7 Simple Tricks to Execute Your Startup’s Office Buildout

7 Simple Tricks to Execute Your Startup’s Office Buildout

You’ve got a business plan and the only thing left to do is build and design your office space. An office buildout can get pretty pricey, but here are some simple trick to do it cheaply.

While some companies only raise money when they need it, savvy startups will have 18 months worth of capital in reserves at all times. Once your startup exceeds the simplicities of survival, it might be time to consider a buildout. Building out your company means that you’ll be taking an even bigger risk with a bigger potential reward.

Smart small business owners start to become good at the real estate game after a while. They start to see where a neighborhood is showing potential and where they should be located next.

Being in the heart of where talent and your customer base overlap is the key to strong growth.

If you’re interested in taking the next big startup steps and pursuing a buildout, make sure you follow these 7 steps.

1. Find Your Location

Your location is the most important element of where you’re going build your office space.

A location in a big urban area has lots of benefits. You’ll have access to the top talent and be at the center of where lots of action is. People will be able to get to your office and you’ll be able to connect with other companies easily.

The downside is that your rent might be really high and you might have a tough time finding the kind of space that you need. You might be pushed to the edge of the city in an out of the way place, making it so that you may as well be located in the suburbs.

Moving out to the suburbs has benefits other than low prices and space. Most people who want to start a family will find that the suburbs offer good options for schools, larger homes, and cheaper costs of living. They’ll like having a shorter commute than their friends who drive into the city every day.

2. Map It Out

Once you pick your location, you’ll have to map out your buildout. Get into the space before anything is built. If you don’t have the luxury of dealing with an open floor plan, create a floor plan.

Start drawing out where you want to have offices, common spaces, and meeting rooms. While the “open office” plan has been popular with startups for years, people are finding many problems with the open plan. You may need to be able to segment off groups and have private conversations you can’t have with an open plan.

You also need to ensure that you’re meeting ADA regulations, fire codes, and OSHA requirements with the space that you leave open. You need wheelchair access, the ability to get out in case of an emergency, and a reasonable amount of space for everyone to work and to think clearly.

3. Pick Your Style

As mentioned before, the open office plan is a great idea for some groups but it’s not for everyone. Some people need privacy and control over their space to work. Others people need lots of sunlight and the ability to walk around and change their workspace as often as possible.

If you’re an eco-friendly company, make sure that your office reflects that concept. You’ll find that your work will embody those concepts better when your office reflects your ethics.

4. Leave Room To Grow

Don’t underestimate your ability to grow with your buildout. Make sure you account not only for what you need immediately but where you think you’ll be in five years. Don’t invest in a space that you’re going to grow out of in a few years.

It could costs you hundreds of thousands of dollars to even get started with your buildout. It has to be built with the future of your company in mind.

Remember that you’ll need more than just a few more desks if you add staff. You’ll need more space for facilities, more servers, and even more bathrooms. Every additional staff member means more space to devote to them.

5. Set Your Budget

Make sure you have enough money to fully complete your buildout. Starting a buildout that you can’t finish is a dangerous proposition. You’ll end up with a space you can’t use and will have burned through capital that you can’t get back.

You need to have more than enough to cover supplies, staff who might not be able to be productive during this period, and all of the contractor fees. Remember that you’ll have to have an electrician, a plumber, and an HVAC specialist all looking at your space. After that, you’ll have to go through a round of inspections that could cost money.

To save money on that extra staff, hire a virtual receptionist until you can hire a real one.

6. Talk To A Contractor

Once you know how much you can spend and what kind of space you want, a contractor can help you bring your ideas into reality. Talking to a contractor will allow you to start to see your concept in a new way. Perhaps you were inefficient in your floor plan or you didn’t correctly calculate the average price of carpet per square foot.

Having a second pair of eyes is important.

The professionals at Concord Roofing & Construction have everything you want in a second pair of eyes and plenty of hands to match.

7. Decide on Must-Haves Versus Nice-to-Haves

Your contractor will force you to get real with what you’re demanding from your buildout. You might have some wild ideas on how your space can change your company and revolutionize your industry.

Your contractor can help you make a list of what you need to have and what you might have to sacrifice. Without their expertise, you could end up spinning your wheels and wasting money on unnecessary expenses.

Your Buildout Could Be Heaven or it Could Be Hell

A well-planned buildout is one that will be completed on time with its space operational on day one. While you might be sitting in a deficit during the months of a buildout, paying rent for a space you can’t use, your buildout will be a cash generating machine. Once you open the doors, you should quickly make back what you lost.

If your startup expansion is part of a franchise expansion, make sure you check out our dos and don’ts of owning a franchise.