Choosing a new office for your business is a task of extraordinary importance. Many resources are invested in order to find a suitable and convenient location that reflects the values of the business, represents you faithfully to your customers and further, serves as a pleasant and productive hostel for the staff. We have put together number of key issues that need to be considered before you make a decision.
Location
The correct location is extremely important in choosing your new office. First, ensure that it is a place your staff will find convenient to get to every morning and get out of easily in the evenings. After all, no one likes wasting long hours on the road. Try to ensure that the office is situated in pleasant surroundings, a location that excels in providing complementary services such as restaurants and cafes. Take into account that in the event that you intend to bring customers to the office, the location is of imperative importance. Many businesses that choose to be located in an area hard for clients to access report a decrease in the volume of work.
Size
A proper understanding of the size of the space you need is a key consideration in choosing an office. Interested in acquiring more space and renting to sub-tenants or just take enough space for your staff only? Is it possible to make adjustments to the “package wrapping”, in favor of a perfect match? Are you planning to expand soon? Remember, this will really impact your spending, both in the immediate term and in the near and distant future.
Standard and Finishing Level
Stop for a moment and think about what facilities are important for your new office. A private kitchen? Improved acoustics? Parquet flooring? Private offices or a shared workspace? A conference room that is yours alone? What is your personal standard and what is the standard of the clients you are accustomed to?
Management and Maintenance
Take into account that regular maintenance of your workspace is considered to be far more than for a residential apartment. The staff and customers create a high volume of traffic and movement, so it follows that routing maintenance is an unavoidable part of the package itself. In office blocks, there is usually a company appointed to manage this matter, so try to ascertain their availability and how fast they respond to typical faults.
Flexibility
Imagine a completely normal situation where you are required to increase your staff and the current office is not suitable for the absorption that extension. Are there any proper alternatives in the new building you entered? After all, a new office is supposed to host your activities for years, and if necessary, it is better to a different floor in the building than to uproot the entire office to another one. Management companies in modern office buildings allow you to design the space offered according to your requirements. Examples? The team currently needs six workstations, but you are interested in producing eight of these for future expansion. Your conference room should accommodate staff meetings for up to 20 people and you want it of a certain size. Make sure that there is an option for the division of space and further, what the costs are.
Parking
Parking is an extremely important issue in our tiny country. Dedicated parking spaces in the building itself are quite a business, understand how many of these you are interested in reserving, and put this into your expense bracket. At the same time, survey the entire area and make sure that there are parking lots available at a reasonable distance for your staff and customers. Incidentally, for parking nowadays, the place of scooters and electric bicycles is not irrelevant, and they are usually assigned a special bay in the building itself.
Patience
We highly recommend viewing more than one office before making a decision. First, it will help you get to know the topic better, and also to understand what the market has to offer you. The differences in the level of service and maintenance vary from building to building, as do the other issues we mentioned in this short guide. Take a deep breath and make a wise decision based on needs and relevance.
Real Estate Brokerage
Real estate brokerage is a particularly sensitive issue. By default, most of us would prefer to avoid paying brokerage fees and save the money for other expenses involved in moving to a new office. But, wait a moment…Turning to a professional broker can save you considerable sums of money down the line. They are well acquainted with the accepted leases – we’ll get to that in a moment – and know how to match you with an office that suits your requirements. In addition, they know the area well and can show you more than one possible option in the chosen area, as well as to help you make a wise and considered decision. Remember that this is their livelihood, and that is why they are pushing for the deal, a fact that can help you a lot in the negotiations you will conduct on the subject of the amount of rent requested. There are quite a few benefits here that are important to consider before setting out.
Contract
We saved the cherry for the end. It is time to roll up your sleeves and dive in; every detail is important here and knowing the material can certainly save you real heartache. What is the lease term in the contract? Is there an option for extending the period, and how much time in advance do you have to give notice should you want to exercise that option? After all, your office is the face of the business, so we will strive to stay in it as long as we need to. In the same breath, how early should you notify if you are vacating the premises early, and what are the economic laws related to that? Is there an additional charge for late departure? OK, let’s continue. Is the rental price linked to the index? How many payments can the rent be divided into? According to the contract, what condition must you leave the property in when you vacate it? And what happens with guarantors and insurance?
We strongly recommend that you seek the services of an attorney before signing the contract. Although it is an expense, renting an office is a complex matter with several little nuances and all the “I”s must be dotted and the “T”s crossed in order to save us from unpleasant surprises later on.
In conclusion, finding a suitable office requires patience and conducting of appropriate research. The more you study the subject, the better your chances are of finding the office best suited to you, both in terms of location and visibility, and with respect to the accompanying conditions. Take your time over the issues mentioned above, meet the owner of the property and form an impression about him, giving him the opportunity to form an impression about you too.
Good luck !
We are happy to assist you with any query.
Leave us the details, briefly tell us how we can help, and our representative will get back to you as soon as possible.
