Many retail business owners fail simply because they did not take the time or care to find the best location for their business. A great location can make a huge difference in determining whether your business will be a resounding success or crash and burn because potential customers aren’t buying what you sell.
So, how do you decide where’s the best place to lease or buy commercial space and locate your business?
Do your Research
When considering a location, there are two basic types of business models. The first type of business depends on the location to succeed or fail. The second type of business model doesn’t need to rely on a location to be successful.
In the first instance, where you locate largely depends on where you can best find your target customer base. The customers you are seeking need to directly relate to the product or service you are selling. Products or services can be relatively general in some situations, but more often than not you will be zeroing in on a select market focus or niche. You need to know where is the best place to attract these particular customers or clients.
One of the best ways to learn about how Calgary is structured is to learn its demographics. These critical statistics can describe the population of the city and how it breaks down throughout the city. Demographics include its population density, income breakdown such as low, medium or high end, and other vital clues to give you a better picture of where to locate your business.
Traffic means people and/or vehicular. How will your customers find you? Will they be walk in customers such as you might find at a mall or will they be found in a particular type of neighbourhood? Or, will they be driving to reach your business. If the latter is the case, you want make sure your location has ample parking.
Another key decision to make is whether you should decide tolocate your business in an area where similar businesses to yours are located. Some types of like businesses tend to cluster together such as in an industrial park for example.
Your next vital choice may be dependent on the neighbourhood or the building in which you locate. This choice can either help or hinder your client prospects from using your business and may also depend on the hours your business operates.
You may also need to know the local zoning laws in Calgary before you commit to buying or leasing a commercial space. Certain types of businesses may be prohibited from particular zones in the city.
How Much Will it Cost?
Leasing or buying commercial property will also be dependent on how much you can afford. A commercial space that you are going to lease will cost so much per square foot. Your budget depends on how many square feet you will need to set up your business. The cost of leasing space varies considerably throughout Calgary, so it all depends on what your budget can absorb in relation to where your customer base is located.
There are both rewards and pitfalls when choosing a location for your business so do so carefully and methodically to find a location to make your business a success.
Photo by naserke
