No doubt, major companies like McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) and Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) spend millions on finding the right locations for their stores. It's critical to their success.

In fact, in today's turbulent economy, location is probably even more important.

OK, but what if you don't have a huge budget to research the location of your new business?

Well, the good news is that there is a free web-service that can help out: ZoomProspector.

"Our database covers all cities and counties in the US," said Chad Catacchio, the marketing director at ZoomProspector. "A key part of our data comes from working with local governments over the past ten years."

For example, you can search for an area that has 50% of the workforce that is white collar; where median income is $50,000; or where there is an airport nearby. What's more, you can search for areas that have enterprise zones, which can provide your business with some nice incentives.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) will be keeping its Fayetteville, Arkansas location to be near to number-one customer Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT). One of the world's largest consumer goods conglomerates won't be, however, moving into Bentonville, the global headquarters of the world's largest retailer. While other retailers have moved into offices inside Bentonville city limits, P&G chose to stay in Fayetteville and open additional office space. After all, Bentonville is only 45 minutes up the road, and P&G management seems more interested in employee satisfaction than being geographically joined at the hip with its largest customer.

P&G officials set up shop in Fayetteville just under 20 years ago due to the combination of the university town (UA is there) as well as a ready-made setup of office space. In other words, Fayetteville was the place to be 20 years ago in terms of a town ready to accept the office needs of global Wal-Mart customer P&G. Today, Bentonville looks like a Las Vegas-style hotel metropolis and the skyline has transformed that once-small country town. Still, P&G remains committed to Fayetteville, where it has been since 1988. Its global headquarters remain in Cincinnatti, Ohio.

The reasons sound like they come from an small business employer who cares about employees, not from a billion-dollar Lafley & Co. merchandise powerhouse. Quality schools, health care and overall quality of life for employees are the reasons that are being cited for P&G's decision to stay in Fayetteville. Another reason: recruiting from the nearby University of Arkansas. With the company owning 22 billion-dollar brands, it sells about 15% of that figure annually to Wal-Mart.