5 reasons to download

our expansion specifications template

Why drafting your expansion specifications?
A semi-drafted specification to save time
A complete document so that you don’t overlook anything
A location specification designed by experts in location project support
A tool for internal and external use
A shared tool for effective collaboration

Why drafting your
expansion specifications?

The success of your international development project depends on choosing the right business location.

A strict methodology should be used to avoid pitfalls and to find the right site for your needs:

Multi-criteria analysis of target regions
Choice of the location area
Drawing up specifications
Search for the ideal site in collaboration with local partners

The location specification (LS) is crucial to your search.

It is drawn up at the critical juncture between analysis of the area and the search for a specific site.

It also marks the shift from an in-house approach to a collaborative search.

Are you wondering how to write your LS and which sections are essential?

To help you draft this vital document, our teams have created the first ever location specification template, based on our experience in project support.

Here are 5 good reasons to download it without delay…

A ready-to-use document

Be more efficient in your discussions with your project's stakeholders with our easy-to-complete implementation specifications.

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A semi-drafted specification
to save time

Drawing up a location specification (LS) is key to your research. Understandably, you should be willing to spend some time to properly define the scope of the search for your ideal site.

If you are experienced at this, you will know what information is essential. You will also be able to give the level of detail expected by local partners.

But if finding a location is new to you, writing the LS can be a real headache:

What information should be shared?
What level of detail should be used?
How do I express a need, a specification, to make it understandable to my contacts?
Am I giving too much detail or not enough?
Am I sure I haven’t forgotten something important?

There are two risks to this kind of questioning:

Going off in all directions and dwelling on insignificant details that clutter up the document and complicate the search, at the risk of not finding a site that matches all these excessively precise criteria
Struggling to find the right balance in terms of accuracy of information, writing lots of drafts and ultimately wasting a lot of time on writing the LS

With our semi-drafted specifications template, you already have all the sections and items needed for effective collaboration with your partners.

All you have to do is fill it in with your information.
This way, you can focus on the issues that matter and save time on drafting the document.

A complete document
so that you don’t overlook anything

Another risk in writing the specifications is that you may forget important information to guide your local partners’ research in the right direction.

Indeed, the purpose of the LS is to make searching easier by setting specifications that are clear enough to select the right sites.

🔎 Discover the 6 steps to choosing the ideal location for your expansion project.

Partners usually start by a process of elimination.

Out of all the existing sites, they will eliminate all those that do not meet your specifications.

So what happens if you leave out important specifications?

Your partners will offer you sites that do not meet your needs. Simply because one or more criteria that are important to you have not been written down.

You will be investigating, perhaps even visiting, sites that should not even have made the final selection. This is an easily avoidable waste of time and resources.

By using our location specification template, you can be certain that you have not forgotten anything vital. Our project support experts have listed all the main location criteria.

A location specification
designed by experts in location project support

To design this location specification template, we have drawn on our experience in working on location projects.

Nord France Invest, the economic development agency for the Hauts-de-France region, aims to help you find the right location solution to meet your needs.

🔎 What is an economic development agency, and when and why should you work with one?

As a local partner, we work with the project teams on the basis of the specifications drawn up by the applicant.

Since we were founded in 1967, we have assisted more than 1,300 companies in their relocation projects.

In the course of more than 50 years, we have developed solid expertise in the key factors of success or failure of an international development project.

We therefore have first-hand knowledge of the importance of the specifications.

If well designed, it can catalyze projects with strong synergies between the stakeholders involved.

Conversely, without an LS or with a vague or incomplete document, there is much to-ing and fro-ing between the partners to identify needs and clarify certain points. The risk of mistakes and getting bogged down increases.

🔎 Discover our tips for drawing up thorough expansion specifications

It is to precisely avoid these obstacles that we offer this specification template to you.

A tool for internal
and external use

The location specification is a conduit between the location analysis and the search for an ideal site in a given region.

The first part of the search process is mainly in-house. Of course, you can ask the economic development agencies to collect relevant and up-to-date information on a region. But apart from data collection, you are unlikely to involve local partners in your research at this stage.

The financial and qualitative analysis of the target regions remains the prerogative of the in-house project team.

🔎 Discover 28 qualitative criteria to take into account in your location study.

In this phase, you gradually sketch the outline of the ideal site. You list the selection criteria that will shape your decision. You study the possible destinations in the light of these criteria and draw up a shortlist.

As you proceed, your vision of the ideal site becomes clearer.

The specification is the vehicle through which you will share this vision with your local partners. In this way, it acts as a link from the internal to the external.

Not only must it faithfully express the vision of the ideal site developed internally by the project team. Above all, it is a tool to communicate and collaborate with partners: economic development agencies, real estate experts, lawyers, accountants, etc.

With our specifications template, you have a comprehensive and easy-to-use resource to:

express your vision
allow your partners to immediately project themselves into the research process
respond with a formal document to the questions that your partners have

A shared tool
for effective collaboration

Using our specifications template is a real time saver for you when it comes to drafting your plans.

It allows you to properly organize your ideas and not forget anything.

But the time and efficiency savings are not confined to developing the LS.

A robust location specification is foremost a key factor in the success of your project.

Indeed, if the specifications are incomplete or imprecise, your partners will be unable to correctly identify your needs.

The search for a location will require more time and resources. You risk going over time and over budget.

These obstacles can also lead to frustration and even friction between the partners.

Finally, it increases the risk of poor site selection.

By using our specifications template, you gain an effective collaborative tool for optimum alignment of all partners.

Writing the location specification is a crucial step for the project team. To progress towards selecting the ideal site in synergy with local partners, you must document your needs comprehensively, accurately and succinctly.

It is a challenging exercise, but it is essential to the success of the project. Save time and specify your needs to get local partners on board with your project by downloading our free location specification template.