It is indeed a happy development when your business expands to the point where it has outgrown its current location. Yet even such good news comes with complications and new challenges to meet in order to take full advantage of your business growth. When it comes time to expand and relocate your business, here are some of the basic things to consider:
The Cost
Obviously moving from one place to another cannot be done for free. Therefore you have to have a clear understanding of how much money you have to spend on a move. Are there any financial incentives available to defray some of the costs, such as government tax breaks or subsidies? What size building can you afford to purchase? Will there be renovation expenses such as hiring a painting company to spruce the place up? Will you be handling the property yourself or will you need a facility management company? The list of possible expenses can be quite lengthy, so make sure you have factored in all financial considerations regarding your move.
Location
How much your new place will cost may have a great deal to do with where you relocate. It’s no surprise that better locations involve higher costs. In some businesses the location doesn’t matter much, but in others such as retail, restaurants or service companies it can mean a matter of life or death. Be sure you know what category you fall into by considering the following: How convenient is this location to my clients/customers? How convenient will it be to my employees? Know the answers to these questions before you even start to look for a place to relocate.
Traffic and Accessibility
Part of determining the right location involves how easy it is to travel to your new location. Chances are few of your customers are within walking distance, which means they will be driving there. Are the directions to get there easy and straight forward or are they complicated and hard to find? Is there enough parking? People are surprisingly hesitant to go into unfamiliar areas and hate to drive around looking for parking so buy accordingly.
Care and Maintenance
Since your new place is going to be bigger than the facility you are managing now you will have to figure out how much additional trouble and expense you will have to go to in order to attain and maintain your business in its new location. If you’ve been handling maintenance yourself can you continue to do so? Perhaps it’s better to turn it over to a facility management company that can hire a painting company, interior decorator or grounds keeping crew to do it all for you so that you can focus on doing business.
These are the challenges that must be considered and successfully met so that your business expansion will be successful.
