Is it a good idea to open a pizza parlor in a small town? -

I live in a small town (actually a village) of 200 people. There is a post office, nothing else. I own a commercial building which has been used for storage mostly, in direct view of a well traveled road (maybe 15000 cars a day, guessing. People travel this road to and from work constantly) but it is 5 miles from any other restaurants. We are considering opening a convenience store / pizza / sub shop there. Does anyone have any suggestions before I sink my savings on this venture? There is a pizza place 8 miles away for sale in a town of about 800 people that did very well until a godfathers moved into town. Also, nobody delivers any food anywhere within 10 miles of my location. It may not matter, but I am also located right next to the village post office. Any help will be appreciated!

i think it will work i used to live in a village (shafter, tx.pop 9 at the time.no joke.)and when we wanted to go out to eat we went to the closest place (about 12 mi) because it was all there was.better stuff was farther away, but we just didnt want to drive any longer than we had to.good luck!

You have some research to do on your own. Consider:CompetitionLocationDemandCosts (Marketing mediums/distribution/building/etc)4 P s of marketing (product/price/promotion/place)Sounds like a big investment. If you are REALLY that unsure you may want to pay a marketing research firm to do research for you to determine if it has potential to be a profitable business.ALSO: May be good idea to look up the average income of people in your area and the amount of disposable income they have. Especially in these hard times. The way you market the place is going to be important. Is it going to be a place with higher premium pricing or a affordable place for people with lower income?

I say go for it!!!Do your research and come up with a good marketing plan.You only live once and if you dont do it you will always wonder what couldve been!!All the best

This might or might not help. But I live in a village of around 250 people, about 5 miles from a town of 1950 people that has a bar that sells really good pizza (but doesn t deliver) and a Subway, and a convenience store. Several years ago someone built a pizza shop in our town (across the road from the post offfice). They also sold coffee and pastries in the morning. Their pizza was about average, not great, not bad. It didn t last long. It has now reopened as a six-pack carryout place (beer only, no hard liquor, this is PA), with a lunch counter area that has subs and soup, and a few outside tables in the summer. They seem to be doing very well.Things to think about:Do you have experience running a pizza place? a c-store?Are there enough people nearby to make a c-store viable? Your prices will have to be higher than other outlets for the same products, because your costs will be higher.Will that Godfathers pizza cut into your potential business too?How many pizzas/subs will you have to sell a day to make it worthwhile, and is the number realistic?Write a business plan, and see what it looks like.Good luck.