Michael Curry
There are many significant factors that lead to the success of a business and location is a vital one among the many other factors. It is one of the most important factors for any business, regardless of what industry they belong to. Even if it’s a part time franchise or some low cost franchise, for every franchise UK, it is important for your customers to be able to find you and locate you on maps.
Finding the perfect location when franchising a business, be it anything, a food franchise, a clothing franchise, taking everything into consideration while buying a franchise is essential. Take a look around the neighbourhood; the price ranges, the population and traffic. Ask yourself questions like, how many people would visit this place? Is it easy to get to? Answers to all these questions plus your growth plan for your business will lead you to the perfect decision for your franchise.
Firstly for the customers, it’s always going to be their ease first. And as picky as people are, you give them the tinniest of reasons to avoid something and they are going to take it. Moreover, how many times have you gone to nearest store to look for something, even though you may know that they are home based franchises and might not have everything you’re looking for? but it’s convenient for you, so you choose to go there every time. Thus, it’s always necessary to find the perfect location for your franchise so it’s easily accessible for your customers. For e.g. no one would ever think of buying a franchise of McDonald’s and then open it far off in a rural area, away from all the customers.
Even if you do everything right for your business, it might just fail if potential consumers don’t even know that it even exists. If your franchise is located in an area that has more vehicle and pedestrian traffic, more customers will be aware of your brand and that franchise would tend to be more successful compared to businesses that are located in areas far off the city. Even if the location may be expensive, it would be worth the cost if it increases your customer base and thus, the profitability of your business. This is why location is an extremely important factor that will lead to the success for your franchise.
Furthermore, a franchisor who has matured has probably opened up in all the ‘major’ locations so it is really important now to consider whether the secondary territories would prove to be successful for the franchise model or not. The amount of potential customers is the key here because all businesses run on the basis of the amount of businesses around
and the density of customers around the area where the franchise is located.
Moreover, one important thing to keep in mind about the location while buying a franchise is that mostly the higher you invest into a business, the more serious and critical it becomes to choose the perfect location. Obviously, it’s not just the location that leads you to success, it depends a lot on how you run the business too, however, a bad location may lead to a failure for your business altogether.
If your business is a new franchise UK, choosing a certain locality where all the high end brands exist can really help build the brand image of your particular franchise and improve the perception of your business in the minds of consumers. For e.g. choosing a location like the poshest streets of London, may help your brand appear as a high end one and might just attract more people and increase the customer base.
Lastly, one thing that is very significant while choosing a location for franchising a business is to look whether your business is for the masses or does it have a niche market? For e.g. if Gucci opens up far away in the suburbs of a city, close to the rural area, no one would want to spend that amount of money in an area like that and similarly, if Primark opens up next to Harrods in London, it might not get the amount of customers it gets in some other local town. So choose your location carefully.
