Determine where to locate your business in terms of customers, marketing, and sales. This Element requires that you think about the issues of communicating and getting your products or services to your customers. Further, it pushes you to make some fundamental decisions. Questions to consider:
- Will your business be home-based or storefront?
- Does the business require walk-in traffic?
- Should you locate near your supply or raw materials?
- If you’re shipping goods, do you need to be located near rail, road, water, or air transportation arteries?
- Do you need electrical, telephone, or Internet access?
- Where and how are similar businesses set up?
View the Example: Location Marketing
Action
The narrative from this step will be part of the “Marketing” section of your final business plan. In your working copy of the Shell Business Plan template, enter the following information under section 3.2 “Location: Marketing.”
To complete this Element you will need to:
- Determine the best location for your business in relation to your customers.
- Decide whether the business will be home-based, commercial, retail, urban, or rural.