What Is Yours Saying?
It makes a lot of sense that your building emits an attitude and gives a first impression that reflects your corporate culture. Immediately, visitors are assuming things about your customer service, quality, competency and staff when they come in your parking lot. So why is it that some business owners aren’t aware of the message their building is sending?
I realize that there are valid excuses like the landlord isn’t willing to remodel, or the business doesn’t require customers to come to the office. Consider, however, that your staff’s productivity can be affected too. When in a professional, modern, well lit and conditioned atmosphere, staff can feel more motivated to stay on task.
What your building could be saying about your business:
Poorly maintained: neglectful - we don’t care or we don’t have enough money to take care of our stuff, therefore we probably won’t take care of you either
Cluttered: unclean, unmotivated, disorganized – we probably won’t get your stuff done in a timely or professional manner
Mismatched furniture or hodgepodge design: unprofessional, inexperienced – we don’t know what we’re doing
Outdated design elements: old school, not on the cutting-edge, unskilled – we haven’t followed industry updates for a while and our computer is a Commodore 64.
What to do?
Take a look at the exterior as well as the interior and make a list of where your building is worn. Go back in your records to see when the last time you remodeled was. If it was prior to 1995, it’s definitely time to revamp your space. Look at your staff’s work areas. Do they have enough room to work and file their records? If you have mounds of paper everywhere, you may need to implement a paperless policy, a bigger office, or an office remodel to repurpose space.
If funding is the issue that prevents you from making needed changes to your building, or from moving to a building that will drive traffic to your business, there are programs like the SBA 504 that may be able to assist you. Remodel projects don’t command as high of a priority to the SBA 504, but if you contact Michael Shepard, Wolgast Corporation’s Business Developer, he may be able to point you in the right direction to making your new modern, professional, caring, competent impression a reality.
Let us know what your building is saying...