Deciding on the right premises for your business, whether you’re renting or buying, means weighing up multiple factors. Because a move impacts not just you and your employees, but also potentially your customers and suppliers, you need to consider all the ramifications of the property you choose.
If you are planning on renting an office space that will help you improve your business and earnings, you should look for an office that will make you feel motivated and that can help improve your productivity. With Houston’s office rental locations, you can find workspaces that will make you and your employees feel cozy and comfortable, letting the working day be more enjoyable and fun, avoiding the boring slumps that can sometimes happen during the day. Having surroundings that can motivate you to work and that give you the ability to make daily tasks exciting is something that every business owner should strive to maintain, which is vital to have a business that runs in an efficient way.
In addition, it means looking into the future and ensuring the space will be able to continue meeting your needs in the years to come, in which case you may need to also find flexible warehouse space for rent in Houston that can adapt to your evolving requirements as your business scales. Getting it right can be beneficial to your business in ways you might not even imagine – boosting employee morale, allowing you to expand your customer base, and positively affecting your brand image. Here’s what you need to consider to make sure you get it right.
Location
While there are several angles to consider when it comes to location – perhaps the most critical of all factors to consider when deciding on your next premises – the main ones can be boiled down to just two:
Can your employees get there easily, and can your clients get there easily?
Doing as much research as you can, investigating the market in each location you consider, getting different opinions and running options past your employees and getting their feedback can all be helpful. When you have several possible locations on the table, it can be useful to create a visual representation on a map. To this you can then add travel distances for each of your employees and key suppliers, access to public transport, useful amenities nearby, etc. Represented in this way, it’s less likely you’ll accidentally overlook something which might turn out to be a major issue.
Rent, or buy?
While your business’ cashflow and access to credit are of course going to play a major role here, making the decision to purchase a property outright has several potential benefits. You’re working towards an asset that you own, rather than paying off someone else’s bond. You’re free to make alterations that are tailored towards your own unique needs and plans for expansion. Having that asset to your company’s name may open the doors for other lines of credit to purchase new equipment, expand into different territories, or provide the kind of product or level of service your competitors simply can’t match. Even if buying your own premises isn’t on the financial cards quite yet, getting into the habit of monitoring the commercial property for sale in your area so you get familiar with the market and will be able to spot a real gem when the time comes is always a good idea.
Parking, access and public transport
While you probably have a pretty good idea of how much office, storage or warehouse space you need, it can be tricky to see how the day to day logistics will work out when it’s just you and the estate agent. Keep a more observant eye on the behind-the-scenes action at your current location – how many delivery vehicles do you need room for, and are they tricky to maneuver in tight spaces? Do clients battle to find parking at certain peak times? If you take on more junior staff, what forms of public transport do they use and where does your current location make travel more difficult for them? Could you benefit from having better security or access control in place?
Ability to upsize or downscale
If your company is growing rapidly, there’s little point in moving to premises that are only going to be big enough for a few years. On the flipside of this, how much money could you save by taking better control of your inventory and going with smaller premises? Another thing to consider is the growth in remote work and the trend for sharing office or industrial space with another company. By combining forces or allowing more of your staff to work from home, you could be doing a lot more with less.
Insurance concerns and security
While a certain property might tick all your boxes in terms of location, size, and price, it’s always worth doing your homework on any additional risk you might be taking on. Have a chat with your insurer and see how your premiums might be affected before you sign on the dotted line.
Distance to competitors
Identifying where the majority of your customers live and placing yourself firmly between them and your biggest competitor -especially if they have to drive past you to get to them- can be a significantly rewarding (if perhaps slightly sneaky!) way to boost sales.
As you can see, deciding on the right business premises for your needs takes careful consideration. Always try to examine as many as possible, take your time, do your research, get feedback from your employees, get in touch with the experts in your area, and gather as much data as you can.
