What would be the most suitable location for a small business to start up In your local area?
I have decided to set up a small business within the area of St Werburghs, this is because of the population being 4,130 and the population is dramatically increasing. The total number crime rates in St Werburghs were a reported 82 incidents committed in January 2014. The majority of the incidents were anti-social behaviour at a staggering number of 34 incidents being reported, drugs only being 2, vehicle and bike thefts a combined 15 reported incidents. These crimes and incidents could have dramatic effect on the success on the business due to potential customers feeling unsafe to purchase my goods or use my services, In contrast to this the number of reported crimes are significantly lower in other areas of Bristol with a link of the areas with higher crime rates has more unsuccessful businesses, due to the mixed diversity within the area this enables me to have a large target market for any business I decide to open.
St Werburghs is a mixed multicultural area the population of the area 56% of the population being white British, 17% of the population being mixed race, 20% of the population being black and 7% being of and Asian background. The average house price of St Werburghs is £163,000 this is potentially due to the level of disposable income being higher than in other areas of Bristol this also gives an indication that the crime level are also lower than one within Bristol due to the average house price being so high as the UK is still in recession. Although the crime rates have risen the house prices haven’t dropped this could be due to the residents earning high income the lower the crime rate whereas the cheaper average house prices could be due to the residents earning lower incomes the level of crime has risen decreasing the value of the houses.
The three businesses I have selected was a gym, bicycle repair shop and a delicatessen. The factors that have persuaded me to choose these three businesses is because the is a huge gap in the market for a gym in St Werburghs because there is not a gym in the area and the closest gym is 1.3 miles from St Werburghs located within Easton which has a high level of crime rates a possible deterrent to people therefore I this why I want a gym In St Werburghs.
I have also chosen a bicycle repair shop because there Is only one within the area, I want to provide a service to many people because I understand how expensive to travel around the ever expanding city many people use bikes to travel around because it cost a lot to buy a car then pay for tax, mot, insurance and extra services petrol is also an expensive factor of a car.
The final business I have chosen is a delicatessen because there are a lot takeaway shops which are unhealthy and some people might prefer to have a healthy substitution rather than takeaway .
To help me select one of the three businesses I have carried out primary research I have chosen a simple tally chart. The reason for choosing a tally chart because I can ask people and tally the information simply, this will give me a clear indication of what business in most needed within the area and the most successful . Throughout my primary research I asked fifty different people from the St Werburghs area about the three businesses if the thought the business would have a positive or negative effect in the area and why, 17 of the 50 people asked said that they would prefer a gym, 13 would prefer a delicatessen and 20 people would prefer to have a bicycle repair shop.
I have also done a focus group to do a more detailed idea or positive and negative impacts of each of the businesses that I have selected. The positive impacts of the bicycle repair shop were that “there are loads of cyclists in St Werburghs who travel to work and school every day”, “It would encourage people to cycle around more and lower the carbon footprint”. Many people said there was only one repair