One Fat Frog is back with another restaurant startup tip. I hope we’re not overwhelming you with all of these, but it’s better to have too much information than not enough, right? One of the most important decisions a new restaurant entrepreneur has to make is choosing a location for your restaurant. Whether you’re going to take over a lot where a previous restaurant went out of business or building your restaurant from scratch, you need to make sure your restaurant is located in a way that will maximize your business. Here is what you want to look at.
Accessibility
How easy is it for customers to find your restaurant? Is the traffic in that area always bad? Is it convenient to turn into your parking lot? Is there ample parking or will customers give up and go eat somewhere else because they can’t find somewhere to park? One of the reasons One Fat Frog moved from Orange Blossom Trail to Sand Lake Road is that the OBT location wasn’t very visible or easy to access. You also want your restaurant startup to be located in an area with a lot of traffic, not just driving by, but also people who walk past your restaurant.
Competition
Who is in your area that would be competition to your restaurant startup? If you’re a sandwich shop, your competition might be anywhere with meals under $10, whereas you’re not worried about a high priced fine dining restaurant nearby. A little bit of competition can be a good thing because customers will go to your general area when they’re hungry, knowing that there are restaurants in the area even if they weren’t specifically thinking of your restaurant. Whenever I leave the One Fat Frog office for lunch, I just drive east on Sand Lake Road and go to a shopping center that I know has several low-priced restaurants. I usually have no idea where I will eat until I drive by one of the restaurants and think “yes, that one!” However, too much competition can hurt you by drawing customers away from your restaurant and to theirs.
Helpful neighbors
Other businesses near your restaurant can be very helpful. If you are in a plaza with other stores and that plaza has a strong anchor store, you will get business because so many people go to the plaza to go to that anchor store. A lot of small restaurants benefit from being in the same building as a Wal-Mart, for example. Similarly, if your restaurant is located in a business district, you will get a lot of customers during the lunch rush. I know when I go out for lunch, it has to be some place close to the One Fat Frog warehouse, since I only have a half-hour for my break, so restaurants located near our warehouse have an advantage.
Zoning and ordinances
Find a great spot for a restaurant but you noticed that none of the nearby businesses have signs visible from the road? It’s probably because a local ordinance doesn’t allow such signs. If you’re set far back from the road (like the One Fat Frog warehouse), you need great road signage to be visible to the public. Zoning rules and ordinances can either help or hurt your restaurant startup, so know the rules of the location you are scouting.
Location costs
What are the three most important aspects of real estate? Location, location, location. That means the best location you can find for a restaurant may be a more valuable location in terms of real estate as well. The price to rent or lease your restaurant can vary wildly even within the same city, so do some shopping around and find out the different prices for similar locations.
Restaurant locations to avoid
There are some aspects of a location that can be toxic to your restaurant, so they should be avoided at all costs. You don’t want your restaurant to be located in an area that is constantly under construction. Drivers try to avoid those areas, your entrance may end up getting blocked, and your restaurant may be obscured by construction equipment. If there’s nothing else around and you are pretty much in the middle of nowhere, no one will know that your restaurant exists. Or if they do know, they may get lost looking for you and never find you. You also want to avoid businesses that may be distasteful to your customers. If you are a risqué sports bar, it may not matter if there is an adult bookstore or strip club nearby. However, if you are a family-style restaurant, some customers will avoid your restaurant if it means being right next to one of those “unsavory” businesses. Most importantly, you should also avoid locations where the demographics don’t match your customers. If there are a lot of schools in the area, a sports bar won’t get as much business as a fast food restaurant or deli. If there are upscale resorts in the area, it’s a better location for a fine dining restaurant than for a gastroub. If you keep all of these location guidelines in mind, you should be able to find a great location for your restaurant, courtesy of One Fat Frog.
One Fat Frog •2416 Sand Lake Road• Orlando, FL, 32809 • 407-480-3409