5 Must-Haves for a Commercial Office Space Today

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How should an office space be for employees to be happy and productive?

Should it be in a metropolitan location? Should the space have all high-tech facilities?

What are the amenities one would look for when he/she is looking for an office space?

Well, office space is something that really plays a crucial role in the success of any business. A business owner should understand the employees’ needs and provide them what they want. And, these days there have been a few amenities without which the office space is not at all considered as a good place to work.

So, what are those must-haves for an office space? Check out our list of 5 must-haves here:

1. Good Environment

“Focus on being productive instead of being busy – Tim Ferries”

Yes, one should always focus on being productive instead of being busy. But, how can one be productive at work if the office space itself if so boring and uninteresting? Isn’t it difficult to be focused in a messy office space? It definitely is. A neat, calm and beautiful environment stirs the senses of employees and allows them to come up with new ideas and thoughts which greatly help the growth of the company.

Good environment doesn’t mean you have to add some super-lavish elements to make it attractive to your employees. Sometimes, proper ventilation adds a great beauty to the workplace. You can also play with interiors and wall decors to make it an interesting place to work.

2. Easy Commute Options

Yet another important point companies should be concerned about while choosing an office space is the commute options available for the office location. It’s good to have office space in a location where the employees can reach without any difficulty.

Nobody would want to travel for a very long distance with no facilities to reach office easily. Sometimes, difficulty in commuting can also be a reason for an employee to think of switching the company. So, companies should either provide cab facilities to employees or consider having their office in a location that has frequent buses or local trains so that the employees can reach office easily.

3. Parking Facility

Every office space should have a dedicated parking place for their employees’ vehicles. When the mobile workforce increases, employees will obviously have to get their own vehicles to the workplace, and they want their vehicle to be safe.

So if you’re looking for an office space for your business, consider choosing the space that has good parking ratio, so that the employees can park their vehicles without having to fear about damage, theft or any other mishaps.

4. Proximity to Amenities

Closer the office is to amenities like restaurants, coffee shops and hospitals, easier it will be for your employees to do what they need to. Where will the employees have their lunch/dinner if the company is not providing food, and there are no restaurants nearby? Not just that; these amenities can also be a great hangout place for your employees to spend their free time and relax along with their friends or teammates.

Along with amenities, it’s good for an office to be located close to services that the business needs. So, before just signing a lease, make sure that the office space you’re choosing is close to airport, post office and the location of your clients and vendors.

5. Good Structure and Utilities

Last but not the least; you should also see if the office building that you’re choosing offers utilities to support your business objectives. An office space should have all the utilities to comfortably handle the workload generated by the company. So, make sure that the building’s electricity, water and ventilation systems are up to the current standards.

Also see if the building is structurally sound enough from foundation to roof. Check if the bathrooms are sufficient for employees and clients and consider if you have to make any structural changes on the space.

Are you looking for an office space that qualifies all the above mentioned points? If yes, just let us know your requirements. We at Furnished Office Bangalore provide you the required assistance and help you find an amazing office space for your business.

4 Tricks You Should Play While Dealing with Commercial Landlords

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Commercial real estate deals like leasing, renting and purchasing the office space or any other commercial properties can turn out to be disgraceful if you go bland in front of the landlords who are very much experienced in the field.

In order to avoid such things happening, you should be playing some tricks while dealing with commercial landlords.

So, what are those tricks that put you in an upper edge over the landlords in a deal?

There are lots of tricks, but the best and effective ones are here.

1. Don’t show your weaknesses

Well, your weakness can be a trump card for the landlords! It’s same as in other businesses; people look out for your weaknesses, and you’re out if you keep it to display.

Of course, you can’t be an expert in all the fields, but how you manage is what matters.

Suppose you are looking out for an office space in a specific area and you found one; the office space has all the amenities you were looking for, and you don’t want to look for any other spaces. In this case, if the landlords get to know you are in love with the property, definitely you will not be in a good position to negotiate. The landlord may also quote a high price for the property taking your urgency as a benefit.

2. Play like an expert (Even if you’re not)

The real estate sector is not for those who are not aware of the field and the market. However, you are looking out for an office space to set your business up, and not to get into the real estate business!

But what you need to know is it’s always a benefit for landlords when the tenants are not aware of the market value and the field. You’ll be in a position to accept and agree for whatever the landlords say. So, play like an expert even if you are a novice in the field of real estate. As said in the above point, don’t let them know that you have no idea about the market value.

3. Make a great first impression!

First impression is always the best impression!

Yes, when you meet the landlord in the deal, try building a great first impression. It definitely makes a huge difference that sometimes the landlords will be convinced for a low rent or the advance amount.

Reducing the cost is not the only reason for making a good impression at first, as there are lots of other benefits like the landlord might not be willing to proffer the space to any others even if they offer high rents. So, build an impression such that the landlord sees you as a potential and trustworthy tenant.

4. Hire a skilled commercial real estate agent

One of the simplest tricks ever to deal with experienced landlords is to hire a skilled commercial real estate agent. An experienced can play all the above mentioned tricks with great ease, and put you in an upper edge in the deal. Even when you are not in a good position to negotiate for a space, a skilled agent can completely turn the deal to your side making it rewarding.

Furnished Office Bangalore is one such expert commercial real estate agent who can help you with the deal and find you the best office space for rent or lease. Our team of experts makes sure that you are in safe hands by providing you the required support throughout the process. If you are not really confident in handling these tricks, hiring an agent would be the best choice for you.

How to Improve Productivity of Employees at Workplace?

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Create an employee-friendly work environment to ensure the utmost workplace productivity. The office is like the second home for the employees as they spend at least one-third of their day working there. So as a facility manager it's your job to ensure that your employees find your practices to be most optimal to their workday.

Your employees are the people who are most affected by the workplace environment you are providing to them. So they should be among the stakeholders in deciding the workplace structure and procedures.

Productivity is directly linked with employee's satisfaction at the workplace. If employees feel good about the work environment then they work more enthusiastically. It will directly help the company to produce more at the workplace.

Here are few easy ways to create a productive work environment which is really good for bringing up with your employees for their approval.

Arrange all amenities close by in the Office

Employees love to have all the office amenities close by in the office. If basic amenities like fax machines, copiers or even restrooms are situated close by then employees feel that office space is more accessible to them.

It's not always possible to have all the necessary amenities close by but an employer should prioritize the things according to employee's needs. For example, Facility manager has to decide where to put fax machine depending on who uses it most.

Maintain a welcoming workspace

Office space should be a welcoming one.  Office space interiors play a vital role in creating the environment welcoming enough. Everything in the workplace should be eye-catching, from wall art to tiny plants in the passageway.  

There should be a happening cafeteria in the office premises. It helps employees to be happy at the workplace. You don't need to change a lot of things to achieve this but changing smaller things a little bit can make a world of a difference.

Create a quite office space

Apart from being welcoming, an office space should be quitter enough so that employees can concentrate and focus on their work. Quite workspaces provide its employees an utmost peace of mind resulting in greater productivity.

If you have an open office space then it might be distracting for the employees. You need to be extra careful in case of open spaces. You can setup few noise-blocking cubicles or workstations in the open office space to overcome this issue.

Provide comfortable office furniture to employees

Most Common Pitfalls in Commercial Real Estate Deals to Be Aware Of

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When you think of getting into a new business, there are always a few problems associated with it, and commercial real estate is not an exception. Most of the problems in commercial real estate transactions arise because of the over excitement and eagerness to get the transaction done as early as possible. You just have to slow down, give yourself enough time and carry out with all the due diligence you need to perform while mitigating the risks associated with it. Also, you need to know that it’s even more difficult to handle the problems that arise during the deal without a proper groundwork.

When the problem arises, it tempts us to just ignore assuming that they can be handled some time later. This is the most common mistake we usually do; some problems can’t just be handled once the deal gets closed. Of course, there are some issues that can be handled even after the deal closes, but often with greater risks and less satisfactory results. So, it’s always good to take a step back, examine the problem, discuss it with your lawyer and come to a conclusion. Here are a few common pitfalls that arise during the commercial real estate deals.

1. Property Valuation: Property valuation can sometimes become a problem in commercial real estate. Determining the value of a commercial property can be really difficult at times, as the property can be completely unique with no comparable sales available. Sometimes you’ll also have to consider the income component; if the property is associated with the income stream, it must be factored into the deal. The buyers and sellers getting into the transaction without knowing about it might face tough times later in the deal.
 

2. Fraud Deals: You must know that the buyers are responsible for all the due diligence to be carried out as they cannot rely on the consumer protection laws. So, they just have to be mindful with respect to fraud as there are no robust mechanisms that can protect them from fraud or provide them recourse if the deal goes bad. For instance, the disclosures that are afforded to the purchasers of residential property aren’t often available to the purchasers of a commercial property.
 

3. Overreaching: Overreaching can also be a problem for the buyers and sellers sometimes. Both the parties should be aware of the deals that would require more capital. But the thing is that, you need to realize it before the deal gets affected. It’s very important for you to preserve the memory of each and every possible detail of the deal, as it can be of a great help for you some time later. Many individuals involved in commercial real estate use standard contracts which don’t cover some unique contingencies; this can also be a problem over time.
 

4. Improper Planning: Commercial real estate deals can cause lots of problems if you fail to plan in prior and pay heed to details. For instance, lenders in commercial real estate often require estoppel certificates, non-disturbance, subordination and attornment agreements from a tenant when the building is being purchased or financed. Often this seems to be a troublesome detail when the parties are on the terms like interest rates and performing due diligence over a property, but if it is not planned and handled properly, it can delay the entire deal.
 

5. Environmental Risks: Commercial properties will also be associated with the environmental issues like the property that’s contaminated previously by a hazardous material can cost substantial amounts to the owner to clean up and expose them to the litigation. The environmental issues are usually not very evident when the transaction is happening; it can sometimes take years to discover the environmental issue caused by the previous owner. In such cases, current owner will be responsible for all the clean-up.

So, it’s really important for you to hire the experts to perform all the required due diligence before entering a commercial real estate transaction, as it can be very risky to enter without any prior knowledge or preparation. These are a few major pitfalls avoiding which you can be a successful with the commercial real estate deals.

How to Keep Employees Happy?

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Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful” - Albert Schweitzer.

For any company to be successful, it’s the first requirement that all employees feel happy. If they feel happy then the productivity will automatically boost. Little things count whenever it comes to employee appreciation. It doesn’t need a lot of money to appreciate employees; even smaller companies with low budget can make their employees happy.

Here we are bringing together few ways to keep employees happy and productive at workplace-

1. Incentive Programs

Performance based incentive programs always work. It's a proven way to increase employee's happiness and company's productivity. Incentive programs can be complicated in the case of ineffective planning and implementation.

It’s better to focus on organization’s main goals that everybody can help achieve regardless of their position in the company. There should be a proper system in place to calculate the performance of every individual. Points should be awarded on the basis of contribution in achieving the goals. Then after a certain interval (monthly, quarterly, half yearly and or yearly), the incentives should be paid. It will create a healthy competition at the workplace to perform better to get the incentives.

2.  Encourage Employees for Outside Lunch

When employees are working really hard they need some rest to freshen up the mind. In workaholic culture even taking lunch breaks can be seen as a luxury. Most of the employees either skip their lunch or simply eat at the desk. It should not be a norm for any organization.

3. Provide Free Snacks to Employees

Nothing can be more satisfying than snacks in the office. It's one of the most successful ways to satisfy the employees. It can be a little challenging for a new company if they don't have enough money but the good news is that it can be done on a shoestring budget. From coffee machine to fruits, chips, it can be anything. Choose anything which works for your budget and company culture.

4. Mix of Office Supplies

Although it's a very small thing to offer a variety of office supplies to the employees, but it can make a big difference in happiness index. Different people have different preferences when it comes to office supplies.

Blue pen, black pen, spiral notebooks, plain notebooks, different shapes and sizes of water bottles and multicolor sticky notes, there can be a lot of variety of office supplies. When you offer them a variety of these things they will have a chance to choose according to their preference. It can enhance creativity and make your employees more productive.

5. Help Employees in Getting Discounts from Local Businesses

A business can help another business to grow. Keeping this thing in mind a lot of restaurants and service based companies are happy to set up a discount for a local company’s employee.  You as a business owner need to find out those local service providers and restaurants to get discounts for your employees.

By applying above strategies you can make your employees feel happy about the company. It doesn’t need to be expensive all the time. It completely depends on the business model and funds you have for the employees.  

We at Furnished Office Bangalore provide best options to rent an office space in Bangalore. Please contact us today for an office space which suits your budget and where your employees love to work.

How Do You Determine The Space Needed To Set Up Your Office?

When you are all set to start a new business or when you are moving into a new building, the first question that strikes your mind is that, how much space you need for your office. As a business owner, you must be able to determine the amount of space you need for your office. But how would you do that? You just have to plan carefully, as too much or too little space can be the budget breakers.

Getting locked in a wrong space can interrupt your business significantly, making it difficult to operate. However, there are certain techniques employing which you can get into a right space. First of all, you need to evaluate your current situation and decide your expectations for the business growth over the next few years. Asking the following questions to yourself can help you come to a conclusion regarding the office space size.

• How many employees are there currently?
• Can employees share the space or they need an individual desk?
• Do I have to add employees in the next couple of years?
• When will I add new staff to the company?
• What kind of employees I might be adding in future? Administrative, executive or sales?

Knowing how many employees you currently have and how many you would add in future, helps you operate your business comfortably, and you can expand your business easily without any costly interruptions. Basically, the amount of space you require is determined by the type of your business and the head count. The conventional space for an office space is about 150-350 sq. ft. per person; it is the type of the space you require to accommodate your business that plays a significant role in narrowing the range.

At the lower end of the range, we have the open plan design which has no private space for the employees; this configuration is commonly designed in the call centres and sales offices where desktops and workstations are grouped together. At the other end of the range we have traditional private office layout with cubicles around. Most of the private offices and law offices follow this configuration which has large conference rooms, support rooms, file rooms and pantry.

At the initial stage, you can keep an estimate of about 250 sq. ft. per person; calculating it for the number of current employees and also by keeping in mind the number of employee you would add in future, will give you a rough estimate of the amount of space you need. The rough estimation can further be refined and narrowed down when you start searching for space.

As the business owner, you’ll have a better understanding about the business and can easily identify the positives and negatives of a space, and determine if it suits your business well; you can choose private office, open space or the combination of both based on the nature of your business. It helps you to estimate the amount of space you would need during your lease term.

Indian Real Estate Market Sees the Highest Office Space Addition!

According to a recent study conducted by a global property consultant, Indian office space market witnessed the completion of 10 million sq. ft. during the third quarter of 2015 and the overall office space addition was the highest in 9 quarters. However the news to cheer is that, most of these supplies were pre committed to occupiers a few years back. This means that if an occupier decides to lease the space now, the propositions that are available are just a few.

Here are a few highlights of the report:

•  The research has reported that, Bengaluru led the new supply addition while the development completions surged by 21% on a quarterly basis and around 44% on yearly basis. Also, the commercial and SEZ developments were completed across Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Chennai during that quarter.
• 
  Looking at this report, the transaction service experts have said that, the availability of new office space continues to be minimal, as the developers are still facing difficulties of liquidity to undertake commercial real estate. But the fact is that, the supplies that are coming these days are mostly the pre-commitments made by occupiers in the past.
• The business of commercial realty is highly leveraged because it’s not like the residential market where the customers start paying for the properties like apartments right from the planning stage of the project. In commercial real estate business, the developer can start earning only when the building is complete.
• The consultants who are tracking the commercial real estate sector say that, it’s seeing an exactly opposite scenario to that of residential market, as the demand is outstripping the supply. According to the commercial real estate experts, the market is seeing brunt since when the developers stopped high leveraged developments (commercial buildings) after the global financial crisis.
• Even though, the demand for office spaces is at the peak, there is a great dearth of quality office spaces. The scarcity of good office spaces continue in the prime locations. The supplies which are coming in are either of inferior quality or they are in the locations which lack infrastructure.

Office space absorption of more than 9 million sq. ft. was registered in the third quarter of 2015 across the major cities in India clocking the growth of about 20% on an annual basis. This rise in office space absorption, which is mainly driven by corporate occupiers from the sectors like IT/ITeS, finance, health care and ecommerce companies reflected a sustained improvement in the office space leasing across most cities.

However, the scarcity of Grade-A office spaces has compressed the capitalization rates significantly, and this has made the commercial real estate scenario seem better than what it was after the global financial crisis in 2008. This change is helping the developers who already have high grade office projects that are generating good income.