Choosing a Building
Choosing a building that is suitable for your immediate and future business needs is critical. Businesses need to have clear idea of their needs and what they are trying to achieve, to make sure they make the right choice. Often conducting a detailed feasibility study to identify what those needs are is extremely helpful, as it highlights the pressure points and potential cost savings for a business. It also allows you to ensure your new workplace design addresses those pressure points and enhances the way your company operates. A feasibility study can be as simple a self-conducted process, with you asking focus groups and your own project team for their feedback and collating the info. Alternatively it can involve enlisting the aid of a specialist company that will carry out any desk occupancy surveys, provide test-fit drawings along with floorplans for the new area and hold a series of meetings to fully understand what your needs are. They then will come up with a comprehensive list of your requirements and plans of how they could be achieved. These plans can be tailored to a building you are looking at or, if prior to selecting a building, can help to narrow down that search later in the process.
Very often these detailed feasibility studies identify pressure points - such as only 60% desk space being utilised at any one time or a lack of meeting space hampering collaboration. These can be addressed within the new space plan for your relocation and can help you focus your priorities. Another aspect to consider when choosing a building is the location. Naturally, you will have a location in mind if that is the reason you are moving. However not all moves are location-driven, for example a move necessitated by a lease end etc. Location is key to success and, if it is wrong, small issues at the time can have long term impact. It needs to be looked at from all aspects:
- How does the location reflect my brand image? A large corporate moving to a downtown location could indicate to their customers that they are struggling. Likewise, a small brand focused company can potentially add value to their business by moving to an upmarket and trendy area.
- How does the location affect my employees? Will it be within reach for most of the staff or will some have to move or even be made redundant? These are hidden costs that will need to be considered. Also look at the surrounding amenities, how close are the nearest restaurants / day-care / shopping centres etc? Is it well connected for commuting and what it the car parking like? These are the little things that, if you can get them right, make all the difference.
- Rent - Obviously, the size and location will directly correlate to the price of the building. Careful consideration of this cost needs to be given when relocating, especially if it represents an increase. Can you justify the increase in rent?
You will need to ensure that the new location has sufficient room for your expansion plans. It can be very costly outgrowing a space within 2 years when you have a 5-year lease! If you have decided to go down the route of preparing a feasibility study, this will have identified the main areas for growth and catered for them over the lease term. One of the more overlooked costs of relocating is the cost of altering the premises to suit your requirements. Very few locations are perfect and ready to walk into, most of the time you will want to carry out some alterations. You will likely be able to negotiate better deals with landlords if the space requires extensive refurbishment; they may also be happy to share some of the cost if fundamental basics such as heating and cooling systems need to be improved etc. Relocating the office is also an ideal opportunity to improve your working practices, or establish your company culture and often the alterations to layout and decor will reflect this. It is a lot easier to make these changes before you inhabit the space, so as to minimise the disruption to your business. A new, design-led office will increase employee motivation and help to attract top talent within your industry.
Key Points to Remember
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A feasibility study to determine building size and budgets is essential.
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Often a professional feasibility study will highlight pressure points and potential cost savings that can be addressed during your relocation.
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Look at the location from all aspects to make sure all it will not impact your stakeholders adversely.
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When choosing a building remember to factor in the cost of alterations. These can vary wildly from building to building; a reliable fit-out contractor should be able to provide budget costs.
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Doing extensive alterations is not always an unnecessary expense; it provides a great opportunity to implement your company’s culture through the work environment, therefore reducing labour turnover.
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Remember, this is a perfect chance to create an environment that encourages new working practices such as agile working, with minimum disruption.
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If you work closely with the feasibility study results, you may even be able to reduce the size of your office required.