There’s a lot to think about when you’re opening up a new office, but it’s important that you don’t forget any of them. Here are some considerations every business owner looking to open an office should make.
Lighting
You can never have too much light in your office, but you can have too little. A dull, dingy office is not the kind of place you want to work, and you can be sure that your employees will feel the same way. Ideally, your office will have lots of natural light coming in through the windows, but if not, you’ll have to get your electrical lighting right.
Don’t be afraid to use plenty of floor lamps and lights on desks if you haven’t got much natural light in the office. Your ceiling lights should provide light to the whole room too. Don’t make the mistake of having light only shining on the centre. Even if your office is small, it’s best to use smaller lights dotted around the ceiling.
Heating and Cooling
When your heating or cooling system breaks down in the office, your workforce can be thrown into chaos. It can be very hard to work in an office when the weather’s hot and the air conditioning isn’t working. So, the first thing to do is make sure you have good heating and cooling systems in place to begin with.
You should find a modern one with a good energy rating. You’ll be wasting money if your heating and cooling systems aren’t efficient. You should also find a reliable HVAC contractor in your area, so you know who to call as soon as something does go wrong in the office.
Layout
The layout of your office is essential because it will dictate how your employees work and how the office flows. A lot of business owners prefer a more collaborative work space nowadays, but which layout you go for will depend on what kind of work you do. Some businesses need their staff to work solitarily while others need constant communication.
Whichever kind of layout you go for, you need to remember to create specific zones for different tasks. Most businesses take on different jobs and procedures each day, so you’ll need to be kitted out for every eventuality. Having meeting areas, break areas, individual desk, and larger planning desks.
Branding
Your office space should never be bland or nondescript. It should be identifiably yours, and then whenever someone visits your business, they’ll know exactly what the business is all about. Most business owners care about their branding when it comes to marketing, their web presence and even stationary. But not many see it as important in the office.
But if you ask me, it’s equally important to work on your office branding. It creates a collective environment and lets everyone clearly see what’s is uniting them and their work efforts. It can look great too; why not create a feature wall with your logo at its center?
Once you’ve thought through all these things, your new office will be ready to open its doors.
