What is a business location? Simply put it is the ‘home’ of your business. It is where your business office or shop or even company is located.
Why is location important when starting a business? Because the location of your business goes a long way in determining whether or not you will get customers to patronize you, and how often said customers will access you. There are many factors influencing business location but we have chosen the ten most important reasons to justify location of a business for you.
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Proximity To The Market
If you are running the kind of business where you produce the products you sell yourself then you should choose a business location that is close to the market. Because this way it would be easy for you to get raw materials to produce again when you run out of stock.
You should also consider choosing a business location close to the market if you would need to restock delicate raw materials like fresh raw eggs. So if you are running a cup cake business or a pancake business then pick a business location close to a market where you can restock.
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Foot Traffic
Foot traffic here basically implies the average number of people that pass through that location on foot per day. This is important because when people are on foot they move at a slower pace and hence pay more attention to the road side things they see. So this means if you are at a place with a high foot traffic, more people will see your business and eventually patronize it.
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Electricity
One of the worst things that can happen to you and your business is being stuck in a neighborhood that sees electricity once in two months. Especially if the business you are running is one that hinges on the availability of electricity to function well.
So if you are running a cold room, or supermarket, or printing press, it is obvious that you would need electricity to better serve your customers. Keep in mind when choosing a business location that the place should have constant electricity.
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Road Accessibility
If you choose a location that is bound with bad roads then is will be hard for people with cars to access you easily.’
And if people with cars cannot easily access you, it will be difficult for people to buy in bulk from you and hence it would really affect your turn over rate. If the roads leading to your office or shop is bad it would affect you too. When you need to restock your items the cars carrying your goods will not have easy passage.
READ ALSO: 5 BEST DECISION YOU CAN MAKE FOR YOUR BUSINESS
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How Easy Will It Be To Expand
Of course the dream of every business owner is to grow bigger than he is now. If you have long term goals for your business even if you don’t have the financial means to accomplish them now, keep in mind that you may need more space as your business grows. And hence it would be wise to choose a location that is flexible enough to give room for expansion at any point.
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The Kind Of Competition There
There are different kinds of competition that a business faces. Particularly the kind of business where you produce your items yourself. For example if you are running a cup cake business then another business like meat pie or egg roll production is a competition for you. Same thing with running a boutique, a tailors shop would be competition because you both produce almost the same kind of products- which is clothes.
So take note of the other already existing competitions there before you. And if you feel the odds may not favor you, look for another location.
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Religious Inclinations
There are some products that many religious people consider too secular for them. For example if you own a makeup store, or a hair products store it would be wise to avoid locations with a high congestion of overly religious people.
Because their religious forbid them to use such products they will not patronize you.
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Cultural Inclinations
This is also very important because aside from religion, culture also forbids people to use certain products.
Be sure that the kind of people in that location will be disposed to patronize you.
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Business Competition
This means taking note of the people that are already selling the exact same kind of products you intend to sell.
If almost everyone there is doing what you want to do, you should consider going somewhere else so that you can have attention drawn to yourself.
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Security
This is one very important factor. Be sure that location is secure. Theft is really a huge disaster to businesses. So before you settle there with your business be sure it is secure and safe from thieves.
