Location is a big deal for any business. How do you choose the right spot for you and your customers?
Visibility
If your small business is involved in retail, then foot traffic is vital. You should not be hidden away in a corner or down a quiet street where shoppers will not notice you. Although car traffic is good, people on foot will take the time to actually look at and enter into your store. For visibility you want to be on the main street where customers can easily spot and walk into your shop without having to detour. The volume of pedestrian traffic will be the best indicator of whether this location is ideal for your small business or not. Having said this, should your small business offer more confidential services, you may not wish to be located in a high-traffic area.
Accessibility
In order to determine your accessibility needs, you need to think about everyone who will need to gain entry to your small business whether it is customers, employees, or suppliers and what requirements they will have. If you know that you will need to provide parking then you must ensure that you can offer this to clients, and if you're on a busy street this might not be feasible. What sort of deliveries might you expect to receive? You need to ensure that your suppliers can rapidly and easily deliver whatever materials your small business requires. Small-package delivery companies will want easy access to your business, whilst trucking companies need adequate loading docks if they need to drop off freight on pallets.
Neighbors
Which companies are within proximity? Are they competing firms or are they businesses whose overflows could benefit your small business? You need to assess whether competing firms will make your marketing and sales job more difficult. If so look elsewhere. However, some companies might be good for your small business. They could potentially generate a lot of customer traffic for you as their employees could become your customers or their customer overflows could spill into your business.
Image
Think about the history and image of the location. Is this a respectable area or maybe a fashionable location? What kinds of clients will you attract at this address? What does this location say about your small business? Particularly if you’re targeting a local market, you need to ensure that your address reflects your brand image. It is also a good idea to inquire about the history of the site and ask about previous tenants. If you’re opening a clothes stores in a space where ten other clothes stores have failed, this is a clear indicator that there is something wrong with the location. If on the other hand, you find out that the previous occupants were a success story then this is a good sign, however make sure you find out what kind of business they had and evaluate how it compares to yours.