5 Tips on Choosing Best Place to Open a Restaurant
It’s beyond argument that restaurant location is one of the factors with the greatest impact on overall business success. I wouldn’t say it’s a number one key factor, but definitely something that should be chosen strategically.
Learn five things to consider when choosing the right location for your restaurant.
1. Stay away from local “curses”
What seems like the perfect spot for a restaurant may not be. If multiple restaurants have opened in the same place and failed, you should overlook this potential restaurant location. For some reason, these are the locations most experts would think would be great for a restaurant, but they fail.
2. Always go for high-visibility spots
What’s the best place to open a restaurant? An area with great visibility. If your restaurant is too far out of the way, you won’t be able to sustain a customer base. Yes, there are exceptions to this rule, and this exception may be a 5-star restaurant or a restaurant that has such good food that people will travel to eat there.
A location that is great for restaurants may be:
- Close to major retailers
- Close to the highway
- Close to other successful businesses
3. Don’t forget about parking lots
There’s no way around it: people are lazy. No one wants to walk a long distance to go to a restaurant. Parking, and accessible parking, is going to be very important in non-urban areas. In a city where people are used to walking or taking public transportation, this is much less of an issue.
If a customer is willing to drive a long distance or even 20 minutes to your restaurant that is outside of town or on the outskirts of the city, they will not want to have issues with parking.
4. Pay attention to the state of the building
If you plan on purchasing a building that already exists, you need to be very picky with your purchase. The building will also mean a lot to your success, and there are two things that really matter here:
- Size. The size of the building is very important. You need to have adequate space for the safety of your guests and their comfort. You should also have a waiting area or lounge where guests can wait until a table is ready. If the area is too cramped, a lot of potential customers will not wait outside or come back if they can’t move their chairs without hitting the person behind them.
- Safety. How safe is the building? Safety is very important to your customers, and this will include having all of the basics:
- Proper wiring
- Sprinkler systems
- Handicap accessible doors
- Ramps
- Meet local code enforcement requirements
5. Keep in mind local population and tourist’s flow
Small towns are often an enigma because they will purposely ignore new restaurants and businesses if they know that they’re supporting a local.
There needs to be a need for a restaurant in the location, and there needs to be a population than can help keep the lights on. The larger the city, the greater chance you’ll have of breaking free of this local loyalty.
But what happens if you live in a small town in the mountains?
Check out the local tourism statistics. A lot of smaller towns survive on tourism, and if your town is one of them, it may be possible to lure in tourists to keep money flowing into the business.
Demographics will also come into play. Different age groups will go to different types of restaurants.
Restaurant location matters a lot, and if you don’t pick the right location, you may just see your dreams of running a successful restaurant disappear.
