Choosing the Physical Location of Your Business: What You Need to Know

Location, location, location…it’s what a realtor will always tell you is the most important thing when buying a house, but is it really that different for a business?  Here at The Piranha Group, we help a lot of people with their businesses, and that means helping them to make sure they have the optimal location for their business.  When choosing a physical location, there are many things which come into play: the look of the space, overall cost of the lease/sale and utilities, available parking, nearby competition, and overall convenience to other stops a customer might be making. But there are two often overlooked ones we make sure that everyone who is starting a business spends more-than-average time thinking about:

• Available Target Market Demographic Mapping:  It’s very common for people to look at the demographics of an area when choosing a business location, but the most beneficial usage of this data occurs when this demographic information is then linked to the target markets which have been defined for your business.  Not sure where to get the demographic information for an area (zip code)?  Try the site www.towncharts.com to search for statistics which could help.  Also, find out what was in the space which is being considered prior and why it is no longer there.  If it was the same type of business as what the space is being studied for, it would be best to determine why it might have failed before choosing it as the new business location.

• Average Daily Non-Digital Traffic:  While daily traffic to a website, social media, etc., is important and should be a focus for any new business owner, non-digital traffic is also something which should be a point of consideration.   Foot traffic and average daily driving traffic can be real factors for a business which sells to walk-in clients.  Many states have average daily driving traffic information which is available for consumer usage and can be found on a state’s department of transportation website (i.e. www.dot.ny.gov/tdv for New York State).  For foot traffic, obtaining it can be a bit more complicated.  There are many companies which will offer to perform an analysis for you, but that can get expensive if you are considering multiple locations.  For the small business owner just starting out, consider visiting the site on multiple days at different times and estimating how many people are walking by.  Yes, it’s simple, but it should provide the information which is needed to make a decision and move forward.

These are just two of the many components of picking a great location for your business.   Remember, the location, both physical and digital, is crucial to the success of the idea.  It really is all about location, location, location.

Ready to take the next step and have us help with a business plan and location analysis for your next business possibility?  Click on Get Swimming with Us above, and let us know.

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