Okay. We know the reality of becoming your own boss. While the upsides are fancy and all – work as you like, set your own schedule, pursue your dream/passion/profits as you like, and so on, when we go down to (gasp) budget, things can become quite challenging.
You need to dig deeper into your pocket – often your very own pocket (because you hate giving away the ownership of your business to VCs and investors in exchange for funding/financing.) In the process, you need to be watchful of what you’re spending. This includes securing a business premise for your company.
Renting an office space near your home is nice, but if your business relies heavily on how easy it is for your clients to visit your office, you may want to rent one near the city centre. While this might be an ideal approach, it might not be, cost-wise.
So, you finally decided to go small, because you argue that small is beautiful (and fit your budget nicely), as long as it’s located in the business district or high street. That’s fantastic. Your next problem to solve: How to arrange your small office so that everyone – you, your team members, and your clients – can enjoy working and having a business talk on-premise.
If that’s on top of your mind right now, then this blog post is for you. Let’s get down to business: Here are 5 tips that can help you save space:
1. Go paperless
Paper clutters your desks, which mean less space for proper work. Moreover, paper needs filing cabinets and other types of storage to keep – those will eat up a considerable portion of your small office space.
Those said, going paperless – or, at least, reduce the use of it – will reduce the need for storage. And in the process, your business is becoming more environmentally-friendly. Killing two birds with one stone feels awesome.
2. Declutter
Clutter slows you down. Try finding your smartphone buried in piles of documents, stationeries, bags and other stuff. Try doing that when you need to call an important client who only have 3 minutes to spare. If your stuff are well-organized, it would be easy to access anything that you need to get the work, project or deal done. And tidy, uncluttered workspace looks great to your prospective clients, too.
Not only slowing you down, but clutter impacts your emotional wellness, too. You’ll become depressed working in a lacklustre workspace, and feel depressed is not good for your health and your overall productivity, obviously.
3. Use stacking chairs
Consider using stackable chairs for saving space. They are modern and efficient, especially when your office space has a double function as a meeting space for your team members and clients. When not needed, you can just stack chairs at the corner of your room. Nice and tidy.
4. Utilise vertical space
Vertical space is often overlooked when you’re trying to design your office space for maximum efficiency. Well, don’t.
Use tall and slim shelving, use wall hooks to keep your coat or sweater off your desk or the back of your chair, and other vertical-oriented work surface and storage.
5. Use wall desk / standing desk
Wall desks, especially those that can be folded and hid on the wall when not in use, are the ultimate space saver. Standing desks are also ideal, as those are not using too much space (and those help you becoming healthier by working while standing up.) Indeed, killing two birds with one stone is the main theme when it comes to saving office space!
Takeaway
So, there you go – five tips that can help you in maximising your office space, while improving your and your team’s productivity and overall wellness in the process.
If you have more tips, please don’t hesitate to share them with us!
