Your business address is an important part of the puzzle when you think about how to make sure that your company is successful. There’s a lot to consider here, more than just how it looks or where it is. You need to think about whether it makes the right impression on your clients. Or, if your employees love traveling to that address for work each day. If your employees hate going there every day, there’s a good chance that they won’t be completing work to the best of their ability. Similarly, if your clients aren’t impressed by the business address, they won’t be inclined to buy from your company. As you can see then, your address plays an important part in the level of success that your company reaches.
These days, a lot of companies are run from home. While there are many advantages to running a company from home, you are limiting yourself in some ways. For instance, if you run your business from home, you immediately look weaker. It appears as though you can not afford to buy a company address. This may well be the case and clients will think twice about signing with a company in this position. That’s why, if possible, it’s always best to set up your company separate from where you live. No matter what the benefits that a home address may have.
Choosing Your Location
The first thing that you should consider is the location of your business address. Obviously, you do want it to be close to transport links. However, you should be careful about setting up in the middle of the city. Typically, this will limit the space you have to expand. Short of buying another business address somewhere else, you will find that you won’t have any way to increase your business. If you buy outside of the city, you might be able to obtain a larger plot of land. As we will discover further down, this certainly has a few advantages.
You do need to consider whether the location that you choose fits your area of business. For instance, think about where your chosen industry is booming and where it might be failing. In the past, one of the main areas where you should have considered setting up in the oil industry was Aberdeen. The city in North-east Scotland was a prime location for oil companies. However, the market has taken a dive in recent years, and it is currently uncertain when or if it will recover. Essentially, you must make sure that there is still a supply and demand for your company. If there isn’t, then you will have to find a fresh market, and this can be a lot more difficult.
Consider the infrastructure of the area as well. For instance, you almost certainly want to think about traffic levels. High traffic will make it more difficult for your employees to get in and out of work. This can make your business less attractive as a place to work and more difficult to sell. As well as this you need to think about logistics. If your business is in the middle of nowhere, how long will it take to transport your product to clients? If your dispatch area and warehouse location are in different places, then you won’t need to worry.
You may not think that all of these factors could play a part in the success of your business. But you’d be surprised by the little details that may have a great impact. For example, you should look at internet speeds. If you’re in an area where internet speeds are low, this again is going to affect business efficiency. It might also stop you being able to communicate as freely as you would like with important clients.
Design And Style That Location
This is where buying a location outside of the city is beneficial. You will have more space to play with when you are attempting to make the business premises look stylish. Remember, this will always be important when you are attempting to get important clients. First impressions are everything. If you can hit the mark before they even enter the building, you have already nearly won the contract. To make things simpler, let’s first look at a scenario where you have bought a city address.
In this case, you may not have much land outside of the property to use to your advantage. That’s why you should focus on the exterior of the business building itself. In particular, you could use metal plates on the outside of your office. These look modern, stylish and have practical benefits too. Metal plates conserve heat and that’s a big advantage in the summer months.
You may also want to look at adding a unique sculpture, or architectural feature, outside, near the entrance hall of the building. This will catch the eye of clients as they walk into the office and will give it a degree of ostentation. Everyone knows that sculptures are bought only for the purpose of impressing people. Thus it shows you can afford to spend on items merely for show. The best part is that these sculptures often don’t cost as much money as people are led to believe.
If you bought a business building in a suburban area, you do have the opportunity to make it somewhere truly spectacular. You might be able to add lighting to the outside area surrounding your building. This can make the premises look more modern and is practical for security purposes.
If you have enough money, you can even have something completely different such as a water feature. An artificial river or lake will look incredible at your business address. If you have enough space, you can position this at the front of your building. You can then look into finding a good bridge design company to complete the aesthetic of the property. This is going to cost money. However, it might be worth it. Just imagine how incredible this is going to look on your business homepage. Or, as part of a brochure that you can hand out to potential clients at your corporate events. As we said, first impressions are everything, and this will certainly make a big one.
Interior Decoration
Once you’ve finished altering and improving the exterior of the business property, you can think about the interior. In particular, you need to consider not just what your clients want to see but what employees want to see. Remember, they are going to be there the most. You need them to be happy in their place of work but not too relaxed that efficiency levels fall.
The first factor that you want to consider is the layout of your office. Be aware that different office layouts often have various effects. For instance, you may want to encourage your employees to work in teams or groups. If that’s the case, it’s best to have the desks facings one another. This will encourage employees to communicate and work freely together. If you want to encourage solo work, then offices are key. Or, at the very least, office cubicles. However, typically, you’ll find that most offices are laid out with an open plan.
Reverting to what we said about first impressions, you should spend quite a lot of time on the entrance hall. You must try and make sure that it stands out and is visually quite impressive. It doesn’t matter what clients see behind the first set of doors. If the entrance hall impresses, you won’t have to worry about much else.
Add some art and modern decor to the walls, dressing it up as much as you can. You may want to choose a style that compliments your industry. For instance, if you are an oil company you can have framed pictures of oil rigs and tankers.
When you are decorating the interior of your office, remember to choose warm and welcoming colors. Don’t use neutral shades for your business as this will make it look both dull and forgettable. That is the last thing that you want your office to be. Instead, you want to have a lasting impression that ensures clients remember your company long after they leave.
Don’t be afraid to take the design of your business in bold and exciting directions. You should have a look at what other company owners have done to make their office appealing. For instance, in Japan, many business owners have opted for having gardens in their office. There is no doubt that these look visually impressive. However, they also supposedly have a brilliant effect on employees. Being surrounded by a green environment helps them keep tension levels low. This allows them to work harder without feeling high amounts of pressure.
We hope you have found this advice useful when choosing and designing your business property. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that the way your office looks and the place that you choose doesn’t matter. It does, and it could have a huge impact on the level your company reaches in the next few years.
