How To Optimize Your Office Space For Future Growth
One of the main objectives of any business is to grow, especially in those first formative years. Just as an infant matures quickly into an adolescent, so too do businesses go through multiple growth spurts that necessitate changes to the décor and layout. This usually happens when hiring more employees, or adding existing machines or products to the work floor.
Regardless, it’s wise to optimize any office space with future growth in mind. Staying only in the moment is a bad recipe that can backfire, and prove costly in the long run. Follow along for a guide on how to accurately gauge your existing office space with future growth in mind, just as a child outgrows clothes as they grow up.
BRAND IDENTITY DOES MATTER
Choosing a brand identity has become a vital necessity in the modern work age, and companies able to project that identity forward tend to connect much better with their customers. Therefore, it should be at the forefront of any office setup, remodel, or expansion. This will differ from office to office, but skipping over the essentials of a cohesive brand identity should be avoided at all costs.
New offices should establish their brand identity long before any work commences. Rather than just sticking to themes and colours, company owners should also think about how brand identity will affect the office layout, as well. Try to think 2-4 years down the road at the very least, to guarantee that branding guidelines and décor will work with future expansions.
Speaking of expansions, it’s very important to maintain consistency across the board, especially for companies opening up another location. Branding plays an important role, so make sure that yours is flexible, and able to accommodate a completely different office layout. The key objective is to make sure clients recognize your brand and attune themselves to it, which is very difficult when multiple branches aren’t following the same identity.
THE SCALABILITY FACTOR
Whether you’ve been in business for one year or ten, you’re always going to want to think about growth. The question is, how much growth is feasible within your current office space? For some, it may be necessary to migrate completely out of one building in favor of another with more space, but this isn’t always necessary.
In fact, many companies simply have difficulty strategizing and envisioning a new way to restructure their current office. This is where office design specialists like Sensyst come in. We know how to make excellent use of existing space in order to put off costly renovations and unnecessary relocations until they are absolutely necessary.
In this scenario, always think of downtime. The more your office is affected by a renovation, the greater the chance your products and services may suffer. Similarly, moving to a new location could prove stressful and chaotic for your customers and clients, so there’s no sense moving if you don’t really need to. The goal is to grow to such a size that your brand becomes firmly established, and you can afford to start making more radical progressions.
TWO TYPES OF SCALING
When many people hear the term “scalability,” they inevitably think of whether a product or service has the criteria that can lead to potential growth. After all, the more customers seek out a product or service, the more the business can expand. This is the backbone of any entrepreneurial undertaking.
However, as discussed above, there is another form of scalability that needs to be taken into account, and that’s the scalability of your actual office. For a business to grow correctly, both need to be taken into account, since they are essentially two sides of the same coin. They don’t always operate at perfect frequency, however. A business may scale its products or services to accommodate growing customers without having to scale up the actual office space required. At some point, however, you’ll inevitably need more space. Always anticipate business growth with the needs of your office over the next five years. That will help you anticipate whether restructuring is in order.
CONCLUSION
Finding a great office space is half the battle. Making it work within the context of your company identity and goals is quite another. Whether you’ve just started your first business, or your company has gone public, the battle for future growth never actually goes away. For that reason, you’ll always have to consider how scalability will affect your day-to-day operations.
Sensyst understands how anticipated business growth directly affects the layout and structure of a given office space, which is why we’re on hand to help out. Contact us today if you’re feeling the pinch of your office. We may be able to readjust and remodel your existing location to accommodate growth for the next few years – perhaps more!