Business Compatibility
Will your business be located next to businesses that will generate traffic for your restaurant? Or will you be located near businesses that may clash with yours?
Merchants Associations
• Find out about the area's merchants association.
• What if there is no merchant's association? Generally, a shopping areas or a business center without a merchant's association is on the decline. You should shun locations with these warning signs: extensive litter or debris in the area, vacant stores, a parking lot in need of repairs, etc. With a little on-site investigation, they are easy to avoid.
Responsiveness of the Landlord
• Any restriction of placement and size of signs?
• Ignores needed maintenance and repairs?
• Rents out adjacent spaces to incompatible-- or worse, directly competing-- businesses?
• To find out if the landlord is responsive to the needs of the tenants talk to the tenants before you commit to moving in yourself. Ask them:
• Does the landlord return calls in a reasonable period and send people quickly?
• Is it necessary to nag the landlord just to get routine maintenance taken care of?
• Does the landlord just collect the rent and disappear, or is he or she sympathetic to the needs of the tenants?
• Does the landlord have any policies that hamper marketing innovations?
Zoning and Planning
• Are there restrictions that will limit or hamper your operations?
• Will construction or changes in city traffic or new highways present barriers to your restaurant?
• Will any competitive advantages you currently find at the location you're considering be diminished by zoning changes that will be advantageous for competitors or even allow new competitors to enter your trade area?
Leases
• Do you plan to operate the business in your first location indefinitely or have you set a given number of years as a limit?
• If your business is successful, will you be able to expand at this location?
• Is your lease flexible, so that you have an option to renew after a specified number of years?
• Or is the lease of limited duration so, if need be, you may seek another location?
• Study the proposed lease agreement carefully. Get advice from your lawyer or other experts. Does the agreement:
• Peg rent to sales volume (with a definite scaling) or is rent merely fixed? Or both?
• Protect you as well as the property owner?
• Put in writing the promises the property owner has made about repairs, construction and reconstruction, decorating, alterations, and maintenance?
• Contain prohibitions against subleasing?
Other Considerations
• How much dining, kitchen, office, storage space do you need?
• Is parking available and adequate?
• Do you require special lighting, cooling or other installations?
• Will your advertising expenses be much higher if you choose a relatively remote location?
• Is the area served by public transportation?
• Can the area serve as a source of manpower supply?
• Is there adequate fire and police protection?
• Will sanitation or utility supply be problem?
• Is exterior lighting in the area adequate to attract evening guests and make them feel safe?
• Are customer restroom facilities available?
• Is the restaurant accessible?
• Will insurance be prohibitively expensive?
• Is the trade area heavily dependent on seasonal business?
• Do the people you want for customers live or work nearby?
Locate in Haste, Repent at Leisure
• Selection of a restaurant location requires time and careful consideration. It should not be done in haste just to coincide with a loan approval, for example.
• If you haven't found a suitable location, don't plan to open until you're sure you've got what you want.
• Put your plans on hold, don't just settle for a location you hope might work out.
• A few months of delay is only a minor setback compared to the massive-- often fatal-- problems that occur in operating a restaurant business in a poor location.
