How to know when it’s time to upgrade your company’s workspace
Most businesses don’t wake up one day and think they’re in desperate need of a new office space. It happens slowly. Someone complains the conference rooms are booked three weeks out. Someone else realizes the storage closet is bursting at the seams. Before you know it, you’re operating around inconveniences instead of tackling them head on.
But not only are office inconveniences annoying, they also hinder how your team operates, what your clients think about you, and ultimately how much your business can expand. Knowing when it’s time to upgrade is not because you’re trying to keep up with the Jones’ of office spaces but instead, what happens when your current space no longer supports your vision.
Your team has truly outgrown the space
This is one obvious reason, but you’d be surprised how long companies try to make do with cramped spaces. When employees start putting desks in hallways or hot-desking just to find a spot, that’s crossed the line. No employee should have to come into work early to secure a desk just to be able to be productive.
But this applies to more than just headcount. The physical space may also not fit team dynamics anymore. For example, if you’ve hired more people that require collaboration and you have a ton of smaller offices, the space is working against you. If you’ve shifted to more video calls and presentations and you have one small conference room and bad acoustics, you’re stuck.
The cost of staying where you are mounts quickly as well. If there aren’t places for people to go to gain focus or have client meetings, productivity suffers. Good employees become frustrated and leave for greener pastures. New employees get their first impression from an office that does not represent where you’re going as a company.
Client meetings are awkward
Before you say a word about your business, your office speaks volumes. When clients come in and you’re apologizing for the waiting room being too cramped or your furniture is outdated, it makes them second-guess paying for your services.
Clients realize that every company won’t be situated in a beautiful skyscraper; however, they know when a company has let its space go or created chaos with it. A meeting room that’s too small, poor lighting or having to pass the cluttered storage room sends signals about how you operate.
If you direct clients to coffee shops for important meetings instead because your office isn’t quite right, that’s another indicator that should wave a red flag.
The location doesn’t work anymore
Business needs change. Maybe your clientele base has moved to a different area, maybe you’re spending too much time back and forth from where you need to be. Perhaps your office is in an area that’s no longer safe for employees; conversely, it may be too expensive and you’re paying through the nose just to say you have an address.
For those businesses in expansion mode or restructuring mode, it’s important to have access to both the right space and the right area. For businesses that seek to plant their flag in growing markets, it helps to work with those who understand what’s available in certain areas. For example, many companies lease office space Singapore through licensed property consultants who can assess requirements and determine appropriate locations and leasing agreements.
Employee commutes matter more than most entrepreneurs think. If half your team spends an hour each way getting to work because of a subpar location, that’s two hours daily of fatigue factoring into their work performance. Ultimately good employees will choose ease over ambition if they’re presented with options close to home.
Technology can’t keep up
Today’s businesses operate off reliable internet connections, proper electrical output and sustainable climate control. Old buildings sometimes fail basic requirements. If your team is consistently met with slow connections, tripped breakers and temperature extremes, it’s not just inconvenient – it’s costly.
Retrofitting an old building can cost as much as moving into a newer one with the proper things already set up. There’s also a limit to how much you can upgrade something when it’s not yours. Landlords aren’t always willing to upgrade to a significant extent and if they are, they’re certainly going to bank on you covering their costs down the road.
Sometimes businesses find their needs evolve as well; perhaps now you need server rooms or special equipment that requires power or ventilation – trying to retrofit a space that wasn’t designated for what you’re doing now creates complications.
You’re considering growth
If your business plan includes hiring more bodies or expanding services, then your office space should be part of the conversation and not considered after you’ve expanded. If you’ve already hired people but then need to scramble for where they’re going to sit, that’s easy stress nobody needs.
Forward-thinking companies look for spaces that allow growth – whether it’s more square footage in the same building or leasing options that permit future growth. If you’re stuck in a long-term lease for what is already too small of a space, you’re limiting future options for expansion if opportunities arise.
Furthermore, growth means different requirements for an office space. A twelve-person company can survive with limited meeting rooms; a fifty-person company needs adequate meeting rooms, perhaps multiple teams/departments/divisions, etc., and spaces dedicated for various working styles.
The building itself has issues
There are certain building problems that never change. Broken elevators from yesterday are still broken today; leaky plumbing fails each rainy season; bad ventilation breathes down tenant’s necks every summer; maintenance doesn’t show up for weeks on end.
These problems become a common nuisance – and once frequent nuisances occur over and over again they become problematic to how your business operates.
Property management plays a huge role in what’s acceptable and what’s not. A building with good management oversight that responds rapidly is worth the price; a building with poor oversight that takes weeks isn’t worth anyone’s time.
Safety and code compliance matter too; old buildings sometimes fail code compliance and that creates liability concerns no one wants to think about (blocked exits or antiquated fire systems).
Making sense financially
Finally, sometimes moving makes sense financially – especially when the costs outweigh renting a mediocre space in an expensive area versus taking on rent in a better building with better amenities that’s also cheaper.
It’s important to do the math – cost per employee versus commuting costs versus time lost in poor productivity compared to what it would cost for a different environment (including moving fees and downtime).
Often companies reassess at lease renewal time – which is effective when you’re within six months or twelve months of expiration of the current lease; anything sooner puts you at risk of finding something subpar; any closer gives your landlord more leverage during negotiation.
Moving with ease
It’s important to realize that office upgrades aren’t based on what’s wrong now – but what’s going to be needed one year from now (or beyond). A proper space enables your team to function better while impressing potential clients while providing room for growth instead of constantly circumventing challenges.
Therefore, assess what’s not working now honestly – think about what will help team dynamics – and give yourself enough time to find something that’s genuinely suitable instead of solving all current problems.
The best office relocations come from a position of security instead of reaction; your office space is far too valuable to let it remain subpar.
