“Hey! Are you after some lunch?” asked the young woman on the pavement waving flyers during the 1 pm rush. She gestured to a place on the side street as she tried to lure people down it with the promise of a discount.

Most diners who eat at a restaurant down a side street go there on purpose. They’ve heard about it from a friend or a guide book. Side streets are for the kind of place that doesn’t need flyers or cajoling to get people to visit. Side street businesses give people a good reason to be there.

Every business has a choice. We can build for the main street where we have the chance of being accidentally discovered, or we can build for the side street and give people a reason to come.

Are you hoping to be discovered or giving people a reason to come?

Image by Charles Van den Broek.