Playbook / Lessons / Expand: new markets

Test a second location with a pop-up before you sign a lease

Brown lists testing new locations among the reasons to run a pop-up store: if you have one shop and are unsure about a second permanent location, you can open a pop-up to try the spot and decide using its sales performance. She says leaping into a full-time space can be risky and cost-prohibitive, and that a pop-up also gives staff direct customer feedback.

“You can open a pop-up shop to test-drive your new location”— Britney Brown, Pop-up Shops in Retail: How to Set up for Success, Jun 2021

Do this

Find a short-term space, market stall or shared counter in the area you are considering, run it for a few days, and compare its sales with what a permanent rent would require.

More in this pack

• Prove demand abroad before you staff an overseas office
• Stay in your first location for the first few years
• Recruit local partners like customers with a filtered list and outreach
• Expand into a client niche close to the one you already serve

Get your plan

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