Business owners all across the globe are designing professional offices to stay productive, promote employee satisfaction, and enhance daily communication. In fact, there are nearly 8 million active physical establishments for businesses in the U.S alone. Setting up a business’s physical office in a bigger commercial space takes a lot of planning. It’s nothing like moving into a new apartment or home. After all, businesses need to think of innovative ways to stay productive and profitable throughout the process. Plus, they need to find the appropriate balance between efficiency, professionalism, and style. As a business owner yourself, you should familiarize yourself with the necessary steps to create an engaging, productive, and vibrant office setting. This way, you can empower productivity, encourage work participation, and build a strong corporate culture. To help you get started, read on to learn how to set up a small business office for success.
Consider Location
Before you can start designing or decorating, consider the location for your small business office space. Of course, you want to select an easy-to-find, spacious business location that is within your budget. In addition, you should think about your company’s personal brand. For example, an accounting firm may not fare as well in the middle of a young college town. Similarly, you probably don’t want to establish your debt relief company in the middle of a high-end, luxury shopping district. Also, you want to ensure the location you choose is safe. This involves choosing an area that has low levels of natural disaster, crime, burglary, and theft. Of course, this is vital to ensure your employees feel safe coming to work every day. With the right location selected, you can focus on growing your small business. Certainly, consider the location to set up your small business office for success.
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Plan Your Office Layout
Next, plan your office layout to set up a professional, productive, and successful workspace. Before you even start planning, think about the employees that you will have on-site every day. In addition, you should carefully think about how many of these employees will require their own private office. Then, try and envision the bigger picture. Use this to organize the layout for your main workstation, conference rooms, and lobby. Plus, create a sophisticated plan for break rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms. Also, don’t forget about the stairs and elevator layout at your new office. Surely, plan your office layout to set up a small business office for success.
Set Up Small Business Office Software
There are several essential tools, resources, and technologies to help your small business run more productively. For example, you should try using employee scheduling software, to build timesheets in minutes and share them with your team. Using these tools, you can control labor costing with accurate, real-time data on sales and wages. This way, you can make sure that your company is always running on a budget. Plus, you can take advantage of auto-scheduling functionality to build artificial intelligence (AI) optimized schedules in just a few clicks.
“Many advanced solutions even have advanced empty shifts capabilities, so that you never have to worry about being short-staffed. Indeed, set up your small business office with the latest tools, resources, and technologies.” – as nicely quoted by Ashik Ahmed, the CEO, CTO & Co-founder of Deputy, in one of his recent interviews.
Stock Up Your Office Supplies
At this point, it is time to stock up all your daily office supplies. While it frequently gets taken for granted, everyday office materials and stationary help businesses stay productive, organized, and efficient. Of course, your company will need business cards, post-its, legal pads, and envelopes. Plus, you should also purchase plenty of printer paper and letterheads for printing out documents. In addition to all your paper supplies, you also should purchase writing supplies, like pens, pencils, highlighters, and erasers. If you are purchasing electronics as well, think about the advantages and disadvantages of laptops for your employees. Definitely, stocking up on supplies is key to setting up a small business office space for productivity, efficiency, and success.
Build Employee Workstations
Once you have all of your supplies, you can design your individual employee workstations. Purchase employee computers, extra monitors, mice, and keyboards from your local office supplies store. Also, you may want to provide staff members with personal scanners or printers right at their desks. If you have a high priority on employee comfort, you may also want to equip workstations with wrist supports, document holders, and file cabinets. Also, pay close attention to illumination and natural lighting. After all, too much brightness can cause glares, which often distract employees from being productive. Simply put, building employee workstations is key to setting up a small business office for success.
Set Up A Business Server
Now, you are ready to set up a server for your small business office space. Essentially, a server functions as a powerful system for distributing information to employees, clients, and other computers throughout your facility. Once set up, staff can use corporate servers to access the same data, information, and documents, even when working on different computers. In many cases, businesses choose cloud servers to manage their operations. Of course, these are best for small or medium-sized businesses with minimal information technology (IT) resources. You may also want to choose on-premise servers. This often comes with higher upfront investment costs. However, it will provide your business with much greater speed, efficiency, and security in the long run. Undoubtedly, set up a business server to enable your office to succeed.
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Enable High-Speed Internet Access
Your internet connection is another major consideration when setting up your small business office. It’s important to know the different types of internet configurations, speeds, and setup options that are available. For example, you’ll want to know if there’s already a 5G or fiber-optic internet configuration in your office. Ideally, you should plan internet installation at least eight weeks ahead of your desired start date. This way, all the components can be installed and implemented in time for move-in day. Plainly, enable high-speed internet access to set up your small business office for success.
Tame The Wires
At this point, it is time to tame all the wires throughout your small business office. Between TVs, computers, monitors, and other hardware, there’s going to be tons of wires running around your office. Invest in some kind of advanced cords and wire management system. It can be something simple as a twist tie or Velcro strips. This is key to keeping your office looking neat, professional, and organized. Plus, it will help you prevent accidental slip and fall injuries in your workplace. Indubitably, tame all the wires and cords that are running around in your new small business office space.
Invest In Communications
With all of the wires under control, invest in communications for your small business office space. You want to set up a new phone line for your organization. Many businesses choose to upgrade their facilities with voice over internet protocol, or VoIP phone lines. This allows you to make calls efficiently over a broadband connection. At the same time, VoIP technology promotes higher scalability, stronger accountability, and full portability. Of course, you will likely need a more reliable, higher-speed internet connection to support this technology. Therefore, it may not be best for businesses looking to stick to a tight budget. If you are searching for other options, consider providing your employees with company cell phones. Look to keep business phones separate from personal devices. This way, you can lower risks and maintain ownership of company property. Needless to say, invest in strong, reliable communications for your office space.
Make Your Workplace Safe
Once you have all your equipment set up and assembled, it’s time to make your workplace safe. Safety, protection, and security should all be top priorities when moving into your new office space. You need to keep your workplace safe from criminal intrusion, natural disasters, or employee theft. One of the most common approaches is to equip your facility with high-quality, reputable security cameras. Also, you should purchase an alarm to further protect your space from break-ins or burglary. Once you have all of this setup, focus on the best ways to secure your doors, windows, and other points of entry. In many cases, the best move for profitable businesses is to hire a 24/7 round-the-clock security guard. In short, make your workplace safe to effectively set up a small business office for success.
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Conclusion
Setting up your first small business workspace spaces requires many steps, office design tips, and technicalities that can certainly be overwhelming. Throughout the entire process, it is important to keep a careful eye on what your company truly needs. This will help you set up a productive workspace in accordance with your space and financial limitations. Especially if you are hosting clients in your workplace, it is essential that your office is clean, organized, and professional. Follow the points highlighted above and learn how to set up a small business office for success.
