Often, a major, cosmopolitan city like New York City, Los Angeles or London can seem like a go-to place for starting a new business, almost regardless of its specialism. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you can just choose your personal favorite city and leave it at that.
True, choosing a highly populous city for your business base can be very advantageous. Still, you should do some groundwork of your own to make sure the right boxes are getting ticked.
Are there enough business opportunities locally?
If you will be setting up a whole new business – rather than relocating an existing one – in that city, you should carefully assess what types of business would be viable there. Paid blogging, for example, has its perks when there are plenty of local restaurants, shops and more to write about.
Other city-friendly entrepreneurial ideas suggested by Business News Daily include owning rental property and taking sellable photographs of fashions and foods.
Will you have access to the resources you need?
In a small town or city, it can be difficult to quite get an otherwise promising business off the ground simply due to local resources being at a premium. However, big cities can be much more abundant in resources – like investment groups and venture capital funds, as AllBusiness.com notes.
Though the relevance of local sources has been slowly eroded thanks to the internet, simply being physically close to those resources could give you that crucial edge in actually obtaining them.
Is there enough of the right local talent?
Naturally, populous cities often stay that way – populous – due to the huge variety of opportunities they offer, opportunities that can seem elusive to inhabitants of smaller settlements.
This can all bode well for your business, as you can enjoy a larger talent pool from which to pick your next recruits. It’s especially convenient that big cities are typically home to numerous universities, meaning that the reliable supply of talent can just keep coming.
Will your staff enjoy a good quality of life here?
Quality of life is more than about whether your staff would enjoy having a variety of theatres and museums on their doorstep, appealing though those local attractions can be. You mustn’t overlook the little things, such as how easily your staff can get to work, as this Inc. article implies.
A particular office space might look convenient to you, perhaps due to low rental charges or convenient parking spots nearby, but you need to see things from your workers’ point of view, too.
Can you network to unlock further opportunities?
The networking opportunities are other oft-vaunted merits of going down the big-city route, but the exact location you should choose might depend on the sector in which you will be active.
For example, if you will be working in finance or banking, consider renting one of the serviced offices in the City of London from BE Offices. The world’s largest institutions in these industries will be comfortably close.
City stock photo by Jeremy Reddington/Shutterstock
