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It’s an exciting time for a business; moving from an online only presence to proper commercial premises. But this is a period that is known for making or breaking businesses. If you move to early, you’ll lose momentum and start losing money. If you leave it too late, you could hinder your own long term growth. Before you make the decision to move your business, take these into consideration.
Are You Big Enough?
If you’re a one person business, that can operate happily from a home office, you don’t need to move. If you can conduct business with your staff over the Internet, instead of face to face, you might not need a dedicated building.
Your business needs to fill whatever space you choose for it, otherwise you’re wasting money. So if you move too early, when you’re still a small business, you risk burning up all of your profit before you even start to grow.
Will It Help You Generate More Income?
As stated above, when you move to a building, you ideally want to fill it. This means that you’ll need to hire more staff. But workers are expensive. This extra expense can work out to more than you’re earning, devastating your profitability.
Companies often find that moving to a brick and mortar store does absolutely nothing for their income. Customers are used to using your online store, and you have a good reputation on the web. But if you’re not big enough, customers won’t know or trust your high street store.
If your online site is growing and gaining more customers, that’s where your focus should be. Spending time on a big project like a physical base can distract you from working on what you’ve already got. It doesn’t take long for a website to lose momentum and flop.
Can You Afford It?
It’s great if you can afford a deposit and to rent or own the premises, but this isn’t the only factor. There’s so many expenses to think about, and it’s different for every type of business.
The building will be expensive to run. You’ll have power and water bills, which can’t be predicted. As well as building maintenance and connectivity. A lot of these costs are surprises, and you need to account for them before you make a move.
Any extra staff you want to hire will cost money. You’ll need to hire a recruitment agency first, and pay them fees for the staff they find. And then you have to pay the staff members. If your profit is variable every month, take only the lowest months as your guide.
Customers expect a shop to be fully stocked, which means that you will have to buy more stock than you might need. This can be expensive, considering the size of most product ranges.
Risk Assessment
There is risk involved in a move like this. So, you need to evaluate the risk, and act accordingly. If you’ve been working at your business for several years, and it’s only just taking off, is it worth risking it all for quicker growth?
Be very careful when making a decision like this, and do all of the research you can. You can always seek advice to guide you, if you’re uncertain that you’re ready to take on this challenge.