How Your Home’s Location Impacts Your Business
September 24, 2018 – 4 Minute Read
Why it’s imperative Entrepreneurs use location to their business needs as the most important driver when buying or selling a home and most fail to do so
Entrepreneurs and Founders too often miss the true importance of location as a filter when buying their personal home. This is no surprise as it’s only natural to separate personal life from the business but it’s a big mistake.
Entrepreneurs often work out of the house or a coffee-shop… maybe even a co-work space. We outsource a lot. However, we also learn to scale successfully, “it takes a village” and a “community”; your meetup groups, mentors, resources like your banker and your network in general. Quick access and a home location that is not a barrier to resources and your business success is a must – time is money at a whole different level for entrepreneurs. More importantly, can you really trust yourself in the moment to attend that weekly entrepreneur’s meeting on how to build your business right if you’re facing a cumulative 1.5 hour commute after a long work day or with family commitments staring at you?
I bet not. 2 years later you’re considering the reasons the business isn’t where you thought it’d be or why it failed. Additionally, imagine having those 1.5 to 2 hours every day for keynote meetings that drive revenue, to make important client or vendor calls, growing as a leader and so on? As you see, location considerations specifically related to your business (and not just your family needs) should be your very first criteria when considering your next move in real estate.
When I first met Beth, she was in growth mode for her business, her goal was to scale to $1M+ in revenues within 2 years of being in Austin. During our diagnostic of needs meeting we learned 90% of Beth’s business activities, meetings and resources happened in the central business district. Yet she expressed she wanted to live 30 mins out where a car would have been necessary. When we showed her this would equate to losing 15 hours a week due to traffic, $500 a month for parking costs, carrying costs of a car plus the additional costs of leasing out meeting rooms or space at WeWork she was stunned. It all added up to $20k a month in true cost and loss of revenue – over $200k a year. On the other hand, the cost of being downtown was going to require a one-time higher down-payment of $30k (which she had) and $2000 more a month in mortgage (which she could afford). $200k vs $55k a year? She went for the condo downtown. A year later she shared how location made a massive difference in her productivity and resulted in at least a 3x return to her business on the additional cost of the home. “I did scale to $1M in revenues and I’m positive it wouldn’t have happened without this valuable insight to really prioritize location for my business when making my real estate move. Additionally, I love where I live and I’m not losing hours a day stressed in traffic being late to meetings versus leveraging those hours into productivity such as being well prepared for meetings.” She loves the access to conference rooms as well as meeting rooms in her condo tower building as her core team of 5 all come to her! And mentor and meet-up group meetings (which she deems a massive resource) such as EO are within walking distance or 15 mins max. “I’m so glad I had location for the health of my business be the top filter when I was buying my first place”
I challenge you to shift your lens completely and hear the all important words in real estate (location, location, location) through the lens of what is best for your business….wherever that may be. Click this link for our location guide to the most important resources in Austin for Entrepreneurs so you can start understanding where your next home should be!