Eight years ago, Dylan Deignan opened his first soccer shop in Kansas City. Within six months, through hard work and his love of the sport, his shop had doubled its sales expectations. By the two year mark, Deignan had four stores all earning a profit. By his five year anniversary, he had expanded into the St. Louis market, with great success. Deignan was having so much success in the St. Louis market, in fact, that he began to think about moving his central offices from Kansas City to St. Louis through an office relocation service. “St. Louis is a great area for smaller businesses,” said Deignan. “There are just over 47 thousand small businesses operating out there, and the self employment cost of living score is 92.3.”
Deignan is not alone in his interest in the growing St. Louis market. With each passing year, the St. Louis market draws in more businesses. Twenty one Fortune 1000 companies, including nine in the Fortune 500, call the St. Louis area home. Part of the draw, for both new and established businesses, is the fact that venture capital is flush and still growing. Venture capital investments more than doubled in St. Louis in 2010, reaching 39 million dollars in that year.
Having done his homework and realizing all of the benefits a move to St. Louis would provide, Deignan had just one last major obstacle. “I knew I wanted to move there,” said Deignan, “in part because St. Louis offers small businesses some superb tax breaks and incentives, which would help my business grow even faster. The problem was how to get there.” That is a fairly significant problem for any business. Business moving is difficult in any situation, but doing a successful corporate relocation can be potentially disastrous. In Deignan’s case, he had to move not only furniture, but also carefully organized records from 14 different stores in three cities. “I can not afford to take a month or two to reorganize my files if the corporate relocation company messes things up,” said Deignan. “It would bring my business to a grinding halt.”
Ultimately, Deignan checked in with a few colleagues who had experience with office moves. They all emphasized the importance of utilizing a good office relocation service. “A corporate move isn’t the same as a domestic move,” said Deignan. “The things being moved need to get there on a tight timeline, and there are confidentiality concerns. I have credit information from clients, vendors and customers. I can’t afford for that to go missing. An office relocation service, at least a good one, understands this and takes the necessary precautions.”