Live, Work, Play: The Ideal Lifestyle for Your Startup

Live, Work, Play: The Ideal Lifestyle for Your Startup

Everyone wants a better work environment. We’ve told you before how millennials in particular are demanding it. And workers who are happy are certainly more productive. But there comes a point where achieving a better work environment has to cross beyond the office threshold into the community at large. The lifestyle of the community your startup is in can have a big impact on what happens during work hours.

No matter how many free drinks and ping pong tables you park in the break room, it’s difficult for employees to be happy, and work hard, if the office is in a neighborhood with spiking crime, or in a town where the only culture employees can absorb on their time off is whatever they can find on basic cable.

Here are 3 huge things to consider when deciding which community has the right lifestyle for your startup:

Commuting is a pain.

Sitting in traffic is the worst. It wastes time and energy, and can turn someone’s day sour before they’ve even set foot in the office. Setting your office in a community that invests in infrastructure, and one that’s close to where your employees want to live, can help improve morale.

Culture counts.

You can’t control what employees do on their downtime…but you can make sure your startup is based in a place that values quality of life. Theaters, shopping, outdoor recreation – when employees have a wealth of culture to experience outside the office, it’ll show in the quality of their work.

Home life IS more important than work life.

If an employee can’t find a good school for their kid, or a comfortable home to buy for their family, then no salary or perk will keep them around. Your startup needs to be part of a community that cares about these things, and actively tries to improve them.

While some areas in the great state of California may offer a hyperactive social atmosphere, they also require long commutes to safe residential neighborhoods with decent school systems. Others may thrive in the “home life” department but don’t have much more to offer than that. It’s rare to find a beautiful (and business-friendly!) locale that covers all the bases.

The ideal work/life balance is closer than you think…

EMPLOYERS: There’s only so much you can do in the office to put a smile on employees’ faces. Much of a startup’s talent attraction and retention is going to depend on the surrounding environment. Be sure to keep that in mind when selecting which community has a lifestyle that best fits your startup. Contact SCVEDC to learn more about how to make the move that makes smart business sense and set up your startup for success.

LOCAL TALENT: If you’re ready to quit your commute, check out our list of the top 50 SCV employers and see what open positions you qualify for!

Related: The 4 Cs of a Strong Startup Community

The Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation (SCVEDC) is a unique private / public partnership representing the united effort of regional industry and government leaders. The SCVEDC utilizes an integrated approach to attracting, retaining and expanding a diversity of businesses in the Santa Clarita Valley, especially those in key industry clusters, by offering competitive business services and other resources.