A decade ago, having a large office space meant that your business was successful. Well, today that is not the case. Taking into account the skyrocketing real estate prices, downsizing is the best decision.
There has been a rise of digital nomadism. More employees are increasingly working remotely. As such, they are spending more time away from the office. Reasons for this include work-life balance, control, and flexibility.
As a business owner, when do you know it’s time for office space downsizing? In this post, we discuss downsizing your office and the right steps to go about it.
1. Transitioning to a Remote Workforce
A vast majority of employees are ditching the traditional office for remote working. They are trading them for flexibility and freedom of working from a co-working place. Today, 70% of all workers are telecommuting, at least some of the time.
Experts forecast that by 2020, 50% of the workforce will be working remotely. In fact, once employees get a taste of working from home, it is difficult to go back to the traditional office. As more workers choose to work from home, businesses end up with extra space. This is expensive. By downsizing office space, you get to save.
2. Reduced Profits
If the company is seeing reduced profits due to reduced customer numbers, then it’s a legitimate reason to downsize.
If you choose a co-working space, you will be able to manage costs. How? They are affordable which lowers your overhead costs.
3. Outsourcing Critical Departments
Today, service providers offer specialized services to businesses at a fee. For instance, a company can outsource its bookkeeping services to a service provider. By doing so, the company ends up with extra employees with no roles and responsibilities.
Downsizing the workforce is a legitimate reason to downsize your office space too. Remember, it is important to choose carefully when laying off your employees. It won’t be logical to lay off your workers and end up defending a wrongful termination case. This will damage your brand’s reputation.
4. Maintaining High Product Standards
As your business grows, there is a demand to provide quality products and services. To maintain this trend, you will need to make drastic decisions. For instance, every year, you may have to lay off underperforming workers.
While this may seem like an unreasonable plan, it allows the business to control its product standards. It is easier to oversee a small high performing workforce than a large workforce. This is true if a large percentage of the workforce is underperforming.
5. Embrace Cloud Storage
You will be surprised to know that most businesses still rely on traditional paperwork. As such, they continue accumulating huge files. This eats into their current office space. In the US, a typical employee uses more than 10,000 sheets of paper every year. That translates to two cases per employee. A case costs around $40 which means every year, it costs the business $80.
If you take into account the $6 incurred in distribution and handling, a 100-person company spends $48,000 a year. If the company opts for cloud storage where the average cost for 1 TB is $6.99, the business will save more money. Also, the extra space will not be of use which means a business can downsize.
Create a Happier and Productive Office Space by Downsizing
Downsizing your office space is a huge decision. To create a happier and productive workforce, foster a positive work-life balance. Happy employees are more engaged, more collaborative, and less likely to quit.
Are you in search of flexible workspace with various sized personal offices? We at LaunchHouse can help. Contact us today and learn more about our membership options.