Use data driven decisions, not a dart board approach
Arthur Blank, the cofounder of Home Depot was quoted as saying, "Retailers make few decisions that are as permanent (and potentially unforgiving) as selecting store locations." If this is true, then why do so many business owners simply let availability drive their decisions?
The same can be said for manufacturers, office workers, and countless other businesses that go where the CEO lives, or because it has great views.
Perhaps there is a better approach; one that utilizes data, demographics and access to important linkages to determine the next office or storefront...
Demographics can include a variety of items such as household size and makeup, income, education, employment amongst others. However a deeper dive can also tell you about the type of employment and types of spending in certain areas, meaning that you can locate areas thta fit your company's needs.
For example, let's say that you are a manufacturing company looking to relocate and you have a profile of your ideal labor force (income level, educational level, and experience). You also need good transportation routes, access to suppliers, and also linkages to housing and amenities.
We take this data and drill down to areas that have the highest concentrations of these elements. Then we run a suitability analysis weighted to the elements that are most important to the business. The final product ends up looking something like this...
The red would indicate the area that best suits your business' criteria.
The same can be done for retail and office sectors, by either using spending habits or access to an educated hiring pool. Suitability analysis gives direct data-driven results to help assist in the site selection process.
The next time you are looking at expanding, consider using facts to influence your decision.
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