Downsizing your (commercial) space

What’s one of your largest business expenses?  Salary?  Benefits?  How about rent?  And if there’s one consistent thing that businesses have been grappling with during the pandemic, it’s how and where employees are housed.  Traditionally, businesses need office space for workers; and we’ve learned over the last few months that’s not necessarily the case.   If your employees now work remotely, for the most part, you have lots of unused floor space.  Even if you have a plan for returning employees to the office full time at some point, it’s likely that remote work will never go away completely now that we’ve seen that it can be successful.   Given these transitions and unknowns, now is a great time to organize and plan for how to best use that asset, reduce costs, and maximize efficiencies.   So, how can you reduce your physical footprint and save money?

What’s your first step?

Undoubtedly, you’ve already reviewed and possibly renegotiated your office lease.  These are challenging times in commercial real estate and trends are still developing in both the short and long term.  If you’re ready to move into a smaller footprint, here are some things to consider:

• Physical files. We all have those file cabinets filled with “critical” documents that we’ve had on hand for years.  If the documents need to be scanned, get that done now.  Then put those documents in storage, ideally off-site, less expensive space.
• Hardware & Telecomm Technology. Do you have a closet, or two, full of old, unused technology?  Organizers call that the “technology graveyard.”  Using expensive office square footage to house old desktops and jumbled telephone systems is a waste of money.  Find a tech company to wipe those hard drives.  From there, sell your technology on the secondary market if possible.  If it can’t be sold, then recycle it and free up space.
• Plan workspaces to include appropriate social distancing as needed.  No, this pandemic isn’t going to last forever but there are other market disruptors sure to follow.  Proper planning NOW will save on time and resources in the future.

Optimally organizing a smaller commercial footprint takes planning and experience in organizing commercial spaces.  Contact Lisa at lisa@yourorganizedlife.biz for help in getting started.  Stop wasting space and time; start today.