Category: Business Blog

Blogging

Office Design Tips For Success

 

The office is a place where many of us set up of home and spend most of our time. It is a space where we work, socialise and develop professionally and should be a productive and inspiring setting. 

Office Design is important for a good workplace dynamic and it is more important for you and your workers than you may think. This is why today we are going to take a look at the way that you can upgrade and change your office to make it feel much more exciting and productive this summer. 

  1. Create a flexible space 

One of the main issues which older generation companies suffer is the standard cubicle and desk way of thinking. Working in a regimented way just isn’t the way forward any longer and it is important for you to create a space that accommodates different ways that people work. Some people work best sitting on a sofa with their laptop, some work better in a cafe type setting and some like traditional desks. By having a flowing workspace where people can move around and set up shop anywhere they want, it will make for a much mofre productive space. 

 

  1. Open the space 

People enjoy being able to talk and communicate during the day and if this is why having lots of separate rooms in the office can be a bad idea. It is always a great idea for you to get rid of the walls in the office and open up the space more. People need to be able to talk and bounce ideas off each other so having an open working space is always the best course of action. 

 

  1. Create comfortable desks 

No one will ever be able to work effectively at a desk if the desk is small, dingy and messy. It is important as a worker that they are able to put their personal stamp on their work area and have a desk which is comfortable for them. Make sure not to skimp on the desks you buy for your workers because they will be working at their desks all day every day. It is important that this is a space they can feel comfortable and work productively. 

 

  1. Make it light 

It is incredibly important if you want to enjoy a happy and productive work environment that you have lots of natural light in the room. The absence of light can have a physiological and mental effect on your workers and this is something which can make them much less productive. Light makes us feel happier and more awake and it helps people to concentrate, so bring in plenty of windows and cool white lights. 

 

  1. Seating areas

Now and again during the day, everyone will need to get up and walk around and get away from their screens. It is important for you in the office to design a work area which also has a seating area which people can use to chat and rest for 10 minutes or so. You can even add a muted TV with subtitles in this part of the office and this can make a big difference to your workers. 

 

  1. Brand it up 

As well as making sure that the office is productive for your workers, you will also want to ensure that it is branded well and gives across the right impression to your audience. Get the neon signs and logos up on the wall and bring some colour to the space. 

 

  1. Use brand colours 

As well as decals and signs, you can use the colour palette of your brand to paint the office and make it feel like one big happy family. Depending on the colours of your brand, you can either mix a few bright colours or have a nice calming space which reflects the tone of your brand. 

 

  1. Add some plants 

If you want to add something more fun to the office and make it feel more like a homely space, plants are a key thing. Plants such as fresh flowers and succulents can be a good choice in the office and they will bring some colour and texture to the home. You can have small plants on the desk and you can also have larger plants around the office to provide life, colour, and calm to the office. A great idea would be to bring in plants which have a scent because they will make the office smell fresh all year long. 

Blogging

The First Year: Ensuring Your Small Business Gets Through…

When you’re starting a new business, the first year is always one of the most frightening points. You don’t know whether you’re going to sink or swim, and it can be worrying to invest a lot of money and time into a business that may not work out as you want it to. Here are some tips on how to make that first year a success.

 

Surround Yourself With The Best People

When you’re starting a company, you may not have a huge amount of cashflow, which may mean that you want to spend as little as possible. However, one thing you should invest in is good staff: this is much more important than an incredibly sleek and expensive office, for example. Finding people who are dedicated to your company and what you do may be difficult, but they will be worth their weight in gold. Whether you go for extremely enthusiastic graduates or people who are more experienced in their fields and really know everything about what they are doing, the most important thing is that you communicate well and are focused on your end goals.

Learn To Network

Networking is the perfect way to drum up new business and to simply make people aware that your business and your product exist. Go to as many networking events as possible, and make sure that you go up to people to introduce yourself. Make sure that you boil what your company does down into one sentence so you can explain it in a way that’s easy to understand and that doesn’t meander on. 

Get Financially Savvy

It’s a good idea to be as good on the financial side as possible. This may not be easy if you see yourself as a creative person who provides ideas, which is often the way that a person who begins a start-up may be. But being good at figuring out your accounts and paying the correct amount of tax will save yourself a huge headache further down the line. If this doesn’t appeal to you, accounts is absolutely something you can outsource – there are plenty of resources and companies online like https://www.qaccounting.com/accountancy-company/ that you can check out for help.

Provide Excellent Customer Service

The best way that a small company can compete with a big company is through impeccable customer service, and this is something that you should strive to provide right from the beginning of your company. This is what will keep clients and customers returning to you time after time, and what will make you stand out from all the other companies that provide similar services (because let’s face it, very few ideas are completely unique in this extremely busy world!). Make sure that you follow up with people to ensure they are happy with your product, and keep checking in with them. A face to face meeting will never go amiss either – people know that time is valuable and that they are important to you if you meet in person.

Although starting your own company can be nervewracking, these easy tips should help you sail through the first year entirely unscathed!

Blogging

Making Your Office Environment Unique

When you start a business, often it is from home where you can dedicate as much time as possible to the cause. But, as your business progresses, you get to the stage where you can start to think about moving on into a new office environment, or a business premises that will help transform the way you do business. Howerever, not everyone wants a clinical environment that has no personality, and depending on what your business is, you may want to inject a little bit of uniqueness into the area. With that in mind, here are some of the things that you can do. 

Get clever with upholdersty

One of the first things that you can do is get clever with upholstery. Many offices will have some form of break out room, for any employees you have or just as an area for waiting customers and clients. Seats need to be comfortable and look the part in keeping with your brand, so if what is there doesn’t work then get creative. You can use an upholstery spray glue to give the furniture a bit of a lift. If the seats are fine, then why not get creative with cushions and soft furnishings. You want the space to be inviting and comfortable, and not resemble a doctors surgery waiting room. 

 

Add some greenery

The next thing you want to think about is the things that you have around the environment, and adding some greenery like plants and flowers is an excellent way to give a dull space a bit of a lift. There are plenty that require very minimal maintenance if you feel the commitment is too much. Plants that require next to no watering or even adding a few fake ones just to liven up the place. 

 

Motivational quotes and prints

The working environment is supposed to be a motivational place, and so you may want to take the time to think about adding some quotes or prints on to the walls. This can be favourite quotes to help inspire, or just generally things that you think will be nice to look at. We all need a reminder of these things every now and again. 

 

Don’t be afraid of colour 

Colour is something that you should consider adding to your office space. If anything to be in keeping with your brand. You could look at things such as a feature wall with your logo, or just implement the branding colours in cushions or upholstery if you don’t want it all over the walls Plus colour can make people smile. 

 

Keep it clean and tidy 

Finally, keep the area clean and tidy. You want to ensure that you do all that you can to make the environment a nice place to be. Dust piling up on furniture, rubbish strewn around the place, and stains on desks just won’t cut it. We know how it feels to be in a tidy home, and the same mentality should be applied to an office space. It can help you to be far more productive. 

Let’s hope these tips help you when it comes to making your office environment unique. 

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