A friend of mine asked the WhereCamp team, probably facetiously, “Are the first three rules of location, Real Estate, Real Estate, Real Estate?”
And my answer to him, in all seriousness, is, “Yes.”
It’s no secret right now that the US economy is in pretty serious trouble. The reasons behind this are many and complex, but the situation as it stands is that many banks and other lending institutions are freezing their funds. Money that used to be available as loans or grants to help small companies grow or survive isn’t there any more. The trickle-down effect of this financial meltdown could be catastrophic collapse, as those small businesses that are dependent on external funding are unable to meet their operating budgets. Any way you look at it, the situation is grim, especially for small, young, and start-up businesses.
But there is also potential. Strange though it may sound, I think this is an opportunity for location-based services to find their niche. After all, the one thing every business needs is customers. Much of the money that investors provide is to boost growth, which means giving these businesses ways to reach more customers. Losing those funds, for many businesses, means that they’re going to have to find new ways to engage with their customers. New ways to do their transactions directly with the people who want to purchase their goods or services.
And guess what? Those people, without exception, have one thing in common. Every single one of them has a location. Has friends, neighborhoods, routes, and other businesses that they frequent in the course of their daily lives. Locative services, in all their myriad flavors, have enormous potential to benefit many businesses that are seeking new ways to get together with their customers. They can help business learn their customers’ needs and desires and to integrate their products and services into their users’ lifestyles. That’s how I’d answer my friend… bring your business to your customers, on their real estate!
So there’s the challenge for anyone and everyone in business who’s looking to grow their customer base: start thinking outside the box. Instead of mainstream, old-fashioned marketing and business development, start thinking about how you can relate to your customers directly, on location. Think about how you can bring your products or services to your users, where and when they really need them. And then come to WhereCamp PDX and see how many locative-services experts are ready to help you do just that!
