As your business grows, you may need to find new premises to accommodate additional staff, inventory (ie increased storage and warehousing), enhanced customer facilities, ease of access to transportation linkages or a combination of these or/and many other factors.

When deciding on new premises, you should take into consideration:

• Function – what is the purpose of the new premises? Will it be used to house employees, who will be located there, is storage/warehousing needed, will customers visit or be serviced there?
• Space needed – how many square metres are needed, and what further growth is anticipated? Is there room for expansion within the building or close by?
• Customers – where are your customer located? Are they in a concentrated area, or all over the city/region? Is it easy for customers to access the new premises and/or convenient for your staff to go out and see them?
• Transport – are the necessary transportation linkages (rail, road, airport, port) close by or easily accessible? Are there the proper loading/unloading/dock facilitates if needed? Is public transport close by and/or is there adequate parking?
• Positioning – is there a certain image or reputation your company is trying to project and will this be impacted by where you are located?
• Work environment – what is needed in the work environment? Will it be safe and secure? Modern facilities with natural light? What kind of workspace/offices are needed, including toilets, kitchen, lunchroom, etc.
• Employees –will you lose staff because of a location? Does the area have the skills you need and/or will it be difficult to attract staff to the location?
• Suppliers – are suppliers close by or easily accessible? If you are importing goods, is it close to the port / airport?
• Technology – does the office/building have the necessary information technology and communications infrastructure needed? Having wiring installed can be an expensive exercise.
• Cost – what is the weekly rent, are they any signing incentives, how much will rent increase each year, how long will the lease run? What fit out is needed and what might the variable costs be (ie electricity, water, etc).

Is it more advantageous in the long run to buy, if possible, or should you continue renting? The latter should be discussed with your accountant or financial advisor.

Before signing a lease 
you should understand the implications from a legal and financial point of view.

Any office move or expansion should be carefully costed to ensure that all one-off, variable and fixed costs can be covered. Consideration should also be given to benefits which a new location might bring that will aid in your revenue growth. A business case may need to be developed to help in the decision making process.