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The best location for your new business has got to be where your customers are, or can get to you easily. If you have a business selling cars, for example, you need to be in an area with a reasonably sized population. People buying cars, generally do not want to travel too far from home.

Another factor to take into account is the ease with which your suppliers can reach you. Many manufacturers use large heavy trucks to deleiver their goods, mainly because it is more economical to use one large truck instead of maybe two or three, so you need to be located where trucks can deliver stock to you easily and safely.

If your business is mainly transacted over the Internet, all you need is a suitable building in which you can operate. It could be well out of town. If you propose to employ workers, you may need to be on a bus route. Those who travel to work by car will need somewhere near their work stations, to park their cars, so that must be taken into account.

If you are selling building materials, you need to be located where you can be reached easily, yet have ample room to show your stock. Your customers will also need room to park, and be able to load their vehicles with your goods. For this sort of business an out of town trading estate is ideal.

What worked for me, maybe wont work for others. I was lucky with my location.My new business was selling Hosta's, a favorite garden plant of mine. Just in the immediate area there were five other nurseries, including a national chain one, selling Hosta's.

But, I was sure that because my plants were better and with more variety and lower prices, than the others, I would be ok, and it was. For five years it was a good business, only closing down when my health began to fail. My nursery became known among gardening circles, as the place to go for Hosta's. Quality and variety and low prices, were my strong points. I worked hard to maintain that reputation.

When the nursery was going into its third year, three of the other nurseries had stopped selling Hosta's, but the other two, seeing my success, increased their stocks, but again it didn't knock my sales that I'd noticed. By then I had built up a relationship with my customers, some just calling in for a chat if they were going past.

By the fourth year, I was supplying Hostas to a major film companies properties department. Also, BBC Television got in touch with me with a view to suppling Hosta's for a gardening programme.

Learn more about this author, John Ledbury.
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