When it comes to finding office space, it’s nearly always a good idea to rent an office, rather than do your own thing. That’s because you can’t be completely sure whether you have a viable long-term business yet, and in any case, you don’t want to use all your capital designing and building a space of your own.
But that’s just in the early days. After some time, you may want to consider building your own workplace, the benefits of which include: the opportunity to cement your brand, avoid paying rent, and have a space that suits your needs.
But it’s not something you’ll want to jump in to. Below, we take a look at five things you’ll want to consider before you take the plunge and commit to your idea.
Finding the Right Location
Depending on where you’re looking to build your office, you might have a lot of options, or next to none.
For instance, if you’re committed to having your headquarters in a large city — like London, New York, Paris — then you should, more or less, forget about ever designing your own space. There’s just not enough land to make it a reality.
It’s much better to find a space that’s located out in nature, though not one that’s too remote — remember that you and your staff will need to drive there each day.
Designing the Space
It’s easy to take an office for granted. Throw a few chairs and tables in there, and you’re good to go, right? Well, no. It’s not that easy.
For your office, you’ll need to think about what exactly you need — for example, do you need meeting rooms? Do they need to be large, or small? But that’s just the start. You’ll also need to include all the small office aspects that are easy to take for granted, such as making sure the space gets natural light, is cool in the summer / warm in the winter, and so on.
Handling Issues
If you undertake any project as large as building your own office space, you’re going to run into problems. The best you can hope for is that you’ve already thought through everything that could go wrong, and have taken steps to keep them at bay.
It’s mostly about thinking logically. If you’re building in an area that hasn’t been built on before, then you’ll need to make sure that you’re working with a company that specializes in deep foundations, especially micropiles if the area is known for having weak soil. They’ll help to create a stable foundation for your project. You’ll also want to make sure that you add enough space for everyone to park.
These are not problems you want to discover after the fact!
Make it Fun
Finally, remember that if you’re going to design your own office, you should add features you wouldn’t normally find. Make it fun!
Having a games room, vegetable patch, or kitchen that doubles as a bar for Friday night happy hour will make everyone agree that designing your own space was the right way to go. You won’t regret it!
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