Location, Location, Location... Is Overrated
Finding the right location for your business can be one of the most challenging and frustrating aspects of getting it open. Everyone -- and especially your real estate brokers -- will tell you that the fate of your new business hinges on finding that perfect spot.
I beg to differ.
When I decided to start YAS Fitness Centers, I was living in Santa Monica, California, and that's where I planned to open my first gym. I knew the area well, and I knew my target customers lived there. It was a natural thought progression to open there.
However, after a year of rejections for one reason or another -- usually parking -- I was still looking. With 500 people or more coming potentially through the door of a gym each day in car-crazy California, parking turns out to be a much bigger issue than you'd think. And it was only one of many issues.
Of course, price is always a consideration. Santa Monica was a pricey place for a space that fit all my other needs.
Out of sheer frustration, I decided to look in nearby Venice. At the time, parts of Venice were notorious gang areas. I thought neither me, nor anyone I thought would want to go to YAS, would be caught dead in Venice. But I listened to a friend from Monaco who insisted I check out the neighborhood.
I drove down Abbot Kinney Boulevard, which was sort of the border of a rough area. And I saw this beat-up, abandoned building that was covered in graffiti tags. All the windows were broken out. I stopped the car. I thought "Oh my God, this is perfect!" I left my car running in the middle of the street and jumped out to get the real estate broker's name.
I wish I had a picture of the building at that time. The broker's sign was hanging off the roof. The building had been abandoned for three years. (Perry Farrell, the front man from the band Jane's Addiction, was the owner.) I took it!
My friends from Santa Monica said, "Venice? Are you insane?" After close to ten years, some of them have still not come to YAS Venice. So I got new friends. Meanwhile, Venice, and in particular Abbot Kinney, is one of the hottest streets in Los Angeles. How things do change.
Since opening that first location in Venice, I became much more open-minded about where to put other YAS Fitness Centers. My YAS East Costa Mesa location is right next to a Ross "Dress for Less" store. YAS is known for being edgy and hip, so opening in a strip mall next to a Ross might seem like an odd choice. But it works. YAS East Costa Mesa is incredibly popular and no one cares that it's next to a bargain shopping outlet. I actually now look for "up and coming" areas. My YAS Silverlake location is a lot like YAS Venice was.
Don't get me wrong. It wasn't a "you build it they will come" scenario. On my way home every night from doing the build-out for YAS, I would stop by parking lots and put flyers on the cars. Yes, this can be humiliating at times. Especially coming from being a COO of a $200 million dollar company (and a lawyer). I had people yell at me, "Hey lady don't put that on my car!" But you do what you have to do to get people in the door. I also did a teaser ad in Los Angeles Magazine. It read "YAS coming soon" in my signature green. I knew the people I wanted to come to my gym read this magazine. Everything paid off: We opened strong.
The moral of the story? The whole idea of the "perfect" location is overrated.
Kimberly Fowler is founder/CEO of YAS Fitness Centers, a growing chain of yoga and indoor cycling facilities. A motivational/business/fitness expert, Kimberly's a former pro triathlete and lawyer. Follow her on Twitter @kimberlyYAS
Broken window photo courtesy of Flickr/danellesheree, CC 2.0
YAS photo courtesy of YAS Fitness.