The more people you’re able to reach, the more possibilities you have for generating profit. For this reason, people who own a physical store in one location should look at ways to expand so they can target people who exist outside of their catchment area. The most common way to do this is to look at selling items online. But another option is to open another store in a second location. With that, you’ll be opening up your business to a whole new market.

In this blog, we’ll run through some useful methods for ensuring it’s a success.

Local Knowledge 

It’ll help immeasurably if you have some knowledge of the new area in which you’re planning to open your store. This is because the location of your new store will have a huge impact on the overall success of the venture, so you’ll need to know where you should be looking for retail space! If you don’t know the area well enough to do this, then look at working with someone who does. Having a local guiding you through the ins and outs of the area can help a lot, not just with finding the space but other insider info that can be helpful.

Market Research

Your business model clearly must work if you’ve had success in one area. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll find success in other areas. The formula that worked in your first location may not work in the second. It might, but there are no guarantees. You’ll only know what will work and what won’t once you’ve conducted your market research for your new area. You should be as thorough as you were when you started your own venture. Is there a market for your store? Is there competition? What price should you sell items at? And so forth. 

Transporting Items

You’ll likely have a warehouse or something similar where you currently store your items. Once you open a second location, you’ll need to figure out how you’re going to get your items to the new place. How you do it will depend on where the location is. If it’s relatively nearby, then you may just deliver directly to the store from your warehouse. If it’s far away, then you’ll need to find a warehouse and find a way to ship your items there. Freight is usually the way to go, so learn more about truckload freight shipping when you’re in the planning stage. You’ll also need to come up with an efficient system so that the new store always has stock.

Employee Issues 

You’ll likely need to hire new employees for your store. However, it’s recommended that you send at least one person who is familiar with your current store. This could be you or someone who has worked at the store for a while and knows how it works. The task will be to hire and train new employees and establish the overall culture of the business. Once that’s done, they can return to the first location. 

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