So your business is growing faster than bamboo in the garden, and you’re about as delighted as you can be (I mean what entrepreneur wouldn’t be), but you have a problem; your office space is not expanding nearly as rapidly and things are starting to feel a bit cramped! Not to worry! There are lots of things you can do to manage when your business is expanding but your space isn’t, as you will see below.
1. Use Remote Staff Where Possible
Okay, so if you run a dentist’s surgery, then your dentists are going to need to be in the office, well most of the time at least – telehealth is now a thing, but you can definitely free up some much-needed space if you hire a virtual dental assistant who can make booking, answer calls, do your paperwork and so on, from a location that is not your cramped workplace, right?
These days, many employees in many industries can work remotely from home, or co-working spaces, which means if you are struggling with growth due to a lack of space, you do not have to worry about trying to raise the money for bigger premises until you are ready to do so.
2. Hot Desking: Musical Chairs for Professionals
If working remotely is not an option for many of your staff, then why not introduce hot desking in your office? What is hot-desking? It’s when your employees don’t have fixed desks of their own; they just grab whatever is available.
It maximizes space and encourages cleanliness because, let’s face it, nobody wants to inherit a desk with a collection of someone else’s snack crumbs. Yes, it will probably require you to allow more flexible working, but if that is possible, it can be a really good way of managing the space/growth issue.
4. Go Paperless: Save Trees and Sanity
Reduce the need for physical storage by going paperless, and you will instantly have much more space than you thought. Digitize documents, use cloud storage, and back everything up. It’s like giving your office a Marie Kondo makeover. Does that stack of old reports spark joy? No? Then to the cloud it goes!
5. Flexible Work Hours: Avoid the 9-to-5 Herd
Implement flexible work hours if you possibly can and the problem will be significantly reduced with very little effort or expense on your part. Not everyone needs to be in the office at the same time. It’s like traffic management but for your office.
Plus, it makes your employees happier, and happy employees are like gremlins, but if you feed them after midnight, they just work better.
6. Rent Meeting Spaces: Because Boardrooms Are So Last Century
Need a place for a big meeting? Rent a space. There are plenty of cool, affordable spots that will make your clients think you’re hip and happening. It’s cheaper than renting a larger office and comes without the commitment of a lease. Think of it as speed dating for office spaces.
7. Declutter: Because You Don’t Need That Many Pens
It might be time to finally embrace the minimalism trend, in your business, at least. Do you really need five different types of staplers? Probably not. Declutter your space. It’s like a detox for your office. You’ll feel lighter, and who knows, maybe you’ll find that pen you lost in 2009.
8. Vertical Storage: Because The Sky (or Ceiling) is The Limit
Have a lot of stuff you really do need to keep onsite? Maximize your existing space with vertical storage. Shelves, wall organizers, and hanging file systems are your new best friends. It’s like playing Tetris with your office supplies.
9. Community Areas: Because Sharing is Caring
Create community areas. Instead of individual desks, have shared spaces where people can work together. It encourages collaboration and stops people from building fortresses out of file folders.
10. Mental Space: Don’t Forget to Breathe
Finally, remember to give yourself some mental space. Running a growing business in a small space is like solving a crossword puzzle when you are blindfolded – challenging but not impossible. Take breaks, meditate, or do whatever keeps you sane.
Expanding your business in a space that’s not growing with you is like trying to stuff a giant squid into a fishbowl – messy but oddly satisfying when you get it right. With a little creativity and a lot of flexibility, you’ll manage just fine. And hey, look at the bright side, at least you won’t need to buy a new coffee machine!
