Q:
Describe the three typical locations for service firms.
The three typical locations for services are: at the client's location, at a mutually accessible location, and at your firm's location.
At the Client's Location: Typically, these services include things such as house or office cleaning, pest control, remodeling, lawn and gardening services, carpet cleaning, and similar services which must be performed at the client's location. Reliable transportation, preferably modified to organize and store tools efficiently, is imperative. More importantly, the range of your client's locations must be planned to prevent transportation times from being unmanageable. As the firm grows, it may outgrow its home-based headquarters. As your clients seldom, if ever, visit you, you have more latitude in where you can be located and the ability to seek out low-cost space. Reasonable distance to the clients and adequate storage room for your expanded fleet and equipment are essential to choosing a site.
Mutually Accessible Location: Services using this approach often have too much specialized equipment to be readily transported and a need for at least some client involvement. Even though your service may be traditionally located in a mutually accessible area, consider what you might do to make it home-based. You might generate clientele by being located in a shopping center, but will the added sales be offset by the high cost of rent, utilities, insurance, and other payments? Can you offer pickup and delivery and do the work at home?
