Your company, work and home can be in different places

The Five Nodes

We use “Five Nodes” as shorthand for five parts of a working life: the company, the work, customers, suppliers and institutions, and home. Consider each separately, then decide which can usefully share a location.

1. Company and registered address

Where the company is registered and handles contracts, banking and tax. Choose the address and structure for the activity and the requirements of the organisations you work with.

2. Workplace and services

Where the core work is performed and supported: daily workspace, laboratory, engineering team, technical facility, clinical or field setting, professional services and the infrastructure needed to deliver the product or service.

3. Customers and professional relationships

Where customers, commercial partners, investors, sector networks and decision-makers can be reached with the frequency the business requires. Plan for how often you need to meet them.

4. Suppliers, facilities and institutions

Where physical and institutional dependencies concentrate: suppliers, prototyping, tooling, manufacturing, testing, universities, research institutes, regulators, hospitals, science facilities, government platforms and programme operators.

5. Home and daily life

Where the founder or team can sustain daily life, focus, family needs and an acceptable travel rhythm. It may share a location with your work. Compare the household’s needs alongside business requirements.

Begin with the places you must visit

Begin with the facilities, counterparties, regulated settings, customers and physical processes that cannot move easily. Plan flexible work and home around those places. Record travel time, schedules and how often you need to visit.

Choose the geography the work can support

Core-city, technology-cluster, outer-district, town and village environments can all be useful. Select among them after the required functions are located. A rural living base, place-operated business or field site represents a different decision and should be verified on its own terms.

• List where the company, work, customers, suppliers and home need to be.
• Identify which can share a location and which need separate places.
• Measure the travel and coordination burden between them.
• Verify the actual address, facility, access route, utilities and responsible counterpart.
• Test ordinary operations before making a long commitment.