Many people work for other people, not for themselves, and cannot really influence their office or workspace. However, small business owners have more control. I work with many solopreneurs who are working out of their homes and one question that comes up often…..do I need an outside office? If so, when?
Other people have specific needs for their offices and work spaces. Sometimes, the needs of the business dictate the environment.
Overall, choosing and setting up an office is unique to each person.
We just moved into our new offices in January. It was a three-year process to find the right space and get moved. We get lots of compliments and questions on our office, so I thought I would share a few important factors that we considered:
Multiple Uses
Being both a counselor and a coach, I needed a seating area for clients and a work space for more of a business meeting format.
I love that I can have both spaces for clients in one room.
Plus, since I do meet with clients most of the day, I needed a workspace for me to reduce clutter for clients, but have what I need at my fingertips. I also sit most of the day and wanted to try a standing desk to be able to get my blood flowing between meetings. I have been surprised at how much I actually use the desk standing rather than pull up the stool.
To give you a few extra tips if you spend any money renovating…we added these floors throughout our whole office suite. They are actually vinyl wood floors. They look great and they are about 1/3 of the cost of real wood. Plus they are much more durable. I get so many compliments on them too!
Functional Spaces
In our last office we did not have a conference room at all. As a matter of fact, we played musical offices…one for administration, one for counseling and one for coaching. Depending on who had a client and what type of client, we were constantly shuffling. The benefits of a conference room are:
- accommodating groups – ours can hold about 10
- staging clients – we can go ahead and get one group settled in the conference room even if I haven’t yet finished with clients in my office.
- training – although we still do not have space for big groups, we can do small group training.
We put a 65 inch LED TV on the wall for presentations; with an Apple TV device to connect to our computers wirelessly.
We now have 5 coaches and counselors who are working with clients at various times. It used to be workable to just listen for the door, now we are further away from the waiting area and we want to be hospitable. For us, having this office space at the front with the window to the waiting room has been perfect.
It is also perfect to play referee for our loving staff interactions. They are arguing over who gets to take the trash out!
We love our space!
I truly think it has helped us all to be more creative and to do better work. We also believe it helps to create a haven for our clients to get away to.
And, most importantly, we all have our own space, so no more musical offices!
This space is perfect for us at this season of the business. We have another suite next door that we can grow into also.
How about you, what are key considerations for you in your office space?
Thank you for this update. It’s helpful. I especially like the flooring idea. I’m re configuring part of my huge home for my office and want to have my home pay for itself. I’m in need of flooring ideas and this seems perfect.
Many thanks.
Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth, Would love to see your home office when it is done. If you think of it, come post a pic on our Facebook page when you are done!