It’s rewarding to finally be able to write this post.

I’ve been burning mental capital on the idea of expanding ResIM beyond our office in London for years with little to show for it.  It’s one of those things that I’ve talked about at length but never really took the proper steps to make happen.

Today, however, I’m pleased to announce that as of January 3rd 2012 we’ll have a staffed, physical office in Toronto.

I was in Toronto earlier today picking up the keys to a modest 1100 sq. ft. office on Atlantic Ave in Liberty Village (pictured above – red brick building). Like our first office at 560 Wellington St. here in London the space on Atlantic needs a little work and is something we’ll definitely grow into.

‘Why Toronto?’ is something I’m hearing a lot lately.  It’s a good question.  Here’s the thinking behind the expansion:

Access to Resources

The single biggest challenge we face at this point in the evolution of ResIM is finding the calibre of production staff we need to produce the high quality projects that will support our growth for years to come.  These resources are nearly tapped in London and our industry doesn’t have the ‘clusterability’ to attract top talent from other cities.

Employee Satisfaction and Growth

I want every ResIM employee, whether in Toronto or London, to have the opportunity to do the best work of their careers as a part of our team.  I don’t want ResIM to be a stepping stone that has to be left in order to pursue bigger, better, and more challenging projects.  I want our employees to be able to make that progression with us and grow as we do.

I think there’s a secondary (although just as important) positive in this point and that is the experience and expertise we’ll be able to bring to existing clients as we continue to seek new projects and challenges.

Access to Clients

There’s no arguing the simple fact that there are exponentially more client opportunities in Toronto; I feel we’ll have better access to these opportunities with a presence in the market.  This isn’t to say that Toronto is better or in any way superior to London…it’s just much, much larger.

Timing

From financial and human resources perspectives this is absolutely the best time to make the move.  There’s no such thing as the perfect time, but this is the best time.  We have two employees who are excited about moving to Toronto — I believe they would have eventually moved anyway and I’m happy that we’re in a position to provide that growth avenue for them.  Operating an office remotely with new, unfamiliar staff members would be a very difficult thing.  Thanks Geoff and Andrew for helping us seize this opportunity.

We’re wrapping up a year that saw a 50% jump in sales and have learned a lot about how to handle growth, where the risks lie, and how to best manage resources to make the most of opportunities without sacrificing quality and blowing deadlines.

The decisions we’ve made and lessons we’ve learned over the past year will go a long way toward helping ResIM, our clients, and our staff prosper for years to come.

I’ll sum this up with something I noticed on Twitter recently; it rings true for me and has really been a driving force behind many of the decisions I’ve made in life and in business:

“I’m much more excited by what’s possible than I am afraid of what could go wrong.”