California and web designers

Hello guys, have a question.

I am planning on moving business locations from Atlanta, GA to Santa Clara, CA. The reason behind this is because, once we get bigger, I would like to attract bigger companies. I see alot of designers and developers with print media, websites, etc working with very large companies (IE Coke, Glad, Pepsi, etc)

I think that the contact list in California would be endless. What are your thoughts on this? Bad move or good move? I know the competition is crazy out there, but on the other hand its like there everywhere. I just think that it would be a bigger opportunity to expand. Yah or nah :P

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Give it a try, if it doesn't work move back to Atlanta or wherever the wind takes you afterwards

If you need to move locations from one gigantic ass city to another, I would guess your business model needs work. I'm in a city of 60k, and somewhere between 1-2 million in design budgets moves through here every year.

Well its not that the business model needs work. I just think there are more connections out there. I may be wrong on this. I know that Atlanta is a huge city with major potential. We just opened our doors for business in August and already slammed packed with design work from local to overseas. However, I want to do business with major companies aswell.

How can this be obtained? Any info is greatly appreciated.

The only reason I see moving as something good is because of specific companies you may want to work with.

Almost anywhere can you find more work than you can handle. Cali is a very reputable tech place, but I'm sure you can find just as much work where you're currently staying.

if you want to deal with nation-wide brands your location doesn't matter, it's all in your connections.

on the one hand, yes you *could* make better connections if you're involved with the downtown la scene, but just being in cali won't make you better for them. i have no idea where santa clara is. why'd you pick that spot?

Yeah connections is a major player.

Santa Clara is southern San Fran area...Silicon Valley. I picked this spot, because most major PC or related companies are there (Google, Yahoo, Juniper, Cisco, etc) I really want to surround myself with major players like this.

No offense but You want to surround yourself in La where most big companies such as the ones you mentioned might be at and not with Pc companies.

Also If your known for your work then you will get work no matter where your at

google and yahoo have offices in san fran. i have friends who work at them.

moving there is probably a good idea in the long run, but it's smarter to try and develop some connections before depending on the location. i imagine it's going to cost a lot more to live and operate out there than were you currently are.

IE know some people down there, so if you were to move out there, you could get started right away trying to get them to slip you through some doors instead of burning a small hole in your pocket trying to find those people first.

You are all looking at this from the wrong perspective.

devguys, you say you are "slam packed" with work currently, but are looking to relocate? Why relocate if you are fully booked out? What is the big thing with being closer to bigger corporate companies?

Please consider this: remain at your base (Atlanta) and expand into other offices in strategic locations. Don't move your whole operations base simply to get closer to big corporates. You need to have growth and expansion policies in your company, and it should not mean relocating.