Location Can Make Or Break Your Restaurant

When opening a restaurant, there should be some thought put into where exactly your restaurant will be located. There should be careful consideration of all aspects of location and that is ultimately the key in helping your restaurant succeed. For example, you don’t want to open a burger place in an area where there are McDonalds, Burger King and KFC already present. That would be extremely counter-productive and would ruin your business even before it starts. 

So, here are a few tips in determining the absolute best location for your restaurant and what to expect during the whole process. 

1. Understanding Your Surroundings

There are several key locations where  you can open up your restaurant. It could be a stand-alone building or located inside a shopping mall. There are significant advantages to both and it is crucial in determining what exactly you are trying to communicate to your customers. Stand-alone buildings offer a unique experience for your customers, whereas shopping malls brings in the crowd, so you are never left worrying about filling your tables. With an increasing amount of commercial development, there has been a significant need in bringing restaurants to make it a part of the shopping mall experience. Taking that into consideration, setting up a restaurant inside a shopping mall could work to your benefit. 

2. If You Can’t See It, It Doesn’t Exist

Consider a location where your restaurant is easily visible and accessible for the general public. It sounds fairly obvious but some restaurateurs do not consider this when choosing a location for their restaurants. Make sure to choose a location where there is a lot of foot or car traffic which will help in bringing in the customers. Check for locations which are accessible through Google maps and could easily be navigated to. In the “app” world we live in today, you should make sure your restaurant is easily accessible through technological means. Visibility being key to your restaurant, check for places which are properly lit during the night and areas which do not have any dingy and dark pathways.

3. Target The Right Customers

There should be some consideration given to the target audience of your restaurant. For example, it will be extremely difficult to market a nightclub in a residential area. Study the demographics of your restaurant location and check whether it suits your restaurant concept. Unless there is a strong case to be made for your restaurant’s concept to suit the demographics of the area, the location should not be considered. Studying the demographics of the area will reveal key attributes of the location, such as the affordability of your restaurant for the people in that location, the population of the area and the age of your target audience and whether your restaurant caters to that specific group. 

4. We Need Some Space

Whether you are going to run a small coffeeshop or a pub sprawled over 3 floors, space should be a critical factor in determining the proper location for your restaurant. It has to be big enough to accomodate your customers and your equipment and staff. Too little space will cause major infrastructure problems and will provide for a less than pleasant experience for your customers. Make sure to choose a location which provides adequate space for your kitchen and bar to function during normal hours or peak hours. 

5. Competition Will Turn Ugly

Study your competition before choosing a location for your restaurant. As we said earlier, you don’t want to provide the same experience for your customers which they can get in plenty of other restaurants within walking distance. Although it might not be a bad thing to be grouped with existing restaurants, you should be able to provide something unique and different which customers in that location can look forward to. Being unique always helps in the restaurant field.