The Beginning

Part Four

Finding A Location

We were now approved franchisees. We attended monthly franchisee meetings and received the weekly newsletter. We began learning much more about the company and we started getting to know other franchisees.

And so, begins the search for a location, which turned out to be a two year process.

DEMOGRAPHICS

First, we had to find an area with the right population. The target market for our sandwich shop at that time was about twenty to about forty years of age. So, we had to pay attention to the surrounding population of the location.

SURROUNDING BUSINESSES

The sandwich shop company we chose does most of its business at lunchtime. We needed to find a location that had surrounding office buildings and things where people would be looking to go out for lunch. But the location still needed to have residential areas as well.

COMPETITION

We had to study who the competition was near a prospective location. What competitors were within a half mile radius? Were there any areas close by where a competitor could move in? Were there too many restaurants near the location competing for the same group of people? Was the location too close to another franchisee? Was there the correct mix of commercial and residential areas? All of these questions had to be answered.

PARKING

The prospective location also had to have enough dedicated parking to suit our needs. It’s hard to do business if people don’t have a place to park.

SIZE AND PRICE

We also needed the location to be the correct size. At this point in time, the company was looking for fairly small locations around twelve hundred square feet or so. The cost per square foot also had to be within a certain range to ensure that the restaurant would be profitable. At that time, we could not afford to pay the same rent as say a McDonalds would be able to pay.

THE SEARCH

There were all of these criteria that the prospective location had to meet. In addition to all of this, our area representative had a rule that any approved locations had to be offered to nearby franchisees first. Then they had to be offered to any other existing franchisee in our area who was interested in expanding. (This included the area representative, who was also a franchisee.) And we needed something that was a reasonable distance from our home, since at that time I was intending to keep my job.

At the time, the company was very interested in rapid growth and most everyone was interested in expansion. This made finding a new location even more of a challenge.

We both worked full time jobs, but we spent a lot of time looking at online listings and just driving around and looking. Our family was looking, our friends were looking. Our area representative was looking.

We looked at many locations we didn’t like. But I can’t tell you how many locations we found that were either shot down for one reason or another or taken by another franchisee. It became very frustrating. Relatives and friends kept asking us if we had found a location yet. They would ask why we didn’t just take this location or that location. They did not understand the process.

I got to the point where I was calling the area representative every day to see if they had any new leads. I’m sure they loved that!

This went on and on. I began to feel like owning our own business was never going to happen. Prospective locations didn’t have enough parking. Didn’t have enough businesses nearby. Didn’t have enough residential area. Were the wrong size. Rent was too high. Another franchisee too close by. Etc., etc.

THE FIRST LOCATION

Finally, after about two years of looking, one day I got the call. They had found us a spot! It was in a strip center in a small town about thirty minutes from our home. The strip center had been built two years earlier but was still sitting there with only one tenant. That was a little scary. And so was the fact that no one else in our territory wanted it.

We drove out and took a look. We found a brick strip center with one tenant, and the rest of it was wide open space. The open space had doors and windows, but still had a gravel floor, waiting for tenants to build it out as they needed. We could define the exact size of the space we wanted!

When we drove around the neighborhood, we found there were two fairly large office parks, several other businesses, two schools nearby, four or five truck terminals, and plenty of residential. And there were no fast-food restaurants other than McDonalds. In fact, there were very few restaurants of any sort.

The location was also close to the highway. It seemed pretty much perfect. Other than the fact that it had sat there empty for so long. And so, we decided to take the chance and go with this location.

KEY INSIGHTS

Take a lot of time and really study prospective locations. It really is worth the time to get it right. Don’t get anxious and take the first thing that comes along if it doesn’t suit the business.

UP NEXT

We have a location. Now we need a lease!