When Does My Small Business Need an Office?

With more and more people working remote, it’s worth asking whether or not your small business even needs an office, and if it does then when is the best time to invest? While no one can tell you exactly when you need to invest in office space for your small business, below is a short list of some of the pros and cons of getting an office, which will hopefully help guide you towards your own conclusions on whether or not it’s time to get one.
 

Two Reasons You Should Get an Office:

You’ll seem more professional to your clients.
 
As your business grows and you start landing larger clients, having the ability to host them at your office will give off an air of professionalism. Furthermore, it will reassure them that they made the right decision in hiring you.
 
You’ll have more effective communication between your employees.
 
It’s no secret that communicating face-to-face is more effective than communicating over the phone or through email. Most communication is nonverbal, so having your employees working together under the same roof saves time by cutting down on confusion. Also, because of this daily face-to-face interaction, your employees are much less likely to feel emotionally isolated and lonely—which is a frequent issue with remote workers.
 

Three Reasons, Maybe You Should Consider Holding Off:

 
It can be expensive.
 
Office space in most U.S. cities can run at a high cost—oftentimes tens of thousands of dollars a year. That is a huge amount of money for small businesses, money that could possibly be more effective when applied to other areas of your business.
 
It can be inconvenient.
 
If your employees—as well as prospective employees—are spread throughout the country, getting an office might not make much sense, especially if they don’t want to relocate.
 
It can be unproductive.
 
A lot of your employees may be more productive working remote. Unproductive work time can be a big drag on your company’s bottom line, so if getting an office and making all of your employees come in everyday means you’ll barely be scraping by, it might be best to hold off.
However, the above points don’t have to be black and white. If you do decide to get an office, you can always let your employees work remotely for a few to several days a week, which will allow you to capitalize on the benefits of both having an office and having your employees work remotely. In the end, the only person who can truly know if getting an office is the right move is you, but we hope we’ve given you some things to think about.