How To Decide Where To Run Your Business From
/You have a thorough business plan, and it's bound to touch the skies given that you lay its foundations in the right place. One wrong step, and it may all go down the drain.
If such thoughts have you anxious and hesitant, fret not. We've compiled an all-embracing guide to help you deal with it. In this article, we'll help you:
Understand potential business sites
Choose the perfect business location
Let's get started!
Your Potential Options
Every business plan is unique in its needs and essence. There's no work-for-all solution.
So, first things first, you cannot imitate others (particularly your competitors!). If you plan to do so, your business is destined to fail. You need to craft your strategy from scratch.
Note: We don't mean to stress you, take it easy! You can take inspiration from your competitors but you should avoid replicating them.
The strategy designing process begins with determining the mechanism of your business. Here are some tips to get you started
Remote Business
After the pandemic, the idea of a remote business gained a lot of popularity. It allows an individual or a team of professionals to run a business without a physical office or headquarters. Thus, it saves a lot of costs and offers greater flexibility.
You can run such businesses from home, in co-working spaces, in coffee shops, or even while traveling! All you need to have is a laptop and a stable WiFi connection (and potentially a team).
Retail Business
Retail business is all about selling products or services to consumers. So ideally, a retail business should be set up in any place that consumers of your goods or services are familiar with. This can be shopping malls, airports, pedestrian areas, neighborhood grocery stores, freestanding carts, etc.
Mobile Business
Mobile business is synonymous with business on the wheels. As the name suggests, this business plan is centered around portability. It can move with you. Examples of such businesses include food trucks, barbershops, pop-up flower trucks, and mobile bicycle repair.
Commercial Business
Commercial business plans involve stability and eventual development. Hence, they require a huge business space. Examples of such businesses include warehousing, logistics, transportation, cleaning, waste management, etc.
Industrial Site
Businesses involving manufacturing, bulk production, and innovation are based in industrial sites. Owing to the easy and cost-effective availability of resources in these places, executing tasks becomes much easier.
Factors to Consider When Choosing A Business Location
If you've settled for a remote business, you're clear. You can learn how to set up a virtual workplace and build an online presence here.
But if you've settled for any of the last four business mechanisms, you have to consider a few more factors to land your perfect business location. These include:
Industry & Accessibility Needs
When you sketch out your business plan, the very first thing you should do is determine the industry it belongs to (and try to be as specific as possible). It will not only help you choose the right location for your business, but also lead you to facilities and opportunities such as industry-based loans.
Once you have the industry figured, study the industry and determine:
Demographics of your potential clientele
Commute requirements for your workforce
Demographics refer to area, movement, and living preferences of your target audience. Say you sell clothes, now you know your potential audience is on foot and prefers buying clothes from the nearest store. You'll set up a store near them, especially in an area where your target audience is in a cluster.
Similarly, you have to think about your potential workforce and its commute needs. Settle for an area that cuts down the traveling distance for them. It saves costs and energy.
Affordability
Next, you need to consider if you've got the capital to afford the place. Initially, you'll most likely be renting a place instead of buying it. So, do your calculations and figure out if it fits your budget.
When calculating the costs, do not forget monthly expenses like electricity and maintenance as well as commercial taxes. Also, if you're already paying back a business or commercial loan, it's not a good idea to rent a place yet (especially a huge and fancy one).
That's because you'll need money not only to run the place, but also to buy a suitable business insurance policy. So, ensure that you're loan-free before you rent.
The case is quite the opposite in the case of home-based businesses. Since you won't be investing in revamping the place for your workers or marketing it, it's a good idea to apply for a home loan and get your house optimized for your business.
For example, if you're selling food from home, you can use the loan money to separate the work kitchen from the home kitchen, bring in necessary appliances, etc. It'll help you double your profits. If you do own the house you’ll be working from (or plan on it), you can use an online home loan repayment calculator like the one Homestar offers to make sure you don’t pay more than you have to.
Competition
Finally, proximity to competitors can make or break your business.
If you choose a location too far away from your competitors, your target audience may never discover you. But if you come too close, you might find yourself fighting for customers.
For that reason, we recommend opting for a place that sets you up as the primary provider in the particular area (but also has at least some competition).
