After years of working hard to establish yourself as an entrepreneur and build your small business, you’re finally at the point where you want to set up your first real office space.
For most founders, this is a truly exciting moment. Having an office where you can conduct business and meet with clients shows that you have truly arrived, and your dream of starting a company has become a reality. But how can you make sure that your office can really meet your needs and those of your team?
If you are setting up your first real office space this year, here are three things you should keep in mind if you want to design it for maximal impact.
1. Clearly Delineate Workspace from Living Space
If you’ve spent years working from your kitchen table at home, you’re probably used to moving seamlessly between workspace and living space. While this can be comfortable for some people, as you build your company and establish a real office, you’ll want to map out a sharper distinction between your home and your headquarters.
This isn’t only a matter of establishing the psychological difference for yourself and your employees: it is also about encouraging professionalism.
When your office is designed and used for work-related business only, it helps you stay focussed on the task at hand, and it helps your partners and clients see that even though you are working from a home office, you take your business seriously.
2. Buy Contract Furniture
After rent and utilities, furniture is one of the most expensive aspects of setting up a new office. And for independent entrepreneurs with home businesses, the temptation to simply use cheap flat pack furniture can be strong.
But while options from companies like Ikea and Home Depot don’t cost much money, they do come with other drawbacks. Fast furniture is cheap for a reason — not only does it have a short lifespan, it is also easily recognizable as being low quality, which could be a problem if you plan on meeting with clients at home.
This is why it is a good idea to invest in high-quality commercial office furniture from companies like Branch Furniture that specialize in office workstations for small businesses. When you furnish with Branch you get eye-catching, modern furniture that will give your home office a truly professional look.
3. Invest in Digital Infrastructure
In the twenty-first century, most business is done online, so having the right digital infrastructure is a must.
This doesn’t just mean ensuring you have hardware and software that will allow you to host conference calls and connect to the cloud — it also means investing in structured cabling and WiFi that will guarantee you always have high speed contact with your clients, partners, and customers.
As more and more people opt to create their own businesses and work from non-traditional spaces like the home, the question of how to create a functional office space has become significant for many entrepreneurs.
But while there are many ways to build an office that serves your needs, being intentional about designing a space that is professional as well as functional plays a vital role in helping convince partners and clients that you’re serious about business.
