RE/MAX Nigeria

Finding and leasing a professional office space that both meets your needs and your budget is both exciting and stressful for beginning entrepreneurs, often mostly the latter. But it doesn’t have to be. Not if you’re empowered with the right information and tools from the get go. 

Here are a few top tips for finding the perfect office space for your startup:

1. Know how much space you need.

Typically, a good rule of thumb is budgeting for about 1,000 square feet for every four to six employees. 

2. Be considerate of your employees.

Map out where your employees live and, from there, seek out an office space that’s relatively convenient for each to travel to on a regular if not daily basis. Coming up with a centralized location is the most important consideration in the process. If you make it easy for everyone to get there, you’ll retain more talent, existing and future.

3. Work with an agent people you trust recommend.

We strongly advise that you don’t work with an agent who has never successfully found an office space for someone you know or doesn’t have a PROVEN track record of delivering good service. Similar to when you move somewhere new and search for a new doctor, you wouldn’t want to leave something this important up to chance.

Once you’ve rounded up personal recommendations, if you feel it’s necessary, do some additional homework. Look up the agents on their professional websites and see what former clients are saying about them online. We have heard countless stories of agents who make promises they can’t keep, or swindle unsuspecting clients of their hard earned money. 

4. Consider setting up shop at a co-working space.

This is likely your best bet if you’re working with a tight budget and require a flexible, lower-cost arrangement. You’ll be around other start-up types who are like-minded and, if your needs change, even suddenly, you can always scale upward or downwards.

Depending on the specific co-working location, you could rent a range of spaces -- from team-friendly environments, to dedicated individual desks, to entire meeting rooms -- on an hourly, weekly or monthly basis, or even indefinitely. 

5. Make sure you don’t end up with an awful landlord.

Bad landlords are right up there with bad bosses. They can make your life -- and the lives of your employees -- miserable. To ensure you end up with a landlord who is professional and plays fair, talk to present and former tenants in the building (or co-working arrangement) you’re considering renting space in.

Looking to get your first office space or relocate, speak to your local RE/MAX agen

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