Many business empires start from very humble beginnings, trading from a spare bedroom or garage in the first instance before sometimes graduating onto something on a global scale in some such examples
Even if your business ambitions are more modest than these goals there still comes a time when it is not practical to work from home anymore and you need to take the next step and set up an office in your own business premises.
Here is a look at what that transition involves and some tips on how to make the move run as smoothly as possible.
Budgeting
Running an office premises is going to increase your business overheads and there is obviously a lot more to budget for compared to running your business from home.
One of the fundamentals that you need to get right is budgeting and you need to have a good handle on what all your costs are going to be, which can be detailed on a spreadsheet and used to work out how money you need each month to cover your new overheads compared to previous cost levels.
Decisions to be made
For most small businesses money is tight, so decide if you could save on valuable capital expenditure by leasing your office furniture and equipment rather than buying it outright.
The temptation when you are setting up a new office is to try and wow your potential customers with a smart hi-tech office that has all the latest gadgets and expensive desks and furniture. This will no doubt impress some visitors to your new office but it will probably not impress your bank manager so unless you have a big budget which is not very often the case, it would be smarter to obtain only what you need and keep within a tight spending range.
Making good decisions about what you need and being sensible in your choices will help your cash flow last longer in the first few months or years while your business is still growing and will reduce the stress levels if you have preserved some of your capital in the event of a potential cash emergency.
Moving in
Make a plan of your new office space and decide where everything is going to go, so that you are in much greater control throughout the whole moving and setting up process.
You will presumably be moving files and boxes from home into your new office and a great idea is to make sure that everything is clearly labeled using a label write like a Dymo, which you can get from a supplier such as labelcity.com.
Having everything clearly identified and knowing where it is all going will help you or the long distance moving company you are using to help you move, clearly follow a plan and allow you to be up and running in no time at all.
Making the next step from a home office to your own business premises is both exciting and daunting in equal measure, so make sure you have a plan and a budget which you can stick to and your business will have a good opportunity to keep growing.
John Young is a veteran entrepreneur. He enjoys writing about his experience and tricks to success on small business and entrepreneural blogs.
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