Mistakes to Avoid when Renting an Office Space
One of the first objectives for a small business is to designate a base to work from. Sure, in the very early days you can operate from your garage, but you’ll soon discover that your real estate needs advance as your business progresses. And that’s when you need to look into renting an office space.
However, many business owners find that renting an office space is a complex task. You see, the majority of us have experience in renting accommodation for ourselves and families, but a business has wildly different demands when it comes to real estate.
It’s common, therefore, for business owners to feel a lot of pressure when renting an office space. The last thing you want to do when running a business is to build up additional stress, so let’s take a look at the most common mistakes made when selecting your perfect office space.
Worrying About Costs
While you’re most definitely going to want to put a budget in place, you don’t want to find yourself being blinded purely by costs when renting an office space.
Paying those extra few dollars a month may seem like a fruitless expense, but this can make a huge difference for your employees. We’ve talked before about how the physical layout of your office space can affect your productivity. Also, a great office space can allow you to attract new talent and improve productivity, so the additional expense may pay for itself in time.
Not Putting a Plan Together
Due to the pressures of running a business, many business owners rush into renting an office space to solve short term needs. This, however, is only going to set you up for future mishaps when you discover your office space doesn’t suit your business’ needs.
Understanding exactly what you need in your office is essential and gives you a great checklist to work from when viewing properties. It’s impossible to list everything you would need to consider as every business has different needs, but the following should be consistent for most:
- Floor space needed – if you need 10,000ft, go for 10,000ft and not 8,000ft!
- Power requirements e.g. do you need external as well as internal power supplies?
- Local telecom capabilities – the last thing you want is slow internet!
Not Thinking about Expansion
So, after a long and arduous search you’re finally renting an office space which is just perfect for your needs, but what about in the long run?
Any moment now you could receive that amazing contract which means you suddenly need more room for staff and production. However, if you’ve got no room to expand then you need to start looking for new real estate. And that could be counterproductive to your chances of taking on that new contract.
Keeping one eye on future growth – as well as your current operations – therefore is essential when looking for new office space.
Getting Blown Away by the First Property
For one thing, you need to get a good comparison of the rents available to you. That amazing office space you’ve got your heart set on may actually be ridiculously priced compared to other similar office spaces.
Then, of course, there’s the very real chance that this first property isn’t as fantastic as you thought, so being able to measure different properties against each other is crucial for making that huge decision of where to rent.
To learn more about renting an office space, give the experts at HubRunner.com a call, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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