Small Business Tip – Make Efficient Use of Commercial Real Estate

One of the most expensive overheads for small businesses can be their leased or owned commercial real estate. Commercial real-estate can be very expensive especially in major cities. Businesses need to be prepared to make efficient use of their office space or else they will be wasting thousands of dollars each year where they could be spending that money on developing and expanding their business.

Below are some money saving tips on how you can make good use of your space to save money and perhaps even make a little money.

Smaller or compact office furniture

Amount of paperwork is reducing thanks to computers these days. So those large, heavy, and expensive wooden desks are not necessary any more. A simple L shaped computer desk would do.  Also you can have stackable storage boxes to put all your paperwork and you can store them under your desk which avoids taking extra space.  Also invest in smaller type of office furniture.

No cubicles

Cubicles just take too much space and cost a lot of money to both purchase and set up.  Also more offices are finding out that cubicles also hurt the team building effort, productivity, and creativity as many employees tend to hide in their cubicles. So get rid of those cubicles.

You don’t need meeting rooms

Leaving a space empty for most of the day only to occupy it a small portion of the day is an awful waste of space for a small business. If you want to meet with your employees, just call them out to come to your office and meet there. Also your clients will not judge you by not having an office space. If they are there at your office, they are there because they already know you are providing a good product or service. All you have to do is to close the deal and make sure they remain happy with your product and services. Your clients couldn’t care less if you don’t have a “conference room” because you know you are a small business and you are concerned about saving operation costs in order to serve them better.

Don’t be a Hoarder!

Hardening is a growing problem in America as people are having a hard time letting things go. Don’t keep things in your office you don’t need. Auction them off or give them away. If you donate them you may be able to do a tax write off (check with your accountant on this).If  you must keep some items, don’t keep them in your office. Store them at a self storage in your area.

Sublease part of your office

Doing all that recommended above, if you are able to save a bit of space where you can sublease part of your office to save some costs then I highly recommend looking into it.  Of course you want to check with your landlord and check with your insurance company but many businesses are doing this these days. There are many entrepreneurs (like me) who are looking for affordable commercial office space and are willing to sublease part of an office.

I am renting an office from an Internet  and research firm in San Diego which is actually working out pretty well. I am getting them up to date with the latest on SEO and SEM tactics and they are getting me up to date with other aspects of Internet Marketing.

In summary, when it comes to small business, thinking outside the box and being creative is the key to success. And if you can use that thinking and creativity,  to save you money and lower the overhead and operation costs, then you should just do it.