Starting your business over in a new city can feel scary or liberating. Now more than ever, we are seeing small business owners willing to relocate due to the inability to run their business. With many states being in lockdown over the past twelve months, many have opted to relocate to more economically open areas. This can present some unique challenges and opportunities though.
Starting Over with Networking
When you start over, oftentimes you may not know anyone in the new city you are moving to. This is where leveraging the power of networking can be important. There are always one to two people who are great connectors. These are the people that understand the power of introductions and are cheerleaders for others’ success. Finding those people often can act as a huge catalyst for business growth.
Leverage Social Media
From Clubhouse to Facebook and Instagram, there are fantastic platforms to connect in a time when there are fewer than normal in-person events for networking. Whether you are trying to connect with potential clients or other businesses in your space, make sure you are using best practices on these platforms. Hashtags work great on Instagram but not so much on Facebook. Clubhouse as one of the newest kids on the block offers exponential growth for creatives relocating to a new city or region of the country.
The biggest thing to remember when using social media to move into a new market is that you need to play nice with others. This is in a way your first impression that you are putting out there. It is often easy to let fear of failure take hold but you need to realize that there is enough work for everyone out there.
Staffing in a New City
One of the biggest challenges of moving your business is finding good people to hire. From the concern over personal health to the fact that many are making more from unemployment and stimulus checks, it is really hard to locate and keep quality people. One of the best ways to go about finding great people to hire is to again leverage that network that you are starting to build. Someone will always know someone who is looking for a job that has the skill set or the drive to learn that skill set. You just have to ask.
Savings
When looking to start over in a new location, it is best to have a few months of savings tucked away. There is no guarantee that you will start booking new clients immediately and it is easier to keep fear at bay when you have money saved for emergencies and living expenses. Dave Ramsey is one of our go tos for tips and tricks on how to do this.
Hustle
You cannot afford to sit on your butt! Moving takes more effort because you are in some ways starting from square one. Over the past twelve years of moving a business, on average it takes 6 months of hard hustle to seen major gains and spikes. This is why we always start this process six months out from an actual move to a new place. For more on that and how to announce you are moving, head here.
