When standing in front of the decision to change the place from where your team is building the future of your business there are a lot of critical things to think about. To end up in the wrong place or in the wrong type of contract could hurt your business badly. In order to avoid this we have created this checklist of questions to help you navigate the decision making process on what type of workspace you and your team needs. 

Your Company and Growth Strategy

Start off by looking at your business as a whole and the growth journey you have ahead of you. For scaling companies it’s more crucial than ever to make sure to sign a contract that not only supports your growth but further enables it. There might be a lot of uncertainty connected to your future meaning you’ll need a very flexible office contract to be able to adapt to unforeseen changes. To come closer to the right decision for you start by answering the following questions:

1. What are your business objectives? Look at them from both a long-term perspective and more short term. Where are you at the end of this year vs. where are you aiming to be in the next five years?
2. How much do you know about your future? Do you have a solid five year plan with secured funding or are you still in drafting mode about your plans?
3. Are you soon moving into new markets or are you planning to grow in your main and first market only?

Your Team

Your team is the most valuable asset of your company and also the people who are going to be happy and productive from your workspace. Depending on how your team looks like their needs and wants will vary. It might also be the case that your team is very diverse in their life situation, work tasks and other things that affect what they need from the space they work from. To make sure you find the space that your team will thrive in, answer the following questions. Or why not host a workshop where you ask your team directly?

1. Are you working in a hybrid work model or are most people always at the office?
2. Is it important for your team to work from a central location?
3. What type of talent are you looking to hire in the upcoming years?
4. Do you have an office manager / service manager that will take care of the admin related to your office?
5. How important is it for your team to work in an environment where they get to interact with people outside of your own organization?

Your Customers

Today it’s more difficult than ever to reach your customers with your marketing efforts and the importance of building close relationships with them is high. Your office might play an important role in this – especially if it’s a place where you’re planning to meet with them in real life. To better understand how to find the right workspace to also tailor to your customer make sure you think through these questions properly:

1. Do you meet with your customers on a regular basis?
2. Do you host workshops, webinars or other activities for your customers?
3. Do you need access to conference rooms, catering or other services to host meetings?
4. Where are most of your customers physically located? Do you need to be close to them?