When it comes to starting up a new business, an important consideration is where the office should be located. There are a number of key factors that need to be taken into account when making this decision, from the type of business you plan to run and the size of office you require to the location of your customers.
Of course, budget constraints and the size of your staff will also play key parts in the decision making process. Read on for our guide on how to choose the best office location – or whether or not you even require an office at all!
–Consider the type of business you have
The type of office space you take on should be a good fit for the kind of business you want to run. For example, if you plan to entertain a lot of clients or host meetings with colleagues and customers on a regular basis, a conference room, comfortable meeting area or welcoming lobby might be important to you.
But if you tend to hold most of your meetings over the phone or your employees are scattered across remote locations and various offices across the country, a city centre office space with lots of amenities may be more than you need. After all, no business wants to waste money and it may be that choosing an office space outside of the city centre – or even opting for a home-based option – could be a more practical and cost-effective solution.
Buzz Conferencing offers plenty of conference calling services that can make it easy – and affordable – for you to maintain relationships with your other colleagues and clients, even when you are not all in the same location. This can help you to build successful working relationships from anywhere.
–Where are your clients located?
Another key consideration for choosing the location of your business is where your clients are based. In many situations, it makes sense to go where the work is – for example, if all your clients are city centre banks, it might be wise for your organization to be based in the city centre too.
But in other situations, this isn’t a feasible option. If you’re a London-based firm and the majority of your clients are in Manchester, for example, you will need to ensure you have other avenues of communication available so you can stay in touch and maintain your working relationships.
Likewise, smaller businesses and sole traders may not have the means to set up shop in a central location and may choose instead to operate out of their homes. This is becoming an increasingly popular – and cost effective – solution and new technology is making it easier to run your business from anywhere.
Audio and video conferencing software can connect you with other remote workers or your clients – and best of all, this solution can be adopted on a pay-per-use basis – you don’t need to lock into a contract or pay for anything you don’t need.
It’s important to consider all the options before you make your final decision on choosing the right location for your business– it can help to draw up a list of the various choices, their pros, cons and total costs.
The office space in a specific location can significantly impact the success of your business depending on the type of business you run. Make the right decision now and you could save your business and your employees cost and time.