One question small business owners often face is where they should open their business. Should they open in one town, or the town next door?

In making that decision, business owners may want to find out as much they can about the market in a particular city or town.

• For example, how many people (potential customers) live there?
• What is their average household income (how much money will they have to spend on your product)?
• How many other businesses are there in your industry (how much competition will you face)?
• And do the people living in the area match your target market? If you’re planning on opening a store selling baby clothes, for example, it might be important to know the percentage of families with young children.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s American FactFinder database is a good place to look for this kind of information.

It’s free to use and easy to navigate.

Spending a few minutes on the site can provide a wealth of information to help inform your decision about where to locate your small business.

Click here to view the American FactFinder database.

At the Division of Small Business, we want to help you start or grow your business in Delaware.

Contact us to see how we can help you.