From The Ground Up: Starting a Brick-and-Mortar Location

Sep 11

Scaling a brick-and-mortar business involves several stages of development, reflection adjustment, and growth. Throughout each stage, the key to success is careful collaboration with vendors, including real estate professionals, graphic designers, signage vendors, architects, and interior designers. Our team at Erin Morris wants to help you through this process.

The process includes unique challenges, objectives, and rewards for visionaries and vendors. When embarking on the brick-and-mortar journey, here is what you should expect to encounter.

Stage 1: Blank Slate

Visionaries without prior experience may find the initial dive into the brick-and-mortar space daunting. While charting into unknown territory, it may seem challenging to navigate the process, and conform to the palette and technical demands of a built environment, all while satisfying stakeholders. Though it is an exciting time for vendors to offer their expertise, they should seek to understand the client’s needs, recognizing that the best outcome for their clients is the top priority.

The extent of discovery at this stage depends on the amount of envisioning already completed by the founding team. If the visionary has already secured its financial capital or has a solid existing identity (like an existing brand’s first stand-alone store), including vision, mission, culture, and values, the number of decisions at hand is limited. Regardless, this stage requires extensive interpretation and vendor collaboration to define the brand and plan moving forward. working with quality vendors with empathy, taste, and experience is critical, especially if the visionary does not have a team familiar with brick-and-mortar construction for internal decision-making.

Stage 2: Perfect/Ideal

Once the first one or two locations are open, the vendors and visionary will begin to assess areas for improvement and adjust for growth opportunities, learning from outcomes of decisions made in stage one. For example, a restaurant concept starting on a tight budget without a complete strategy for back-of-house staffing may realize that it needs to segment into different zones for more separation between stations, or that the opposite could be true- that the staff would be better utilized working more laterally. In this process of perfecting systems, it is critical not to overcorrect and to think through the operational outcomes of the pendulum swinging in the other direction. With feet on the ground in the brick-and-mortar space, the visionary typically now has more expertise, some of the answers to questions posed in stage one, a growing internal team, and a sense of empowerment.

Stage 3: The Dial In

After gaining perspective and refining the business model, now is the time to dial in. By this point, priorities and team responsibilities are clear, and communication is consistent. Startups should remain in this stage for some time, adapting each location when necessary and building a menu of design standards. Vendors should focus on service and organization, responding to shifting client priorities while prioritizing quality control and relationship management as client teams bring on additional team members.

It is crucial to maintain brand integrity during this stage, as financial pressures can often strip it away. Additionally, the brand should update its design and standards to stay relevant and ensure consistency across locations.

Stage 4: The Operationalization

With a pause or a slowing down in growth, the operationalization stage is an optimal time to look at how the business runs through internal evaluation and data collection. Though vendors may experience decreased demand, this dormancy is typically temporary, as growth will continue in the future.

Stage 5: The Butterfly

Following dialing in and reflecting internally, typically, a period of growth occurs. Data regarding leasing metrics, customers and employees, and more brings insight into what works well and what does not, resulting in a refined understanding of the optimal business model. By this stage, some vendors have worked together for years and have an excellent shorthand with one another, along with a clear understanding of the client’s priorities.

Stage 6: The Event

The final and most long-awaited stage is acquisition. Following a long journey of building the business, this is the rewarding (although often daunting) moment when the visionary relinquishes control. For the client team, new ownership brings uncertainty. Vendors, who have likely anticipated this moment, will either continue the relationship under a new regime or move in a different direction.

A brick-and-mortar startup is a complex journey that demands careful planning, collaboration, and adaptation. From the initial blank slate to the final acquisition, each stage presents unique challenges and opportunities. Success relies on strong vendor relationships, staying true to core values, and refining strategies. By thoughtfully navigating these stages and leveraging expert support, entrepreneurs can turn their vision into a thriving, sustainable business.

Erin Morris