When it comes to business areas and public parking where you need it, Port Stanley
would seem to be having a hard time supplying enough parking to meet the demands
of it's mainly boom or bust tourist economy. If you don't believe me just take a
look in one of the busy business areas around town and watch for yourself what happens.
Having enough space to let people access and move around any area is the ultimate
goal of any business trying to make a buck. Your only limitations are having enough
space!
Bigger places like towns with enough population or cities help with this problem
of space by making it easier to get to these spaces by some sort of public transportation.
Public transportation solves that problem of parking for all those people that want
to access the variety of spaces that any place may have thus creating increased business
versus a place that doesn't offer any kind of public transportation.
Places that don't offer any type of public transportation have an exact limit on
how many people access their business, and if you think your not getting your fair
share of business then you may be having a problem getting people through your door.
Having enough sidewalks and parking is priority one in making a buck, and if your
location doesn't offer that then a change is definitely required to turn things
around. Only two options are really available in this scenario, either move and find
a spot that does have enough parking, or create more parking in the area where your
business is already located.
The second option is somewhat more difficult to achieve mostly due to the high cost
or availability of space that could be also available to use as parking. Having
to create parking for your customers could also be a project that you may not be
able to afford alone and would have to involve other business owners or some sort
of government for aid in improving this parking issue. Finding the right balance
of space for people and parking is also an ongoing issue that should be incorporated
into some sort of government planning program that should be getting improved and
updated over time. The best ways to plan to increase your customer base is use a
mall as a model to visualize how customers get attracted to and then get access
to your business. Things like location make a huge difference on the amount of success
or failure for your company. Any issue that makes it more difficult for customers
to access your business and spend their cash are things that have to be dealt with
or face the consequences.
Another problem that you may face if you do create parking on your own or with a
small group that won't become apparent until things get busy, such a warm sunny
weekend, is the fact that other businesses will now be taking advantage of that
extra parking that you thought would be for your customers alone is now become a
public free for all parking spot for whoever gets there first. If you don't believe
me just take a few minutes of your time and watch in these spots that have substantial
customer parking, it won't be long before you realize that all the people parking
in these lots don't all visit those businesses, and only use the parking lot for
other purposes.
By thinking ahead and using a mall as a model for your scenario you can incorporate from the beginning,
or at any time along the way, all the details and adjustments to the plan that will
first get those would be customers to visit and then to provide them with an easy
enjoyable experience that will make them want to return for more.