“Location. Location. Location.”
Before online checkouts, easy highway access and a Quiktrip on every corner, the location you chose for your business mattered. Convenience mattered. The right rent in the right neighborhood was like printing money. And while you can still run a business driven by your location, commerce moves faster now. 135th Street isn’t a pasture any more. Neighborhoods decay. Every year the suburbs stretch further north and south. New shopping centers pop up to greet the new housing developments. If you can’t pick up and move with them, your geographically-based business is in for lean times.
“Community. Community. Community.”
More stable than basing your business on geography, but decidedly more difficult to build is a business based on community. These businesses don’t try to please everyone in Kansas City. Instead, they cater to those few who are eager to belong. These are businesses that thrive because they’re worth the drive. Their customers are will to pay more because these businesses give them a sense of community. In Kansas City, The Local Pig is one of these businesses. Difficult to find. Well off the beaten path. Not for everyone. But for their drove of shoppers The Local Pig is a declaration of purpose, it says something about you and the group that you chose to belong to.
The Local Pig will never be the largest butcher in town. But they’ll never have to worry about yet another Wal-Mart popping up across the street from them either.
You don’t need the masses to move your business forward. I bet that your year can be fantasically made by a hundred enthusiatic customers. Focus on your community. Make your business remarkable, memorable and the type of organization your fans eagerly brag about. If you succeed, your location will take care of itself.