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Being in charge of a startup can be a difficult and stressful affair. You go from being essentially self-employed, with only yourself to organise, to being the owner and director of your first business. You have to learn a lot, and you have to learn fast. And there are a lot of things that you probably never even thought about when you considered being your own boss. You probably thought about the possibility of employing new people. Maybe you looked forward to enacting your own creative vision. But you probably never thought about having to rent your own office.
As a startup, it will always be the details that make or break your business. And your first office is one of your first chances to show the world what you’re made of. You should be using the opportunity to make your office a physical manifestation of your company’s philosophy.
First, you should be thinking about how you want to use your space. Maybe you want to keep your space open in order to inspire an atmosphere of interaction and approachability. Or maybe you think that there are elements of your business that would benefit from private workspaces. For brainstorms and meetings it can be great to have loads of open space. But if your company does a lot of programming or something similar, then it will be useful to have private workspaces. Of course, these don’t have to be mutually exclusive. You can have both mixed together.
You should also be thinking about the general atmosphere that your office creates. This will be a harder one to cultivate, as it entails having a creative vision. Saracen London interior design can help you in instances like this, as it can often be an affair best left to the experts. Before undertaking a project such as this, you will want to have an understanding of the sort of public image you want your company to have. Maybe it’s important for you to project an image of professionalism, or maybe it would be better for you to appear young and progressive.
You should also think about how your new space will interact with your employees. A lot of startups will not be able to offer their employees the highest salaries in the field. As young businesses, they tend to rely on the fact that they can offer a pleasurable and unconventional working environment with a relaxed atmosphere. If your office is a fun place to work, then you can make yourself more attractive to potential employees in spite of the lower salaries you are offering.
To achieve this, you should be thinking about making social spaces. You should be thinking in general about blurring the lines between work and place, as great ideas can begin in either sphere. You should also think about making generous provisions for employee breaks. This will ensure that they understand that working for you can be a different experience to other employers. You should also be thinking in the long term, about whether there will be space for you to grow into as your operations expand.
