Your Premises: Set Up To Succeed

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Owning business premises is a step in the right direction for many entrepreneurs and business owners. Yet it isn’t something which comes without its headaches. The premises works in a couple of different ways depending on your industry and situation. In terms of the situation, you might have saved money for premises so that you can launch with the premises in place. You might have been running your business from your home, or from somewhere a little smaller. Industry takes bigger precedence. If you wanted to set up your own restaurant, you can’t run it from your living room. You need to start off with the premises. The business landscape has been altered by the coronavirus epidemic which has swept the world. A lot of businesses have gone bust. Those just waiting to pull the trigger on a start-up have had to step back and wait. Industries all over the globe are suffering. Now there is potential there could be a global economic crash in the wake of Coronavirus, along with further waves of the virus. Still, plans can’t be put indefinitely on hold. You might have found a niche or an opportunity and you’re ready to set your business up. To get your premises sorted so you can launch into success. These tips can help you get started. All businesses are different, so apply them to your own situation and bespoke position in your industry. Good luck.

Make It Safe

Owning premises is one thing, but no matter what industry you operate in it needs to be one that is safe. Safe for you and your customers. There will be regulations that you need to follow, but a lot of it stems simply from common sense. If you’re opening a restaurant, food safety needs to take priority. If you’re opening a manufacturing plant, you need to ensure people are correctly trained on the machines. If the premises are old, or previously weren’t commercial, you may want to look into an electrical service panel upgrade. Make sure all stairs have a rail for people to use. Ensure areas that could become slippery have non-slip flooring or at least mats in place. You may want to look ar the surrounding area, especially if you own it too. This especially concerns parking. If you own a restaurant, you might need parking. Sometimes you won’t have to worry about it, but if it comes with parking make sure it’s safe, with appropriate road signs laying out where people need to go, and entry and exit points and crossings to ensure things are safe for kids. If your place isn’t safe, you could be opening yourself for litigation and even end up bankrupt with your business closed. It’s so simple to be safe, so be safe. If you aren’t sure

Get Good Insurance

In the same vein, if anything goes wrong you’ll want to be covered. Getting good insurance is paramount. This should cover your premises if something was to go wrong. For example flooding, or if you live somewhere where earthquakes occur it’s always worth taking out enhanced insurance. You’ll need insurance to cover your takings too. If you deal in cash, it can be taken. Insurance will cover you in this. Insurance of certain forms can also protect you from litigation problems. If someone decides to sue you, for whatever reason relating to your premises, you can fight back and rest easy knowing you’re covered. Make sure you read the small print, don’t buy the cheapest possible, and know what you’re buying cover for. This works two ways, it means you buy more if necessary, but also ensures that you don’t buy the cover you don’t need.

Security Is Important

This isn’t just to stop people stealing cash from your site, but also to ensure vandals don’t have easy access too. Make sure you get a good, solid lock fitted. Ensure any valuables are locked in a safe overnight, especially if your business is glass-fronted. You can get reinforced glass but it can be expensive. You might want to invest in CCTV too. Especially if you’re holding valuable products in a warehouse or similar building. Sometimes the sheer volume you’re holding can mean it’s hard to secure items in a safe. If you’re really worried, you can consider using night security. The cost is considerable, but if you need it it can really make a huge difference to your operation and give you the peace you need. Cameras these days are really advanced too, allowing you to dial in with your phone whenever you want to see your premises and check things are all well.

Make Sure The Break Room Is Great

If you’re employing staff from your premises it’s important to ensure your break room is up to scratch. They’ll need somewhere to relax, and shut off from work before going back again. You need to ensure it looks completely different from the rest of your premises especially where people work to really drive that disconnect home. There needs to be an eating space for food too. A few tables for people to sit at along with an oven or microwave so people can make hot food. At the same time, you might want to include some kind of relaxation in the area. Soft chairs and sofas in front of TV’s is always a good shout. If you wanted to encourage talking and laughter thing of a pool table or foosball table. A great breakroom will drive productivity like nothing else so make sure you include it. Ensure there’s space for one before going ahead and signing any form of lease.

Internet Is Important

When moving into your first premises you need to realise how important the internet is. You might need a faster speed than you use at home. If you’re opening somewhere where customers are going to be coming in and out, then it’s become the norm to offer them the use of your wifi. Your work colleagues will be using it too. Most importantly, some tools will need to use it. If you’re using wireless pay machines for example. Everyone knows how annoying they can be when the signal drops and people are left waiting. Invest now. You could even speak to a business analyst if you want to get it right first time around. 

Equipment Ease

If you’re buying premises for an office environment then you need to ensure you have the right computers in place. In this day and age, laptops are the way forward as they allow flexibility and also the ability for people to work from home. Most business analysts in this day and age might argue against office premises altogether simple because people can work from home. If you need to though, make sure you get the right servers. You can get cloud servers these days with people monitoring them for you. This way you won’t have to call anyone out if something goes wrong, neither will you have to take up space with internal server units anymore.

Do Your Research

You need to ensure wherever you’ve chosen for your premises is right. Will your business surely on footfall? Pay a little more rent and get a more central location. Will people need to go there every day? Make sure it is near transport links so your staff and customers can park there, or get a train or bus near to where your business is. You might think you’ve found a business location which is a really good price, but the reality of it might mean that’s the only good thing about it where everything else sags a little. If you’re struggling with this an estate agent can help you. Just make sure you outline exactly what your problems are or exactly what you want to find out.

Inspect Before Signing

Whatever you need it for, and whether you’re buying or leasing (but especially if you’re buying) you need to inspect the property. Really make sure that it is up to your standards. If you’re worried then get a surveyor in, they should be able to find any structural issues pretty quickly. Make sure everything is working properly. Check the plumbing and the electronics. Ask if there has been any work done recently. If it’s in a rural setting, find out if there are any plans for roads or further development which may impact value going forwards. Inspecting the premises has to come first.

Be Unique In Your Styling

If your premises will be open to customers you need to ensure you style it uniquely. This isn’t easy. Most places might appear generic but the ones that do best are the ones with unique selling points. This is especially the case of restaurants. The food should do the talking but think about restaurants and how certain ones really make that powerful impact with their theming. Rainforest Cafe is a key example. Be unique and people will talk. This is the same for any consumer-based business type.