I’ve been tweeting about our possible US relocation recently. Our shipping costs are big and most of our customers are US-based, so it makes perfect sense to move there…doesn’t it? We’ve been contemplating this for a few years anyway.
Obviously there are monetary, logistical and even emotional factors that influence our decision. Something which has recently become apparent though is the question of brand kudos, as echoed by our twitter friend Sara here.
Specifically, would it damage the Olli & Lime brand to be based in the US? We’d still have a home in the UK, we’d still be English and the company name would still have ‘England’ in it so should we be worried?
Personally, I think the benefits far outweigh the perceived negatives; we’d be closer to customers, suppliers and most of our retailers, plus we’d save masses on said postal charges. I think it’s a no-brainer.
I’d be interested in any (particularly US-based) opinion though. How much (if at all) would the Olli & Lime brand be weakened by moving to the US? 
perhaps you could get wharehouse space that can be managed by a company to recieve and dispatch your stock to your retailers, that way you you dont have to relocate and leave your beautiful home that you have just finished and you can test the waters, you may find being more central like coloardo or missouri in US benefical as i imagine that you would want to live on the east coast to be closer to your homeland.
Thanks for commenting! Yes, we’ve looked into warehousing but the costs are quite large when you add it all up. Plus, we’d lose a degree of control (which is inevitable as we grow I guess).
We would miss our home but we would hope to rent it out while we are gone, at least in the short term.
We were originally considering Boston (which we fell in love with a few years back) but now the front-runner is Chicago (which we are visiting in a few weeks)
Hi Andy!
This is an interesting topic. So happy to hear of someone being just as work obsessed as we are! And I only meant that in a good way. Maybe I should say passionate….
Anyways, I do not feel it would harm your brand. How old is the company? If you are to make the move you should consider doing it sooner than later though, before you feel too locked in.
I hesitate saying all of this, as you are one of our main “competitors”, and you would see US sales increase substantially. But since we like to put all of that silly-ness aside, I feel you would do very well.
Good luck on whatever you decide.
Best,
Jesseca
Hi Jesseca!
Thanks for your comment and good luck wishes! As usual, I appreciate your complete lack of “silly-ness” – it’s very refreshing and appreciated! Indeed we are competitors but there’s plenty of room for all of us I think. Incidentally, I don’t think geography has anywhere near the same significance these days.
We are a relatively young company by the way but I don’t see that as a big factor, though clearly if we lay down too many roots it will be more difficult to move. I will keep y’all posted on what we decide to do. Thanks again for your interest and warm wishes.
Andy x