Riddle me this...(musings on why questions are good)

When choosing a business partner, it's best to choose someone who compliments you. Not in that Jerry McGuire, you complete me, dire sort of way, but yeah...kind of like that. You'll need a business partner that can round out your strengths and smooth our your weaknesses. This may seem like common sense, but it really does come in handy when you're ready to sign your life away on some dotted line...like when you're ready to find a space for a brick and mortar location for instance.

This is when I discovered that Mia is very very good at one thing (among other things), and that is, she's not afraid to ask a bajillion questions.

Settling on a lease is not something to be rushed or to be taken lightly. It's serious business, and you have to research the heck out of the place and ask lots and lots and lots of questions. Right now, we're not talking about reading the fine print on a lease agreement (that's for later). We're talking about, making the intelligent decision on WHERE to settle your establishment.
We looked at a dozen or more places in different neighborhoods in Toronto before settling on good ol 2842. I, normally impulsive by nature, pretty much fell in love with all the places we looked at. Whereas Mia, insisted we roam the streets and ask around...

We talked to other business owners, miscellaneous people on the street, and got their candid opinions and feedback. Did they think our business would work in this neighborhood? What do you think of our services? How is their business going on this stretch of the street? Would you buy our product if we were here? Some of the feedback we got was very candid indeed. In fact, some of it was priceless, as we could have, in retrospect totally ended up in no man's land and a failed business.

Now remember, opinions, like french fries, should be taken with a grain of salt, and of course, just because someone has an opinion doesn't mean it's right. But when a fellow shop-keep tells you, "This street has no foot traffic", and opon further observation you notice, uhm...yeah, no one is walking by this street front, you should take heed.


What's that you say? You can get all that demographic information through Statistics Canada?? Well yeah...sure you can, and all of that is also useful information. But there's nothing like reaching out to people, read: potential or non-potential customers on a street level. So, get out there. Talk to people, ask them questions. Get feedback and ideas along the way. Why not take an impromptu street survey - you'll be surprised at how willing and open most people are help you out.

Also, check to see if the area you are looking for has a local B.I.A. (Business Improvement Areas) . The B.I.A. offices can provide you with a wealth of information about upcoming developments and initiatives in their business area, as well as info on the neighborhood itself.

What I learned: "Sometimes questions are more important than answers" - Nancy Willard (American poet and writer).

For some reason, talking about Mia and the B.I.A. made me think about this song...enjoy!