Location Comparison Worksheet: Compare Two Sites Before a Lease

Before choosing between two premises, compare the same business concept and customer need at both addresses. This worksheet helps you keep observed facts, estimates and missing information beside the decision they affect.

Download the free worksheet as an editable text file, or copy the table below into your working document. No email address or account is needed to use it.

Business concept: __________
Intended customer: __________
Decision owner: __________
Review date: __________

Question	Candidate A	Candidate B	Source / date / uncertainty
Address and comparable catchment
Customer population and relevant demographics
Walking, driving and transport access
Direct competitors and strength of incumbents
Complementary businesses and relevant activity
Busyness patterns, where supported
Rent, rates, fit-out and operating constraints
Strongest reason to choose this site
Main reason to reject or investigate it

Complete the comparison

1. Choose the same concept and a comparable geographic scope for both candidates. A drive-time catchment and a demographic radius can describe different areas; record each boundary explicitly.
2. Record the source and observation date for each fact. Mark estimates clearly, and leave unsupported values unknown.
3. Identify missing information that could change your decision. Assign each question an owner and a review date.
4. Visit the area at relevant times. Verify practical access, the premises, lease terms and operating constraints.
5. Decide whether to investigate A, investigate B, or advance neither. Record the evidence behind the decision.

Next fact to verify: __________
Owner: __________
Due: __________
Decision and reason: __________

A worked example of an unresolved comparison

Suppose Candidate A has stronger demographic fit but its access evidence is incomplete. Candidate B has more visible competitors but a better-understood commute. Neither observation settles the lease decision.

For A, record the access question beside the demographic evidence: can the intended customer reach the entrance at the relevant trading times? For B, inspect whether the discovered competitors serve the same customer and format. A broad competitor count can include substitutes that affect the offer differently.

Advance the candidate only when the unresolved facts and commercial terms support the concept. A score or attractive population figure is decision support, not a forecast of customers or success.

Use location evidence alongside property diligence

Start with trade area analysis to define a useful customer boundary. The retail site-selection guide provides a broader screening workflow.

For an example of evidence that still requires validation, see the Denver coworking-space screen. It keeps demographic context, competition and contradictory access signals visible before a premises decision.

Generate a free site analysis with Locus to investigate an address. Keep rent, fit-out, lease conditions and field observations beside the location evidence; verify those constraints before committing.

You can also watch the Locus map-workflow demo to see how location evidence is explored.

Method and limitations

This is a comparison aid, not a market forecast or a recommendation to sign a lease. Use sources appropriate to the location, record their dates and geographic scope, and keep conflicting evidence visible. Ratings, busyness proxies and discovered competitors do not establish revenue, measured footfall or market share.