There are often occasions and circumstances in which it becomes clear that your business is operating out of the wrong place. Rents are too high, the local market is not receptive to your product, you are too remote from your potential customer base – all of these and many more considerations may persuade you that it is time to up sticks and relocate.

And yet you have spent the last so many months, or even years, painstakingly building up your existing clientele, and you know it would be foolish to desert the customers you do have for the uncertainty of finding some new ones. So what to do?

Weigh up the Benefits of Relocating Against the Drawbacks

Moving your business is always a judgment call. Before taking that big and in many ways irreversible decision you will have weighed up all the options and decided that to move makes more sense than to stay. But there will undoubtedly have been “pull” factors in the opposite direction. The trick is to perform a dispassionate and rational analysis of all the pros and cons before making your choice and then sticking with it.

There is also the small matter of moving or replacing your workforce, if you have one. According to the Augusta Free Press around 7,000 businesses in the US employing some 122,000 people relocate each year. If you are replacing staff they will have rights, which will need to be respected. You may also have a personal attachment to them and be reluctant to make them redundant.

The Logistics of Relocation

If you do decide to move and you are taking equipment with you then you will need the services of a reliable mover, such as Bekins Moving Solutions. For local moves the going rate is around $25 per hour, but for greater distances it is likely to be more as there will be added complications involved. It is advisable to have every aspect of the process worked out so that there are no unpleasant surprises.

There are of course a whole number of reasons why a business may choose to relocate. The nature of your product or service may determine that it is better to be situated amongst a different demographic, or in a different climate. Property prices, rents, fees or taxes may vary significantly, impacting upon profit margins which can be crucial especially for small businesses. If there are major factors impeding your progress then the upheaval will probably be worthwhile in the long run.

Retaining Existing Customers

One potential downside of moving your business location is that you may need to cut yourself adrift from the customer base which you have lovingly built up and effectively start again. If at all possible you will want to avoid this. If your dealings with clients are remote rather than face-to-face then this is unlikely to be an issue, but if the latter is the case then it would be a good idea to explore the possibility of altering the nature of your relationship with them so that you might keep in touch, and retain their business. Relocating will be so much easier the more you are able to take with you, especially hard-won clients.