7 Things About Office Fitouts You May Not Have Known

If you run your own business, there may come a time when you need to relocate your enterprise. For commercial businesses you may need to move to a location with better visibility and more footfall. If you run an office-based business you may find that a move to a building with better infrastructure, faster wifi and better access to productivity boosters like natural lights, gardens and a peak temperature can help take your business to the next level. Sure, moving your business to a new office can be disruptive and even chaotic but it can also help your business to achieve new heights of productivity, efficiency and mass appeal.

When moving your business to a new location, an office fitout is essential to help you to get up and running quickly and seamlessly when your business moves into its new home. But there are some things about office fitouts that you may not have known. Secrets known only to seasoned pros. Join us as we explore 7 things about office fitouts you may not have known…

Going it alone can cost you way more money

As a shrewd entrepreneur you likely look at everything from a project manager’s perspective. You look at your office fitout and try to identify areas in which you can save money. While this is understandable and even admirable, any office fitter worth their salt will tell you that it’s the very definition of false economy. Yes, even if you are a self-certified DIY God at home.

Firstly, if you’ll be devoting your own time and energy to the fitout this is bound to lead to a productivity deficit at work. Secondly, even if you’re confident in your DIY abilities, fitting out an office is subtly different to renovating your home. An office, for example, has wildly different infrastructural needs in terms of power and internet connectivity than has your home.

A DIY fitout is prone to mistakes and mishaps which can be incredibly costly in and of themselves and even push back your moving in day. This means less time up and running and less time making money… Which can be disastrous to your cash flow.

A carefully costed and fully project managed fitout may seem like a large overhead expense but it can save much more than it costs in the long term. If you need help financing your project, contact our commercial fitout finance team.

A great fitout leaves room for expansion

You may become giddy with anticipation to move to your new office space, especially if it’s a larger and more versatile space. Indeed, you may be tempted to fill every available inch of office space in your zeal to get the most out of your new premises.

However, just because you have more space doesn’t necessarily mean that you should rush to use it all. An experienced office fitter, however, will tell you that there’s value in setting aside some of your space to allow for expansion. There’s nothing more frustrating than being locked into a lengthy lease on a premises only to realise that your business has outgrown it within a few months. Make sure that your fitout not only fits today’s needs but is equipped for tomorrow’s too, leaving room for expansion and setting aside floor has space to add additional desks if your continued success requires more personnel to come on board.

It pays to get to know the terms of your lease

Many an office fitter has worked with a vibrant entrepreneur with growth in mind. They’ve come into a new premises with grand plans for an ambitious office fitout. They come to the table with lots of creative ideas while also listening to the advice of their fitter. Work has begun in earnest… Only to be scuppered by an angry landlord who shuts the whole fitout down. Why? Because the business owner hasn’t properly familiarised themselves with the terms and conditions of the lease.

Whatever you have planned for your office fitout, make sure that you ensure that it’s allowed under the conditions of your lease. And it can’t hurt to run them by the landlord either.

You’ll probably need more data and power points than you think

Experienced fitters tend to find that many businesses undershoot their data and power point needs and that this causes issues later on which can create a bottlenecking of productivity. An experienced office fitter will usually recommended that you have at least two powerpoints and data points at every workstation. They will likely also recommend that you add powerpoints to areas that are not currently in use but which may be adapted for use as your business grows.

You can save a lot of money by reusing stuff you already have

You may assume that an office fitter will want to replace everything from your old office with brand new furniture and fittings that better match your brand identity and the kind of impression that you want to make on clients and employees alike in your new premises. But this is not always the case. If you want to save money by bringing some of your old furniture with you, fitters will be amenable to this.

Some businesses find that they strike an ideal balance by replacing everything that’s front of house with the dazzling new stuff while keeping the older (but still perfectly functional) in the back of house.

Your fitters could go out of business halfway through a job… And there’s not much you can do about it!

This is fairly rare but it does happen. Office fitouts are a fairly high overhead, low profit margin affair and fitting companies have to work much harder to balance their cash flow than most. As such, if you don’t do your due diligence on a fitting company you may find yourself in the nightmare scenario of your fitter going out of business before they can complete your project.

Fitting delays needn’t torpedo your productivity

Sometimes, despite everyone’s best intentions and all the planning in the world, external circumstances intervene. When circumstances beyond your control cause delays this needn’t necessarily mean that you’re unable to operate. An experienced office fitter will advise you to plan contingencies that allow you and your employees to work from home while they attend to any issues that may arise. You may not be able to operate at peak efficiency but at least you’ll get something done.

Now that you know these little known secrets, you can be sure of a seamless, smooth and futureproof fitout.

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At Total Fitouts we specialise in office fitouts, so whether you’re starting from scratch, relocating, building your dream space or up-sizing, we’re here to help. We have experience in small businesses, display offices, corporate office, legal and accounting firms and more. Learn more about our office fitout services here and get started on your dream office today!