Location can play a key role in the trajectory of your coffee business. A well-thought-out location strategy will help set you up for long-term success, ensuring your coffee shop franchise or independent store is given the chance to thrive.
There are a number of factors to think about when choosing the perfect coffee shop location. Here are some of the key considerations.
How to Choose the Right Location For Your Coffee Shop Business
Choosing the best location isn’t just about picking whatever is available, there’s a little more planning you need to do first.
- Understand your target audience
- Research the demand in the area
- Align with the surrounding businesses
- Think about your branding
- Prioritise visibility
- Consider the size of the store
- Ensure accessibility
- Pay attention to the terms of the lease
- Consider your budget
Understand Your Target Audience
One of the first steps is building a good understanding of who your intended customers are and what they want. You’ll want to establish a store where you can capture the right foot traffic, likely making the most of commuter and student demographics.
Get a thorough picture of the community and how they navigate local spaces. Consider the routes that potential customers will travel to and from each day or hot spots that see lots of students or other groups pass through. The ideal coffee shop location will be perfectly situated to catch your customer base at the right time of day.
Research the Demand in the Area
To establish whether a particular location is going to work for you, you’ll also need to understand the local demand for your products and services. If you are planning to offer food, for example, you should research the types of other food businesses in the area, such as sandwich shops or cafes.
Once you understand more about the other local businesses, you should consider whether the market is oversaturated. To thrive as a coffee business, you need to ensure that the products you provide are in high demand and that you stand out from competitors.
Align with the Surrounding Businesses
The right neighbouring business can help or hinder your profitability, so this is another important area of consideration. The type of coffee shop you want to create ideally needs to be amongst other businesses that appeal to a similar customer base without being direct competitors.
Coffee businesses work especially well when situated near libraries, offices, bookstores, shopping centres or activity centres – all places where frequent visitors might want somewhere close where they can grab a pick-me-up or find a cosy spot to relax.
Think About Your Branding
This ties into the above consideration. How your brand will fit into the local scene should be at the forefront of your mind. Consider how local patrons will respond to your brand’s ethos and image.
The businesses around you should reflect a similar perspective to your establishment. If you’re keen to offer Fairtrade and ethically sourced produce, it makes sense to set yourself among other like-minded businesses such as organic food shops or sustainable lifestyle stores.
Prioritise Visibility
A viable location must be in a highly visible spot, appealing to a wide variety of demographics in your customer base. You will need to think about balancing initial success and the long-term growth offered by a particular location. There is no point in having big plans for physical store expansion if you can’t attract a steady stream of customers from the start.
Consider the realities of the amount of foot traffic your store will see. A spot in a shopping centre or complex might be your goal, but if it’s tucked away in a corner with low visibility that doesn’t get many people passing through, you won’t see the returns you hope for.
Consider the Size of the Store
If you find a location that ticks all of the above boxes you’re off to a good start but you’ll still need to consider whether the size and general layout of the space will suit your needs.
Your chosen store location must have decent workspaces to house coffee machines and other equipment. Not to mention a practical kitchen area if you’re planning on serving breakfast and lunch menus.
To ensure you can create a cosy, relaxing space, you’ll also need plenty of floor space for various seating options. You may also want to think about the possibility of outdoor seating and whether there is sufficient space.
Ensure Accessibility
Your coffee shop should be a welcoming and inclusive environment for all of your potential customers.
This means looking for locations that have or can facilitate step-free access, as well as an interior infrastructure that will allow for easy access for wheelchair users.
Pay Attention to the Terms of the Lease
Carefully consider the terms of the lease as you’ll need to be aware of potential rent increases, insurance requirements, maintenance terms and more. Your monthly lease payments will contribute to your overheads so any additional costs must be accounted for from the start.
Consider Your Budget
Following on from this, the major factor that will determine your choice of location will likely be cost. The most successful coffee shop locations often find a balance between the factors above and cost considerations, ultimately prioritising what is affordable and what is profitable.
If you work with a franchise, they’ll often be able to negotiate better deals for your coffee shop site as part of your franchise agreement.
How Can Esquires Coffee Help?
As a leading coffee franchise, we understand how challenging it can be to choose a store location that meets all the essential requirements.
We provide each of our franchisees with support in a range of areas, including thoroughly researching and securing the right location and helping with lease negotiation. We do this on behalf of each franchisee to ensure you get the best start when opening your coffee shop with us.
With decades of industry experience, we know what it takes to open a great coffee shop and all of our franchise partners will have access to this expertise.
Esquires Coffee Franchise Locations
Esquires Coffee has stores all over the UK, and we’re always on the lookout for keen entrepreneurs to help further expand our reach. We’re currently particularly interested in developing new stores located in the northwest and northeast of England, including hotspots like:
- Chester
- Liverpool
- Blackpool
- Preston
- Carlisle
- Middlesbrough
- Durham
- Hull
Want to find out more about our franchising opportunities and how we could help you build your dream coffee shop? Fill in our application and our franchise team will be in touch to discuss the next steps.
