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 often 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 a foot-traffic analytics industry built on mobile-location data now serves chains. Walk-by volume can inform revenue estimates, but traffic quality and conversion also matter.
- Some chain retailers use multi-visit evaluations, scoring the same site at different day-parts, because a single visit may give a misleading impression.
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.
