No matter what industry sector your startup focuses on, eventually you’re going to need to start looking at property for office space. This could mean a shared space with no rent contract, or a fully furnished office with room for your growing number of employees, but whichever way your business growth is planned for, failing to look at the necessities of your work environment can be damaging to your business future. Before taking the leap into purchasing or renting office space, you need to be sure that what you need is relevant, cost-effective, and conducive to the needs of those that you hire. As with any startup, your cost limitations are key to working out what’s best for you. Here are some of the most important elements that you need to be aware of when it comes to taking the plunge and expanding your premises.

Fit for purpose

If you’re setting up a restaurant or planning to grow your recruitment agency, making sure that the property you are looking at is suitable for the task is vital. Have a checklist ready when viewing a property. You can speed up the process by being able to dismiss irrelevant properties much more quickly. You need to check out the ‘use class’ of the building and make sure that it aligns with your needs. Otherwise, you may end up with costly refurbishment costs. You’ll also need to make health and safety checks in order to make sure that your staff and customers are safe, while not causing you to spend unnecessarily.

Office Design & Company Culture

The design and layout of an office is one of the first areas that can help build and foster a positive and productive culture within any new startup (and established companies). A boring, uneventful office with nothing happening can often demotivate those within it. Whereas, having that little bit extra foresight to plan what your ideal office to work in would look like can make all the difference down once everything has been established.

A great example of this is bringing the office to life with greenery from plants or even go that extra step and plan to implement leading policies like having dogs in the workplace that can have tremendous impacts on culture, job satisfaction and productivity.

Costs

As with any startup, costs are key, and you don’t want to overstretch your budget unnecessarily on office space. Making sure that you remain within your budget plan is important, whether you’re a recruitment agency startup or printing company. And you need to find ways to reduce your expenditures. There are sources of help, however. Have a look at the surrounding area of your chosen property and do some research. Some areas will offer funding incentives. Your industry sector may prove beneficial as well, with funding options available from a variety of sources. For recruitment finance, many of the budget issues that may be concerning you may be addressed with some simple options. For recruitment finance, look for recruitment finance options with a start up recruitment agency, which can alleviate your financial concerns.

Branding

It can be all too easy to neglect to take your branding into account when it comes to looking at premises. However, there is no element of your company that should be unaffected by your branding strategy. Nowhere is this more important that your business premises. From logo placement to the overall aesthetic of your business property, your workspace should be a reflection of your company branding as much as your social media interactions and your website. Having the right atmosphere and aesthetic can also keep your staff productive and on-brand. Productivity and creativity are kept at optimal levels at all times. This will have a significant effect on your work rate and, eventually, your profits too.

Your initial office space decisions are may not seem to be a high priority. But as you prepare to scale your business, balancing the fit with your culture, business direction, branding and cost will influence your company’s performance and ultimate success.

Is this article useful? Please leave comments and feedback.