Finding the perfect Peterborough location for your business can be overwhelming. There are so many factors to consider in determining what’s right for you. Here are three quick tips to help you through the process.
Building Needs Analysis
It’s really important to identify your ‘must-have’ versus ‘nice to have’ features for your business. This will enable you to quickly assess commercial real estate opportunities to better evaluate potential. Start with a basic list with consideration for building features. This should include things such as overall square footage, ceiling height, shipping doors, parking spaces, office versus warehousing split, type of hydro service, etc. Be sure to consider projected growth over 5 years which is usually the minimum lease most landlords require.
Location
A key consideration is the nature of your business and how location can impact your growth. Are you a destination business that clients will drive to? Are you a retailer that will benefit from the traffic of other businesses located within a plaza or mall? Lansdowne Street continues to be a strong draw for national retailers and that helps expose smaller local businesses to a large shopping population. However, Downtown Peterborough is creating some create experience retail opportunities including specialty stores and dining. And Chemong Road is the up and coming retailer opportunity with the growth of the North End. Look for Portage Place to ‘re-invent’ itself with the recent move and expansion of the LCBO.
Marketing
With the prime locations come ‘prime’ pricing and it’s a temptation for business owners to seek savings through locating in sub-prime locations. This can be a good choice for established businesses or destination businesses. But careful consideration should be given to the cost difference as prime location offer much better visibility and traffic. That equates to marketing power. Remember it can become very expensive to try and attract customers to ‘hidden’ locations through advertising. A business that is visible on Lansdowne receives 24/7 advertising and a lot of drive-by traffic and that simply can make or break a business. Be sure to have a strong marketing strategy and budget if you’re looking to locate outside of Peterborough’s prime commercial districts.
Talk to an Expert
Navigating Peterborough’s commercial real estate market doesn’t need to be complex or frustrating. Solid planning and strategy are key components to success. Peterborough is now on the map for the national retailers and we’ll see more and more big brand stores located in our area soon. This represents a great opportunity for local businesses to leverage more shopping traffic – but securing the perfect location is vital to participate in this growth.
If you’re looking to locate or relocate your business in Peterborough, Feel free to contact me. I’d be happy to meet and help you develop an effective strategy to find the commercial lease location. You can call me, Ken Pipher, directly at 705.933.9191