When finding an ideal location for your business or company, it is important to keep in mind that many factors can be influenced by this choice. The potential success of your venture and the happiness and welfare of your employees will be affected by the office space to choose. With the many choices available around various locations, shapes, and sizes, it is important that you know which of them to choose and which features matter.
To help you out when looking for the ideal office space, here are the top 3 must-have features you need to look out for when looking for a commercial space for lease.
Location and Accessibility
One of the first and most important features you have to look out for when looking for a commercial space for lease is its location and the environment surrounding it. When it comes to retention of employees, one of the factors that keep them is the presence of work-life balance. A crucial driving factor is the distance of their workplace from their home or key locations as employees prefer to work in places where they can access various local facilities.
Your space must be accessible to employees. Assess how most of the people in your business go to work as this can be a determining factor in choosing the location. Apart from the employees, also look out how the location can be conveniently accessible for other people relevant to the business, such as customers, visitors, and/or potential clients.
Look for a commercial space for lease that is close to or a short walk away from train stations, bus stops, or jeepney routes. If a large amount of your workforce drives a car to work, opt for a space with ample space to park cars and motorcycles to avoid tardiness due to long queues in the parking lot.
Searching for a spot with local amenities that would make your life and the employees’ lives more convenient. Find a space with nearby ATMs, banks, remittance centers, dining spots, postal offices, salons, or daycare centers as these are normal commodities that people frequent. And having them close to you would make your office more appealing to its employees.
Building Systems and Appeal to Visitors
Another factor to consider is people who visit such as clients, guests, and applicants. If your business or company accepts visits from new or potential clients, look for a location that is easily accessible and is near hotel accommodations. Another factor will be the first impression that the location provides. Aside from the typical reception and waiting area, consider the impact of the areas of your business location that could have an impact on your clients’ or applicants’ impressions. If your commercial space expects to receive a lot of visitors or applicants, spend some time thinking about having a good receiving or waiting room for them to maintain a good impression. Being in a well-known business district also adds credibility to your business.
Spots such as the surroundings of the building and the location of the car park are very important when creating a good first impression. Some may be uneasy knowing their prospect office’s car park is near a location with many bystanders or finding out that walking home from their office space would mean they have to pass poorly lit underpasses or streets. This is also because security is a major factor for employees and their possessions. Aside from having a safe location, see if your potential commercial space has safety features such as outdoor lights, commercial locks, and possibly an alarm system. Also ensure the building has safety systems such as fire alarms and extinguishers, sprinkler systems, and emergency exits. Having a ready backup power in case of power interruption is also a good factor to consider.
Also, check the systems that will affect your workspace. Assess if there are ample air conditioners and vents. Keep in mind that employees and visitors need a comfortable environment to do business in, and it is better not to worry about these factors when you can allot your efforts to running your business instead.
Size of Office Space
Size matters. When looking for office space, second to location is office size. Depending on the nature of your business and the headcount of employees who report to the site, look for an office space that will meet both your company’s and employees’ needs.
To understand how much space will be needed, visualize your office space and weigh your priorities. Consider whether you will be maximizing the space each employee gets, or if you would want to put as many employees in a space. Then choose how to divide them. Having individual offices is more space-consuming compared to open workstations or cubicle partitions. Perhaps try to see if some of your employees would be able to share desks, especially if your office works round the clock with shifting schedules. Finally, think about the different departments in your office, and see which of them would need a bigger space to work efficiently, plan who gets more space among them, and which departments can work efficiently while sharing a space with other colleagues.
Once you have painted the picture of the ideal office setup, Try to determine what type of density you would need.
High Density: The majority of open seating with rows of small desks. May have a few private offices for those up the management chain. Examples are companies that house many different teams within the same space, such as sales reps, IT or programming, or BPO offices.
Average Density: Mix of open cube or desk space and private offices. Usually seen in corporate offices like banks and corporate offices.
Spacious: The majority of the space consists of large private offices. A common example is law firms.
A Good rule of thumb is to allocate 10 – 25 square meters per office worker. Depending on the density that the nature of your job brings, you may increase this space accordingly. Aside from this, also take into consideration potential growth in your office and manpower. Since leases span for years, allocate allowance for new members of your team as the last thing employees would want is to work in an office environment that is too tight.
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References:
- https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/choose-right-location-your-business-premises
- https://www.activeworkplacesolutions.co.uk/blog/relocation/6-tips-to-find-a-good-office-location#:~:text=It%20is%20very%20important%20that,train%20station%20or%20bus%20stop.
- https://www.mightyrecruiter.com/recruiter-guide/10-steps-to-finding-the-perfect-commercial-space/
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fjgnZ4WY32fex_9NVPHIQbkdkPzSdv9kEaGoQLArwKI/edit#
- https://www.ceosuite.com/is-your-business-location-really-that-important/
- https://aquilacommercial.com/learning-center/how-much-office-space-need-calculator-per-person/