good reasons for both scenarios. The bottomline is, we don’t want you to make decisions today that will impact or hinder your growth tomorrow.
Tomorrow, we'll talk about the Hidden Make-it-or-Break-It Scenarios in Facilities.
Questions? Call us 800-939-7722
