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I've actually found the opposite to be true. My business has been 100% remote for most of its 10 years, buy I had an office in Sacramento and now I opened one
by iancmceachern 2y ago
I've actually found the opposite to be true. My business has been 100% remote for most of its 10 years, buy I had an office in Sacramento and now I opened one in the SOMA neighborhood of SF.
I must say, I still work a hybrid schedule, much from home (I live in the neighborhood too). I also must day that opening a physical location in SF has been one of the best investments I have ever made in my business.
I now have people, target customers I used yo have to work hard to find and get time with, introducing themselves to ne coming by to day hello daily. Same thing with startups and VCs, there are a dozen or more VCs in walking distance to my office.
It's like being a diamond cutter in the diamond district.
I also want to note that opening an office somewhere does not necessarily tie to remote work or not. I work remotely often and it's a huge part of my quality of life, I also have an office in SF. I don't see either changing, and they are not tied.
- mulmen 2y agoCan you explain how this actually works and what you do? How are customers finding you organically in meatspace? Do you have a sign out front?
- iancmceachern 2y agoGladly. I do most marketing that most other businesses do: - Google Maps/Yelp - set it up and look professional - Hired folks to send out targeted advertising postcards to potential clients in the area - Linkedin, etc. marketing (there are folks that can help you with this) - Organic marketing, I 3d print trinkets, bought stickers, etc. and hand them out, etc. - Being here when people email/call - Applicable trade shows (I go to medical device conferences in the spaces I work in, investor conferences I went to OpenSauce, it was great!) I run a hardware design firm, I design hardware (mostly medical devices). So there is always going to need to be a physical component to my business due to the fact we make physical objects.
- mulmen 2y agoThanks that’s very helpful! I’m curious what your offices actually contain. Do you have a lab/workshop? Is there a showroom? e: described here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41362166 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41362166
- charlie0 2y agoDo you actually employ people in the SF office? Or is this more of a pied-à-terre for meeting new customers/investors?
- iancmceachern 2y agoSometimes, as contractors. I've been thinking of it like more of a music studio. I have a bunch of equipment, all setup and ready to use, and then when I, or a group (clients) need to get our work done we show up and do it, when we can do our work elsewhere we do. The point is the studio is here when we need it. In addition to 3d printers, CNC machines, CAD computers and similar engineering stuff I also have it setup with fancy cameras, video switchers and microphones so it's like a livestream studio. That allows me to give fancy looking "webinar" type zoom calls and client videos so that people can feel like they're working right in the studio with me. I had been calling it my "Design Lab", maybe I need to change it to "Design Studio"?
- gottorf 2y ago> It's like being a diamond cutter in the diamond district. This is a good analogy. The old wisdom is that it's better go to go a restaurant surrounded by other restaurants than one that is off by itself; perhaps an implicit acknowledgment of the effects of competition and talent-pooling. How much this still applies in today's remote-everything world, that is an interesting question indeed.
- SoftTalker 2y agoDespite the popularity and economy of remote work, having an office, even a small one, in an appropriate business district, is still a signal that "this isn't just my hobby."
- iancmceachern 2y agoI design hardware, so there will always be a physical component to what I do. Rather than be a should I buy two birds or one type thing, it's really more of a two birds one stone situation.