When scouting locations for your new business, you can be beset with a variety of choices. Picking the location for your business is one of the most important choices you will make. Your success or failure rests on this. This blog will give some insight into what the important considerations are.
Where are your customers? This is by far the most important consideration. You need to be where your customer can reach you when he is in a buying mood. For example, putting a family restaurant in the industrial section of town is a mistake. In order to make the best choice, you need to know your customer. Where do they currently get the product or service you wish to provide? If you miss this, you could have the best product, best customer service and satisfaction and still fail. It’s like the philosophical question “If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear, does it make a sound?” In the case of a poorly located business, the sound is your cash register, and the answer is NO.
Do you want to buy or lease? Unlike the first question, there is no simple answer to this. Leasing is an attractive option for owners without a lot of cash. It also is good if the lessor can attract your target market. Buying is a better option for those with ample funds because owning tends to be less expensive than leasing. In addition, as the owner of the premises, you have much more control over what happens to your store. New lessors can’t come in and force you out if you own the property.
How much do you want to pay? Obviously, your capital or lease payments have to fit in your business plan. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs look for the best rate or price as the first consideration in picking locations. The trouble with this is if you choose a location where there isn’t a market, the location could be free and the business would still fail. If you can’t raise the capital to get into the right location, the best choice is to raise more capital. Choosing your location based on price will be the undoing of your business.
Choosing your location is vital to your success. If you use these three considerations, you should have a good chance of making the right choice.