Critical Ideas For Growing Your Company

(Part I)

Imagine with me for a moment… You’ve just started your own company. You have dreams of making the big time – hundreds of employees, unique office space, cool kids breaking down your door to work for you. In every way, it’s all about your growing company.

Then reality hits you smack dab in the face. You’re too big to be in shared space. Sadly, you’re too small for your own space. The company name is not the most well-known on campus. As a result, recruiters from Goggle have you beat on the cool-kid factor. You’re looking for space that works for you. However, you have a real job to do that takes up way more of your time than you ever imagined.

Then what do you do? Quit? Put your head under the sand? Speaking of sand, maybe head to the Bahamas for a nice, long vacation? It’s likely that none of those options will pay your bills. So, maybe thinking through a few critical needs for your growing company is in order.

1.) Growing? Location, location, location!

We’ve all heard it before, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Finding the ideal location is a challenge often best left to the professionals. However, it still involves input from you.

Spend some time answering a few questions. Where are your competitors? Do you receive supplies coming from around the world or locally? Are your clients local or global or somewhere in between?

And that’s just the business questions! What about your human resources? Where do you recruit your talent? Do they want to live and where they work? Who do you compete with in a competitive recruiting market? Are there local universities that might be a good source of talent?

This list of questions just scratches the surface, but it’s a place to start.

2.) Amenities! What growing companies need!

And, while we’re on the subject of your talent, amenities for your staff are also key considerations. Everyone thinks they’d like a large slide in the middle of their very colorful, contemporary space.

However, before you design (and pay) for that, ask yourself some serious questions. Can you define your company culture? What do you value – Collaboration? Focus and detail? Walkability? Bike-ability? Work/life balance?

Who are your clients? Lawyers and accountants may respond differently to your slide than autonomous car designers. In other words, there may be better ways to reach out to talent and clients. Art and culture may be amenities that appeal more to your staff, while proximity to night life might appeals to others.

There is no right answer, because every organization is different. Above all, because every organization is different, asking the questions is an important step in the process.

Come back again next week for Part II…