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RELOCATION OF YOUR BUSINESS

Many factors enter into the decision to relocate a business. A business can be thought of in terms of three components:

(1) the production of a product and/or service
(2) the marketing of that product/service
(3) the customers who consume it

Each of these components will impact the decision to move. (Note: the distinction between product and service is irrelevant in this general context -- whether a business sells a product or a service, it is in any case producing something.)

On the production side, one must look at the availability of resources, both human and otherwise, the legal and regulatory climate as it relates to one's industry, the facilities necessary to accomplish production, and the resultant cost. The resources and regulatory climates of various locales will be dealt with at length in another section of this site. But it is relevant here to consider a few key points with respect to facility planning.

The general issues, insofar as production is concerned, are:

■   Location
■   Size
■   Parking
■   Transportation
■   Availability of power, communications and supplies that include
     personnel, production materials, and miscellaneous vendor
     services, e.g., security systems, waste removal, office vending,
     insurance, plants/art/landscaping, etc.
■   Zoning
■   Layout and Design (i.e., architectural issues, including selection of
     an architect)
■   Telephone and Network infrastructure
■   Furniture and Equipment (lease versus purchase)

On the marketing side, growth objectives must be examined in the light of market conditions and competition. Of course, the availability of marketing personnel will be a consideration and, as with production, various legal, regulatory and facilities issues must be addressed (again, the "production" of a marketing effort is not essentially different from the production of an end product or service, so the facilities issues are in general the same).

In addition, the geographic relationship to one's market will enter the equation. Consider two extremes...In the case of a mail-order business, the location of one's market is the nearest post office. In the case of a gas station, the situation is different. And, once again, this relationship to one's market will greatly affect facilities planning.