Moving office is always an exciting and stressful time regardless of whether you are moving your business out of your bedroom and into your first office, or you are moving for the tenth time. Moving offices also creates problems like how you organise your team, what kind of space do you need, will your team members have exactly what they need?
We’ve come up with some ideas on the things you need to consider
before you move your start-up into a new office.
1- Do you really need to move somewhere else?
Consider why you need to move somewhere – what kind of space works
best for your company? Do you need to move into a new physical space or can you
expand into a digital one? Start-ups are always attracted to the cost saving
features of having a distributed company but having the core people in the same
physical space also offers numerous benefits. It really depends on what you
value, but the collaborative
benefits of having everyone together in a physical space can help
accelerate your growth.
2- Don’t move until you are full
Remember that every penny you spend could be reinvested into your
business so only move when you really have to. Of course, you have to balance
this with the craziness that happens when you reach full capacity – you don’t
want it to feel like everyone is sitting on top of one another, so choose your
moment to expand carefully.
3- Choose a space that you can grow into
There’s also a balance to be struck when choosing the size of your
new office – obviously you need to choose an office that you can grow into,
after all you don’t want to keep changing offices every six months, but at the
same time, office space can get expensive fast.
An option to consider here are serviced offices like Leo,
which give you the option of renting the exact amount of space and desks you
need, and then giving you the ability to rent further space as you grow. This
kind of option also gives you many of the benefits of a large company
(collaborative spaces and meeting rooms, food & drink etc.) on a start-up
budget.
4- Keep your company in mind
Remember that your office isn’t simply the place where you work, it’s also the meeting point for new hires, customers, investors and board members. As it can be the selling point for your company, the workplace environment needs to reflect how you want to be perceived by the world, your company values and goals. Hire a space that helps you to create the environment that can inspire and engage your workers.
5- Your space needs to reflect your team
Understanding how your team works is the key to choosing your new
space. Does your business need corporate office style cubicles, or does an open
environment better reflect how your team works? Can you have hot
desking space for those team members who spend much of the day away on meetings
or moving about the office on the phone? Understand the ethos of your team and
organise your space accordingly.
At the end of the day, moving your start up into a new physical
space will depend upon your industry, your finances and the nature of your
start up. Carefully consider the pros and cons of your move before making the
final decision.
