Let me throw out a hypothetical situation at you, dear readers. You’ve been in business for yourself for a while. Your business, and consequently your Personal Independent Earnings, have grown to a point where operating from your home office is no longer feasible, you’re pulling in enough money to begin heavily reinvesting back into your business, and you’re looking to expand by moving to a dedicated office space. First of all, this is a wonderful thing to have happen to you. A definite sign of success, to be sure. But how do you choose a new office that’s right for you? That’s what I’ll be talking about today. Here are some helpful tips.
Location, Location, Location: You’ve probably heard this one a lot on television, and it is incredibly important. You may find the perfect office to suit your needs, but if nobody can find it, it’s functionally worthless. Try to choose a centralized location in your home city to set up your new base of operations that’s easily found, so that at no point are your clients or staff ever standing down the block scratching their heads and saying to themselves, “Man, I could’ve sworn it was right here.” You’ll also want to try and find somewhere that provides ample natural light. There are literally hundreds of articles I could link to here that prove sunlight improves your mood, and you want your staff to be happy, don’t you?
Accessibility: This spins out of choosing the right location. As hard as it is to believe, there are plenty of centralized spaces available in cities all over the world, but they’re only easily accessible to people with vehicles. Believe it or not, not everyone drives. You want to find a space that’s accessible to everyone, preferably along a major public transit route (or at least very close to one), and with ample parking available for those who choose to drive. I would even go so far as to suggest that, if it’s financially feasible for your business, offer public transit passes to your employees to discourage them from driving. It’s a more environmentally friendly option (something I’m personally a big fan of), and a tax write-off for both you and in many places the world over, your employees. It’s win-win for everyone.
Ample Space: This should really be a no-brainer. You want to make sure that you choose a new office that has ample space for everything you need. Room for yourself, your clients, a break/lunch room, all of the usual office amenities. You may not get that fancy corner office just yet, but hey, you’re still growing! Bonus points if you have the space to add a few luxuries for your employees, such as Google has done. Obviously not feasible in every case (and Google is a very drastic example of this), but these little touches definitely make the workplace not only a more enjoyable place to be for your staff, but also for yourself. Morale amongst your co-workers is important, and these little touches go a long way towards improving it.
Room For Growth: I have never met a single person who enjoys moving, and that goes triple for moving an entire office. Try to find a good location that has enough space that if you need to expand even further by adding more staff, additional desk space, or that pinball machine you’ve always wanted, you’ve got room for it without having to pack up and start the whole process all over again.
There’s a lot more that goes into choosing your new office, but there four tips should get you well on your way to finding one that’s right for you. Good luck to all of you!
