Recently I was eating at a new restaurant in my town with my family. It had only been open open a few months. It was a great meal with everyone enjoying what they had. After our meal was finished I happened to spend a few minutes talking to the assistant manager. We discussed how business was going. We also discussed his plans for growing the small business. He mentioned some initiatives they were working on but seemed to indicate they needed more. After a few more pleasantries we concluded our chat and left.

What would you do?

As we were driving away my wife and I discussed what we would do if we owned the business and wanted to grow it. One thing we noted was the location of the business not the optimum for a restaurant. However there were some aspects of the location that could be used to their advantage.

Look Around You

The location is near 3 schools who have several hundred  workers – many of whom may want lunch. We would recommend offering delivery to those locations.

Two of the schools are high schools with students able to go and each lunch off campus.

Additionally there are a number of other retail shopping facilities near this location which also lend traffic in the area. We would engage with a sign dancer on specific locations to get attention.

Can You See Me Now?

The signage needs to be improved. The main sign next to the road is small. We would engage with the property owners to improve the signage and make the restaurant stand out more to those who are driving by.

Share and Share alike

Another easy thing to add is providing a school based discount or a coupon in exchange for a social network share such as a tweet or facebook post that mentions your business. This will get the name out there quickly with others who may have geographical affinity to the site.

 Lessons Learned

Sometimes the simplest solutions are those that are nearest us. In this particular case there are many opportunities for this small business to grow and recruit new customers very near their current location. And many times, those will be the most loyal customers.

Lessons Applied

If you have a business that garners traffic from local sources here are some things to think about in order to grow locally.

• Drive around your business location, and mentally catalog what is near you and which of those entities may be candidates for your services.
• Think about how their needs integrate with your offerings.
• Tailor specific offerings or discounts to those you find.
• Ask loyal customers familiar with the area for ideas.
• Look for opportunities to co-market or other cooperative engagements with other businesses near you.

Any realtor will remind you that location is import. By looking at your location in new ways you may see opportunities for growth right in your own back yard.