5 Tips for Finding the Best Location for Your Business
If you’re starting a business and you require a brick and mortar shop, you may need to check out commercial real estate listings.
But affordability is just one part of it. You also have to take into consideration your location. You have to be as close to your potential customers as possible, and that means you should have a firm idea of who your customers are going to be.
You also want a large amount of foot and vehicular traffic so that your business is easy to find. People who are looking for the services you offer may go somewhere else if they can’t find your place easily. A highly visible location also encourages curious newbies to visit your shop or restaurant.
Some companies do highly sophisticated studies to discover the best locations for their business. As a small business owner, that may not be possible for you though a quick online check of local demographics can help narrow down your options. It will also help if you can find out where most of your more popular competitors are based.
Here are some quick tips that may help:
- Obey the zoning regulations. Above everything else, this takes top priority. Disregarding zoning regulations can end your business rather abruptly, as some legal marijuana shops in the US have found out. You can easily do some research to find out about the zoning regulations in your neighborhood.
- Locate your shop or store near your top competitor. Here you’re using the fame of your competitor to lure in people to your shop. At the very least, you’ll enjoy greater visibility for your brand, as your competitor’s customers are made aware of your brand’s existence.
Since popular shops or restaurants can be overfilled, you can accommodate the overflow. So if a popular restaurant has too many customers trying to get in, some of them may decide to go to your own restaurant instead so they can eat right away.
- Be neighbors with shops that offer similar but different consumer items. For example, you can be neighbors with a burger joint except you’re offering pizzas. Some of the other customers may change their minds about what they want to eat and go to your place instead when they see it. If you’re selling athletic shoes, you can be neighbors with other athletic goods shops or a shop that sells formal footwear.
It’s this principle that leads to some spots in town with clusters of similar businesses, such as restaurants and repair shops. It’s like you’re starting a mall in town.
- Locate your shop near an upstream business. It’s great if you can have your place near a popular shoe store if your business is shoe repair. People who are buying replacement shoes may decide to have their shoes fixed instead.
You can establish your place near shops that sell men’s suits, if you provide a tailoring business. If you’re running a car wash business, you may want to think about being near car repair services.
- Have your shop near other shops that your demographic frequents. If you’re selling vinyl records for traditionally-minded audiophiles, you have some location options besides setting up near a shop that sells turn tables. You may want to have hipster coffee shops and shops that sell vintage clothing.
For the most part, it’s often difficult to lure in customers if your location is out of the way and out of sight. Your best bet is to be around similar shops so you can enjoy the patronage of the customers that the other shops have already succeeded in attracting!