If you own a successful business, you know how much work it took to get to where it is today. Sometimes, the only way to grow is to open a new business in another city. It can expose your products or services to a new audience by increasing your customer base.
It can be a scary decision to make. You know you will have to work just as hard to launch in a new city as you did in the beginning. However, you know the growth will be worth it. Here are five steps for expanding your business into a new city.
Get an address in the city
If you want to establish yourself in a new city, you must have an address there. Potential clients will be wary of doing business with a company serving one city but using an address elsewhere. That is where companies like iPostal1 come in.
iPostal1 takes care of the delivery of your mail and packages for you. You can see what you have on their website and app and have it forwarded to you or discarded. It is a great way to establish yourself in the city that will soon be home, even if you haven’t physically moved there yet.
Make a plan
Before running off to a new city and opening a new branch of your business, you need a plan. Do you currently have the money to open this location without putting yourself in serious debt? Have you done market research to find out if your product or service is a good fit for the new site? These things have to be looked at before you can go.
Review the law
Some businesses do not fit in particular cities because of legal problems. Look at all the local laws and statutes of the city you are going to and be sure your business doesn’t violate any of them.
Tax laws and sales tax is something else you should examine. Those laws change by the state and by the city. Knowing what you are getting into beforehand will save you a lot of hassle later.
Hire a local staff
Put ads out on job searching websites as soon as possible. You want to have a staff before you open your doors to the public. You can ask key staff members if they’d like to relocate, but you shouldn’t depend on that. You must staff with local people to ensure you can operate smoothly on day one.
Establish your location
Before opening a business, you have to find the physical location where it will be. Finding the proper space can be tricky since you will have specific requirements you will need to meet. Finding a place that fits will take a lot of work to accomplish on the road, so you may have to head to your new city and stay there until you find what you need.
Before you go
Moving to a new city is a big step for any business. Establish yourself now with a local address and proper market research to start building relationships with that city’s people.