Aspiring entrepreneurs have long heard the major importance attached to location as one of the prime ingredients of business success. Indeed, location is reputed to be among the most crucial decisions an entrepreneur will ever have to make, eszpecially in case of retail businesses. The choice could certainly make or break the business. While there is no known set of rules that guarantees a winning pick, using our seven pointers below can increase your chances of avoiding bad picks.
There are seven criteria for choosing an ideal location for a retail-oriented business. They are no means a guarantee for success but they could guide your decision making process and avoid some of the most common mistakes. The same factors apply to other businesses but the required conditions may different.
1. VISIBILITY: IF THEY CAN'T SEE YOU, YOU DON'T EXIST
Although the most important criterion, Visibility is usually a top-of-mind quality looked for in a business location. Visibility is much touted for its advertising value. After all, even if your store offers the best quality products at great prices, the only ones who will buy from you are those who knew you actually exists, those who can actually “see” where you are. In choosing for good visibility, however, do not forget to look at your potential location from your specific market’s point of view. For instance, your school supplies store may be highly visible to office and factory workers but not to parents and students.
2. ACCESS: YOUR BUSINESS SHOULD BE REACHABLE
While sizing up a location’s visibility, make a value judgment too of its accessibility. A business location may be highly visible from all angles of the road but is not easily accessible to your target customers. The street corners of a major intersection may offer your car accessories shop a spectacular visibility but if parking is a problem you might as well do better selling the airspace above your roof as an ads billboard space.
3. FOOT TRAFFIC: WALK WITH YOUR CROWD
A high foot-traffic area is great for selling all sorts of low-priced retail goods. If your target market, however, is a bit upscale such an area would not be so inviting [unless its an upscale foot-traffic, of course]. Foot traffic is also used to determine the real value of a location’s visibility.
4. VEHICULAR TRAFFIC: NOT SO FAST
Generally the slower the vehicular traffic pace the better. A location’s good visibility is useless if the commuters and motorists passing by have little chance to notice you, much less buy from you.
5. PROXIMITY TO SIDEWALK
If your business is in the high foot-traffic zone and it is located near a sidewalk, chances are good you’ll have a good share of the foot traffic going your way. If your shop is near major competitors, such as a Mall, this advantage is practically useless.
6. PROXIMITY OF COMPETITION
While proximity to competition is not always bad for some businesses, it is especially detrimental to retailers of consumer items like food. If the foot-traffic, however, is very high, your prospects increase. Everyone will have a share of the pie. When selling big items like appliances, for instance, it becomes easy for your potential customers to check prices with your nearby competitors. This is not necessarily bad because the competition indirectly also shows the way to your store. Just make sure you give them more reasons to buy from you.
7. INCOME LEVEL OF AREA
Match your products with the kind of neighborhood you set up shop. A neighborhood with a high level of income will not necessarily benefit your business if all you sell are low-priced commodity items. That would be similar to selling gourmet coffee in a low-income town.
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