Location, location, location

Your location is part of your marketing.

Especially, (but not exclusively), if you are a retailer and you need foot traffic. One day I'll write about a formula for determining how to figure the cost of your location as it relates to the rest of your advertising/marketing budget.

But for now, I'm going to point you to a common sense approach that you can do this week, to see whether or not the location you've been eyeing is as good an investment as the agent is trying to convince you it is.

(By the way, the above picture is an artists rendering of Jefferson Pointe, an outdoor mall located right here in Fort Wayne, Indiana!)

Tim Knox:

This week we discuss how to find the best location for your business. This isn’t a difficult process, but will require some homework on your part. You can use a commercial realtor to help you scout for locations, but the real research you must do yourself.

When I was scouting locations for my brick and mortar store I took the time to drive around town to familiarize myself with every foot of vacant retail space available.

I spent a lot of time sitting in parking lots. You can learn a lot just watching cars go by at different times of the day. For example a location may be great in the morning, but lousy in the afternoon. Or maybe the parking lot is full at lunch, but empty the rest of the day.

You should also consider which side of the road works best for you. For example a drive thru coffee shop has a much better chance of success if it’s located on the side of the road with the morning rush hour traffic, while a takeout joint has a better chance of success if it’s located on the side of the road with the going home traffic.

Read the rest of the article here.

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