Don’t Let The Office Move Damage Your Business

For many businesses, changing offices is both a blessing and a curse, whether you are moving into your first official office with the team or you are relocating to a better location. While you will always come across some moaners who would have preferred another location that is more convenient for them, or who loved the view out of the old office, you will also face new challenges that you need to tackle as soon as possible before they become obstacles. Indeed, consider the new office as a blank canvas that you can use to recreate and re-affirm your company culture. Here are the top three pieces of advice that experienced business owners would give their younger selves about establishing a positive office culture in a new location.

Moving To Better Offices
Deciding to change offices, or to finally move into an office depending on your situation, is a big step that doesn’t come easily. Indeed, according to the Entrepreneur.com, you need to count about 124 square feet per employee in your office , so this is something that you need to take into consideration. A better-located office that is much smaller will not reflect positively on your team. With the search for serviced offices, you have three main elements to take into consideration: The actual size of the office, its location and the local facilities, and your budget. It’s an art to match each element but working with an experienced broker should make the task a little easier. Additionally, as most modern offices come with a set of existing services such as landline, broadband connectivity, reception area, meeting rooms, and desk areas, you know that your office renting budget will also cover telecoms and furniture costs.  

Invest In The Appropriate Tech
Finding the perfect office is one thing, providing the right tech to your team is another. Most experts agree that you should always match your business growth with the relevant tech. This means that if growth is forecast, you need to plan technologically for more orders, more clients, a larger workforce: In short, you need to upgrade your system to deal with more data and to provide for potential future employees too. If there is only a slow or negative growth in the forecast, you should keep your tech investment to a minimum. There is no point taking financial risks to get the latest tech if you don’t need it.

Set The Right Work Environment
Last, but not least on the list of a perfect office, is about setting a positive work environment from the start. This means that you need to establish an engaging and motivating business culture for your staff, starting by re-defining working hours. More and more employees feel limited by fixed working hours, especially as they make it difficult for commuters, parents, and families to maintain a healthy work/life balance. Introduce the idea of flexible work time to let your staff schedule their day as it suits them. This will help you to establish a trust relationship with your team.