When to Create a New Market
Creating a new market is a significant investment. Only do it when you can staff and protect it, have infrastructure to raise access/control, and your current market is capacity-saturated with clear overflow demand.
Tip
Key principle: One working market is better than two broken ones. Focus on your primary market first, then expand when ready.
Create Only If
Only create a new market when all these conditions are met:
- You can staff and protect it: Ensure you have populations and infrastructure to support the new market. Don't create markets you can't staff or protect.
- You have infrastructure to raise access/control: Build roads and ports to improve access and control. Without infrastructure, the new market won't function effectively.
- Your current market is capacity-saturated with clear overflow demand: Your primary market should be at or near capacity, with clear demand for expansion. Don't create new markets while primary market capacity is still growing.
Not If
Don't create a new market if any of these conditions apply:
- You're still at zero capacity in the primary market: If your primary market has zero capacity, focus on building marketplaces there first. Don't expand to new markets before fixing capacity issues.
- Routes are long/unprotected: If you can't protect trade routes, don't create new markets that depend on them. Long, unprotected routes waste capacity and resources.
- Employment isn't full in core industries: If your core industries aren't fully staffed, focus on staffing them first. Don't create new markets while employment is incomplete.
Remember: Creating a new market before you're ready wastes resources and prevents your primary market from working properly.
Pre-Creation Checklist
Before creating a new market, verify all of these:
- Marketplaces in candidate hubs: Build marketplaces in the candidate market's hub locations. These provide capacity and infrastructure.
- Staffed jobs: Ensure all core industries are fully staffed. Don't create new markets while employment is incomplete.
- Short protected routes ready: Plan short, protected routes for the new market. Don't create markets that depend on long, unprotected routes.
- Treasury to fund roads/ports for cohesion: Set aside cash to build roads and ports connecting the new market. Infrastructure is essential for market function.
- Primary market capacity-saturated: Verify your primary market is at or near capacity, with clear overflow demand.