How to select the right city for your startup

You're armed with the perfect idea for your startup and you're already holding important meetings with investors and potential partners, but where will you set shop and launch your startup? That is the looming question. A successful business can have its roots in any location. You can either choose from metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Kolkata, or you can take your pick from the emerging cities like Ludhiana, Patna, and Rajkot. Strategically basing your company can add power and velocity to your growth and help you capture market share more quickly. Here's how you can shortlist and select the right city for your startup.

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Cost conducive

Money is precious for a startup. You don't want to base your budding company in an area that will engulf all your capital at one go. As an emerging entrepreneur, your main focus should be on maintaining a healthy cash flow at all times. For this reason, investing in a heavy lease isn't the brightest option. Different states have different tax laws and you need to research and decide if you are willing to pump in a certain amount of money towards paying taxes or you'd rather streamline that same money to the growth of your business. If you're a family person, you also need to keep your family's needs at the forefront and decide on a location that works best for your family as well as your startup.

Availability of potential clients and customers

Conduct some research and find out where other startups in your field have started and succeeded. For example, if you're an advertising agency, you need to base yourself in a location that has head offices of different brands. A lot of clients prefer that the agencies they employ be in their vicinity so they can work closely with them. You don't want to miss out on opportunities by selecting the wrong city. Face-to-face interactions are the best way to build and nurture relationships and selecting the right location helps you easily serve customers and clients where they are. Where you see your startup 10 years from now should be an important factor while zeroing down on a city. Finding social equity in your neighborhood of choice positions you for success in the future.

Preferred ecosystem

A conducive environment makes success flow naturally because the people, resources, and infrastructure are in place. Your startup will automatically flourish when customers, partners, workers and investors are located nearby. Your choice of city might not be the preferred choice for most businesses, but don't let that deter you. If you're confident that the location is perfect for your startup, trust your gut feeling and go ahead with it. Ultimately it's your hard work that will play a major role in your startup's prosperity more than anything else.

Now that you have a fresh perspective on how to analyse and choose the best city for your family and company, don't over think your decision of laying down the foundation bricks. Success only comes to those who aren't afraid to accomplish great things.