While you probably can run a business out of your home perfectly fine, there are definitely some downsides to it, a major one being the lack of space for the rest of your employees.
Of course, this doesn’t apply if you’re running a one-man operation, but if you’ve got other people keeping the company running alongside you, you may want to expand your business into a larger workplace.
Oftentimes, people will rent out unused office space, and as great of an idea as that can be, it can be a pretty difficult decision to make, as you’ll be making a huge financial commitment, and you don’t want it to fall through.
We’ll go over some of the methods you can put to good use to ensure that the office space you rent out is a perfect fit for your company’s needs and vision, and most importantly, that your employees feel comfortable in it.
Do you even need space?
The first thing you should consider is whether you even need to rent out any office space for your company.
You may not be working from out of your house, but the current space you’re running your company from may be sufficient for the time being, and renting additional space where it isn’t necessary could only prove to be a burden on your finances.
On top of this, remote work has been booming in popularity in recent years, and if you’re running a business that allows your employees to do their work from home, there’s absolutely no need for you to go out of your way to force them into an office instead.
This can also help eliminate the need for additional space entirely, leaving you only with the task of finding a space where your central office will be, and if your business grows large enough, a headquarters for all of your operations.
Location
Before you decide whether a certain property is suitable for your business’s needs, you may want to keep the commute times in mind as well, for yourself and your employees.
The last thing you need is an hour-long trip to the workplace, as it’ll end up taking 2 extra hours out of your day, leaving you with less time to focus on family, friends, and other aspects of your life.
Of course, if you’re just starting out, your own commute is probably the most important thing, as you don’t know where you’ll end up hiring people from, but you should remember that shorter commutes usually lead to improved workplace satisfaction.
Because of this, renting out a space that’s nearby for the majority of your employees can be a great move, and an even better one if it also doesn’t mean a longer commute for yourself.
Prepare for growth
If you do choose to rent out office space, you should always think ahead, keeping your company’s potential growth in mind, because you could easily outgrow the office space you’re renting out in just a year or two.
This means that all the office supplies and furnishing you’ve purchased will either have to be moved or sold if your company expands, and you don’t want to be dealing with unprecedented losses like that if you’re just starting out, no matter how much promise your company is showing.
If you end up hiring some extra employees in the future, you’ll want to have enough space to accommodate everyone comfortably, so make sure that the office you’re renting is ever so slightly bigger than your current capacity, just in case your business grows faster than you’ve anticipated.
Think about parking
You should always assume that your employees will be coming in to work with their own means of transport, and even if some of them carpool together, you won’t want them paying for parking half a block down from their workplace.
Instead, make sure that the building you’re renting has sufficient parking space to house all your employees and your own vehicles, as well as any vehicles that your company may be used for the services you provide or the products you sell.
This can easily become an issue if your company expands at a faster rate than you may have initially thought and you’re forced to rent out additional parking space on top of the office space you’re already renting.
Always think ahead and your finances will remain in check.
Bottom line
A lot of work goes into figuring out what type of office space your business may need, or if it needs it at all, and you’ll want to carefully examine every aspect of your company before making such a big commitment.
Your employees and customers’ satisfaction should always be a top priority, and once you’ve got that figured out, build your business on that foundation.
