Category: Small Business Tips and Advice

Finding the best location for your small business

We’ve all heard the saying Location, location, location! The actual place where you launch your small business is a very important consideration – especially for businesses that rely on window shoppers and foot traffic. Finding the best location for your small business is a step that involves a lot of research, but can make a big difference in the success of your business.

So, how do you find the best location for your small business?

Identify the best location for your type of business

There are several different location types for businesses:

  • Home-based businesses – Home locations are great for businesses who need minimal equipment and don’t have much face-to-face contact with customers. Depending on the kind of work you do, you may need a separate office or meeting space.
  • Retail businesses – Retail businesses are located in shopping centres, strip malls or street-level shops. These locations must be accessible to customers. Consider also the amount of competition nearby – is it complementary to your business, or is it direct competition?
  • Mobile businesses – Mobile locations are favoured by businesses who take a service or product to where their customers are. These locations often cost less to operate and have more flexible hours than traditional storefront locations.
  • Commercial businesses – Commercial businesses often have office locations where clients can visit to interact with them. These differ from retail locations because there is no storefront location and, often, there is a service offered rather than a product.
  • Industrial businesses – Industrial businesses are often further away from commercial or retail centres and must be accessible to trucks and tractor trailers making deliveries and pick-ups. They are often also large, accommodating equipment.

Analyze your desired location

You’ve found a location or two that you really like – but that’s just the beginning! Once you’ve got a location or two in mind, sit down with a large piece of paper and analyze your business’ potential location from the following areas:

  • Accessibility to customers
  • Nearby competition
  • The business environment (health of surrounding businesses and nature of environment)
  • Access to supplies and resources
  • Site availability and regulations
  • Costs
  • Layout

Finding the best location for your small business involves a lot of work and research, but it’s a critical step. Your business’ location can make all the difference to your success!

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What are the 12 key skills for small business executives?

Here is another bit of small business inspiration we’ve recently found on the internet – a blog post by Jim Estill titled, “Work Your Strengths.”

Here’s a sample:

I read an awesome, well researched book called Work your Strengths – A Scientific Process to Identify Your Skills and Match them to the best Career for You by Chuck Martin, Richard Guare and Peg Dawson. The author team has an impressive track record in research and psychology.

Through a questionnaire, they get the prospect to identify their strengths on 12 different scales that they have identified as being crucial for success.

Read Jim’s post to find out all about the 12 crucial skills for executives (and, we think, crucial skills for entrepreneurs as well). Thanks for the great post, Jim!

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Dan Pink’s enlightening talk on motivation

At GoForth, we’ve been enthralled by this video illustrating Dan Pink’s TED talk on what motivates us:

Not to ruin the ending, but as providers of entrepreneurial education – and entrepreneurs ourselves – we love the idea that money isn’t necessarily the best motivator in the workplace. This is great news for small business owners – save your money! Favour purpose over profit and get creative with ways to inspire your employees!

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The real realities of being an entrepreneur

At GoForth, our primary reason for existence is to give entrepreneurs the best small business training possible for success. So it was with considerable interest that we read a blog post by Chicago-based businessman Seth Kravitz, called 20 (More) Reality-Checking Questions for Would-Be Entrepreneurs.

The questions are geared towards those thinking of starting a small business and they don’t shy away from some harsh realities of entrepreneurship – working too hard, uncertainty, ideas that don’t pan out and dealing with stress.

We like this honesty. In our small business education, we encourage entrepreneurs to take a very honest look at themselves before starting out. Yes, starting your own business can be infinitely rewarding, both financially and personally. However, it can also be one of the most difficult things you’ll do. You might work harder than you had as someone else’s employee. You might put a strain on your relationships and finances. You might even give it a shot and eventually decide you’re not enjoying it anymore. These are all considerations you should make before starting your own small business.

We’re not Debbie Downers at GoForth; we’re realists. We want to make sure you approach the decision to become an entrepreneur with your eyes wide open – knowing in advance that the journey can be a bumpy one.  Remember – between your great idea and the grand achievement is the vast wasteland of grinding it out.

Our advice? Read Seth’s post and honestly assess yourself as a small business owner. And don’t lose heart – entrepreneurship isn’t easy, but you can take the most important first step and prepare yourself for the realities of starting and running a small business.

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