When you're operating a small business or company from more than one fixed place of work, you may run into a few headaches. These could be in relation to any of the multiple different sectors of your business, with the severity of said headaches varying dependent on the issue. Fortunately there are always ways to make your life easier in the commercial sector, as it's understandable that such a daunting task of setting up a new business isn't easy to begin with.
Insurable Assets
You need to consider that if you obtain more than one premises and insure them both, they may have different renewal dates, payment plans and discrepancies in the levels of insurance they're covered for, if the policies are taken out through different companies that's headache number one!
Realistically though, unless you have all premises insured under the same motor trade policy (which would make the most sense) all you'd have to do is be very careful about the renewal dates catching you out, as some insurers leave it up to you to remember make sure every important date you know of, from an insurance side of things, is noted down so you know what is happening when. Providing you're organised, not a great deal can go wrong on that front.
Financial Setback
One major factor that could affect your business at any time is whether you have bought the location outright or rent it monthly from an owner. While buying outright may set you back more in the short run, it could overcome issues that may strike you further down the line like possible rent increases or bill changes, whether they're made by the owner of the building or gas or electric providers.
As unlikely as it may seem, it can happen. Laws are ever-changing and tenants and building-owners are known for making sure that they get the most for what they're providing. This doesn't necessarily mean that every person that rents out a property is a money-grabber, however you should always be prepared for change.
Staff Relations
Staying in touch with staff at both locations, as a manager, is easier said than done if you are solely based at one location, and as it may well do one premises becomes busier than the other, it may be difficult to give employees at a second location, the time of day that they might need, to catch up with you on how they're finding the work, and how they feel about working conditions and the people around them.
This can affect employees at both locations, though if for example one member of staff is trying to prove themselves to you, it may be easier for you to spot if you are around them more often than staff at a second location. A more unlikely situation to consider, despite witnessing it myself first hand, is employees developing a competitive attitude towards their counterparts at separate locations, if one is performing better than the other. Some people in a business can become "toxic" and be a bad example to others, and it's worth noting, so you can distinguish any unwanted malice in the work place before it leads a negative atmosphere.
Structure
When expanding to a second premises, to keep things in order, the safest approach would be to give somebody authority over other members of staff at both locations a supervisor role if you will - to keep things in order while you aren't around. That way, these supervisors can report to you when it comes to anything they have noticed, for you to action. Having an organised structure to your business such as this will help control the working environment and sustain a family-like connection to your "teams".
In black and white, if you can keep on top of all the details and processes involved in effectively splitting your business and employees between two locations, you shouldn't have any troubles in the long run. Sure things don't always go to plan on a day to day basis, but you have to remember that it happens to the best of us, and even large corporate businesses can struggle now and again, but keeping things under control is a lot easier with an organised business structure if you can achieve that, you should have no negative backlash from any changes further down the line.