Whether you’re starting up a new business or expanding your current operations, getting the right size office is important for your staff and your overheads
Office size is important – too big and you’re paying for space you don’t need. Too small and you’ll create an uncomfortable working environment.
Office for 1
If your company is currently just you, then at a minimum you need space for a laptop and somewhere to plug it in along with some form of internet connection. However, let’s assume you’ll want a few more items like:
• a large screen
• printer
• decent chair
• some storage
If you’re working from home, then your office is as big – or small – as you want it to be. However, you might want to consider a hot desk or shared office space.
Very small business – 2-4 people
Once you start adding more staff then things get a bit more complex. HSE guidelines on office space say that the minimum per person is 11 cubic metres per person. For an office of four, this means 44 cubic metres.
With these figures, you need to take roof height into account – the higher the roof, the less floor space needed. For example, for a room with a 3m high roof you need to provide 3.7 square metres of floor space per person, but if you reduce this to a 2.4m high roof, you need to increase your floor space to 4.6 m2.
On top of this, you’ll need to provide access to toilets and preferably some storage and a drinks/food prep area. Adding all this together and you’re looking at around 50 cubic meters or around 20 square meters.
If you’re a start-up or very small business, finding suitable office space can be difficult. However, we have a number of options available.
Small business – 4-10 people
While you could manage with a single room office for up to 10 people, you will need to start thinking about dividing the room up.
You will need areas for working, some form of reception or welcoming area with seating and maybe a separate desk for the boss.
Again, working on the 11 cubic metres per person, you could be looking at a room of up to 110 cubic metres or 37 to 46 square meters of floor space.
For this size of company, a serviced office space could be ideal.
Posted by The Secret Businessman