Many multinational Companies prefers to lease their premises rather than buying them outright for various reasons. It might be political, from fear that if there are changes in Government policies, they might loose their assets. It could be also due to Tax issues where after calculations, they come to the conclusion that leasing is more beneficial.
For a small businessmen like me, many prefer to buy a shop if they can afford it. First it serves as a form of long term investment. Then there are no worries of rent hikes when their business have established. Thirdly there are no problems of being asked to moved out when their lease agreements have matured.
Of course when money or capital is limited, paying for the down payment is out of the question, so many rents their premises to do business knowing fully well the consequences. However, there are still some advantage of renting a shop. First and foremost, you won’t have the burden of paying for the shop. No doubt the monthly rentals are there and might be almost the same amount that you would be paying for an installment, rentals can be delayed. Delayed Installments will incur additional interest.
Then there is the benefit of being able to move to another place if business is no good. The most you might loose is maybe your deposits. If you have bought that shop, you are more or less tied to it for life unless you can get a buyer and you can sell it in case you decides to move.
My opinion is to rent for business but buy to stay. That means we rent the shop but buy the house. Our houses are our nest and it is advisable to buy instead of renting. Whereas, the shop which we do business in is our source of food. If the food is scarce, then we must look elsewhere.