Although we hear this phrase a lot, there’s a very good reason for it. If your clients or employees are traveling long distances just to get to the office, chances are this will have a negative impact on your business. Make sure you consider whether the space is near public transportation, is in a secure neighborhood, and is close to amenities like excellent restaurants.

A major factor impacting the location of your office space is your business type or industry. Generally, different spaces will cater to different types of businesses. For instance, a downtown office space in Orlando may be better suited for businesses like a law or accounting firm, or those that require shared office spaces but won’t work well for a business that receive a lot of shipments.

Nailing down the amount of space that your business requires is critical as it will determine how productive your team is, whether the office has enough storage, and it will even impact the atmosphere, which in today’s employment environment, may impact your company’s ability to attract and retain key employees. Generally, you want to have at least seventy square feet per person at any given time, however, if your office requires larger desks or more storage, this number may increase. Remember that location and price will impact amount of available space as well as your bottom line.

In addition to the base rent, whether that is a Gross, Modified Gross or Triple NNN lease, the team as Atkins CRE takes into consideration all of the costs including hidden or unadvertised costs like parking, utilities, maintenance, and other fees to ensure you know what you are committing to in your occupancy cost.

Special attention needs to be paid towards the market and who your competitors are within it. If you are located too far outside of customer hotspots (like at a competitor’s’ business) you could miss out on a potential source of sales. If you are too close to your competitor’s, you may experience increased business pressure to perform and secure the right audience. Keep in mind that a competitor that has been in the area for a long time will always market better and perform well.

Depending on your business, being close to other non-competitor businesses, such as restaurants, coffee shops, and shopping may allow you to network, attract employees , entertain customers or drive customers back and forth between the area.

An office space without connected internet or a postal service is not going to be very beneficial to you. A key factor is ensuring that the office space you select has the infrastructure your business needs. Be wary of locations that might offer low rents, but have inadequate phone lines, internet, postal services, incoming and outgoing roads and even poor cell phone services.

Sometimes office ambiance can be overlooked which is a shame because having the right atmosphere not only boosts employee productivity and retention, but also helps with connecting to investors, partners, and clients. If the office is stifling, no one is going to want to come in.

Being able to get to the office yourself is one thing, making it so that everyone else can get to the office as well is critical for smooth operation. A major component of accessibility is suitable parking for vehicles, storage for bicycles, access to public transportation, delivery access to suppliers, and of course, easy access for individuals with physical disabilities.

If your business needs to foster a branded image, voice, and aesthetic, being able to transform your office to represent this, is imperative. By branding the office space, not only can you protect your brand image from the very beginning, but it can be used as a branding tool to explore and revitalize your business image. If this is a requirement for your business, having an office space that allows you to customize could be valuable.