Why this matters
The first decent space always looks like the answer, because you have nothing to compare it to. Touring one space is shopping; touring three or more is market research. A single daytime visit hides what matters: the block at 8 pm, on a rainy Tuesday, at dead hours.
What "done" looks like
- At least three serious candidates toured in person
- Each visited at peak and dead hours
- Foot or car traffic actually counted, not eyeballed
- A comparison table scoring each space against your requirements sheet
How to do it
- Book three or more tours before deciding anything — comparison is the point.
- Return alone at off hours — a space shown at Saturday noon can be a ghost town at Tuesday 7 pm; go see.
- Count traffic yourself: count walk-bys in fixed 15-minute windows, repeated at the same times at each candidate so numbers compare.
- Inspect the boring systems — electrical capacity, HVAC age, roof stains; in many leases those repairs land on you.
- Talk to the neighbors — nearby tenants will tell you about the landlord, flooding, and real traffic faster than any listing.
Common mistakes
- Touring only at the hour the broker suggests — which is always the flattering one
- Confusing traffic with your traffic: commuters sprinting past buy nothing
- Letting fresh paint and staging mask expensive systems problems
Real-world examples
- Manual traffic counts are a long-standing retail site-selection practice — and an entire foot-traffic analytics industry built on mobile-location data now serves chains, because walk-by volume predicts revenue.
- Chain retailers standardize multi-visit evaluation — the same site scored at different day-parts — because single-visit impressions systematically mislead.
From a founder's point of view
Tours are where confirmation bias does its damage — you've imagined your business in the space before you've left the parking lot. Forcing three candidates and repeat visits isn't indecision; it's building the comparison your brain won't build on its own.
Rule of thumb
Never sign a space you've seen once, and never choose one you couldn't rank against two real alternatives.