In the past, business owners were more or less stuck when it came to the location of their business. Without the internet, they had to have an insanely reliable contact to do a market survey in a distant region. Apart from this, negotiating at a distance was a lot less reliable, since they had an incredibly hard time vetting the other party by looking at testimonials, and reviews or contacting their former liaisons. Choosing the right location for your business is crucial to its success. Your business’s location can impact everything from customer access and operational efficiency to brand perception and growth potential.
Today, however, relocation is much simpler than ever before, which means that there’s not much stopping you from moving to a better environment for your enterprise. With this in mind, here are five factors you need to consider when choosing a location for your business.
1. Demographic
Different areas, districts, and even streets have different demographics, so it might be a good idea to check this out before you move. Now, keep in mind that sometimes the demographics of an area might determine the identity of your business as a whole. Therefore, you don’t necessarily have to move to an area whose demographics are your customers. Sometimes, all you want is to be sorted in the group that is predominant in this area and get attributed to the features that this group has.
On the other hand, in a not-so-ideal world, it would be smart to look at the demographics from a more pragmatic perspective. In other words, you need to look at them as clients, partners, and potential employees. When it comes to client attraction and retention, having your headquarters located in the right neighborhood can be an important factor.
2. More competition isn’t necessarily a bad thing
The second thing you need to understand is a little-known fact that it is better to pick an area with more competition than one that doesn’t have a single representative of your industry. Why? Well, there’s usually a reason why the area is vacant in the first place. You see, more competition means an already established market. Moreover, by moving in, you don’t have to become a direct competitor to the already present companies. For instance, if you decide to sub-specialize and introduce a new service, you can find your own sub-niche in an already receptive market.
3. Foot traffic
This particular idea is something that is more or less specific to the retail business. If you’re a store owner, you need to understand that a huge portion of your profit is attributed to impulse purchases. Therefore, you want people walking by your store as much as possible. This way, you minimize the effort it takes for them to make a purchase, as well as maximize the chance that they will remember an item they forgot to buy during a previous purchase while they are walking by your store. On the other hand, more foot traffic is not always a positive thing, because some industries require a certain amount of confidentiality.
4. Local services
The issue of the availability of various local services is something that you will depend on from day one. For instance, if you decide to move your headquarters from NSW to Queensland, you first want to make sure that there’s a reliable Ute hire Brisbane agency you can work with. It doesn’t stop there, seeing as how you will also have to find a security provider, a cleaning company, and perhaps even a landscaping company at your target destination. Needless to say, all of these things are worth checking beforehand.
5. The building’s infrastructure
Speaking about the location, a lot of people focus too much on the issue of state, city or neighborhood, and they fail to pay proper attention to the edifice itself. This can be quite dangerous since you need to make sure that the building has a proper infrastructure. Proper electrical grid, air conditioning, plumbing, heating, and telecommunication services should be your starting point when it comes to the issue of inspection. Only in this way will you be able to tell that you’ve got your money’s worth with 100 percent certainty.
The greatest concern when choosing the location for your business is the fact that it is a one-time decision that affects all your subsequent work. Therefore, we simply cannot stress how important it is that you take your time to do all the planning, research and inspection. Making a wrong choice here will come back to haunt you in the future, which is something that you simply cannot allow to happen. Luckily, by keeping these few factors in mind, you will have a much better chance of making the right choice.
