Moving From A Home Office Into A Commercial Property

Your home office is where it all began. You started your business here, and it’s been a revelation being able to work from home, letting you enjoy the best of both worlds all in one place. However, there are some things where a home office can’t compare to a commercial property.

No matter how good things are to begin with, after a while, things can change. Depending on your business, the people you work with and even the setup you have at home, what once worked perfectly might be struggling to keep up.

You can move into a bigger room – or a home with a bigger home office space – but this isn’t always practical. That’s when you need to think about moving from a home office into a commercial property.

Why are you leaving the home office?

Before moving out of your home office, it’s important to understand why you need to do so. There are plenty of reasons why you might decide a home office isn’t working as well as it once did – or perhaps had to. Knowing these will make sure that any office or commercial space you choose will tick all the boxes.

While not exhaustive, here are some common reasons why people leave their home offices behind.

Minimising Distractions

There are plenty of perks to working from home, such as ditching the daily commute, being able to enjoy fresh, homemade meals every day and being closer to your family or people you live with. It sounds like the perfect scenario, right?

The other side to this are the distractions. All that separates you from family, children or noises of the house are a door and (sometimes thin) walls. Not everyone understands that a closed door means do not disturb, and signs don’t always help either. This can make it hard to focus and get things done.

You’ve Outgrown The Space

Working as a part of a small business, one you’ve joined or created, can mean you don’t need much space to get things done – especially in some tech orientated organisations. With growth, however, you might find the need to have more equipment or more people involved.

While remote working can and does work, in some cases, it’s necessary to have everyone together. There are also benefits to this, too, but home offices can’t always accommodate multiple people working – and inviting colleagues or employees into your home blurs boundaries.

A dedicated commercial property or office overcomes this and allows you to keep work and personal life separate.

The Social Aspect

Working from home can be lonely. Yes, your family and housemates might be around, but you see them everyday outside of work. One of the highlights of an office or separate workplace is the social interaction.

From meetings to watercooler moments, seeing different people in person can be a good way to engage with what’s going on outside of your immediate circle. Shared office spaces help with this even more, as there are even more people you can talk to and interact with.

Your new commercial property

When on the lookout for a commercial property to replace your home office, there are a lot of things to consider. This isn’t a like-for-like swap, otherwise you look at renting a desk in a communal hub – which is an option for some people – but it might be what your business needs to really take hold.

Here are just a few things to consider.

Stick To Your Budget

A commercial property of your own is exciting!

It’s the next stage of growth for your business, and you can find any number of commercial properties – but not all are going to be suitable. Know exactly what you need to be successful and compare that to the budget you can realistically afford to spend.

Even if you find the most perfect commercial property – to buy or rent – don’t go above this budget. While we want everything to go well for you, if you spend all your resources on an office without taking into account other costs and outgoings, it could mean you lose it later – and maybe the entire business.

No one wants that.

Make Sure You Futureproof

While it’s important to be realistic, try and plan for growth. You’ve already seen how much things can change over a period of time by needing to move out of your home office. It could be that you need more space for future workers to join you, or more storage space for products.

Think about your industry and what it might need in a few years time. This will help you get an idea of what you can have now and whether it will be suitable in the future.

Plan For Quiet Times

As much as we want to think everything will run smoothly from the get go, in business there can be quiet times. By overreaching and spending, on an office, supplies, equipment and even staff, you could be putting yourself under extra stress if you’re not completely sure you can weather such moments.

With planning, they will pass and things will improve, but you can make things easier for yourself by taking these periods into account and knowing you can get through them.

Set Up Properly With Office Furniture

As much as you might think it a good idea, simply moving your home office furniture into a commercial space isn’t going to be enough. For one thing, everyone has different needs, so the office furniture you choose has to accommodate those.

Having a sense of uniform or normality in the office helps bring the team together and it feels more professional. Your home office furniture was bought to suit you, and it may have cost more than you can afford to provide everyone you work with.

The right desks, chairs, equipment and machinery is integral to making your business work. Plan carefully and think about how long it will last before upgrades or replacements are needed.

Not only that, but you might need your home office furniture in the future should you work from home again, or if someone else does.

Ready to move from a home office into a commercial property?

Once you’ve made the decision to leave your home office for something bigger, more suited to your needs, you’ll find yourself spoilt for choice. There are commercial properties everywhere, so you can look at local options, different sizes, setups and more. We’re confident you’ll find the office you need.

Contact our team at Williams Sillitoe for more information on what commercial properties are out there and what options are best suited for your needs.