It is not uncommon for people to spend several hundred thousand dollars on their home, where they will spend a third of their lives and of that third, they will spend half of it sleeping.
Yet, they would not invest even close to that kind of money on their place of work! Think about the amount of time you actually spend at home and the amount of time entertaining friends in your home.
Then compare the amount of time you spend at work and the amount of interaction between you and your clients. Some of those clients are your day to day friends and some of those clients, while not close friends, are people you will spend a lot of time with over the years.
In fact, you will spend a third of you life, in your office and you will do a significant amount of entertaining in your office as well.
So why would you not put the same amount of time and money into your office? Especially when you have to spend as much time there as you do.
Think about this, if you were to create a work environment that you would enjoy spending a significant amount of time in, don’t you think your clients would also enjoy spending time there as well?
Every business has the same set of problems when it comes to being successful. The first problem for any business, is getting your prospective clientele through the door. The second problem is keeping them there for any and all of the services you provide.
You need to consider a number of factors. The most obvious is location. Then you have to consider putting yourself out there, making yourself known. You have to consider the market you’ve decided to compete for.
Once you’ve defined your market, you also have to consider how to present yourself to the market. Signage comes into to play in a big way. Your sign has to be unique, and interesting, with a snappy logo to enhance it. The sign will tell clients where you are and what you do.
Once you have their attention and they start coming into you place of business, then what? This is where most business’s fail to impress! You must realize, that you have to impress!
How do you do that? Here’s the list, get out your stone tablet and your chisel!
- Signage and store/office front: attractive & dynamic, professional, give them a glimpse of what they can expect.
- Reception/Business Desk: is it as impressive and impactful as it needs to be. It is the initial starting point to do business with you.
- Office Interior: attractive and timely colours and materials. Texture, rich colours and materials, let them see your personality from the start.
- Style: reflects personality. Cabinetry reflects personality. Chairs reflect personality. Quality: reflects personality.
- Competent knowledgeable and caring staff: reflects personality.
- Product display units: are they attractive and versatile. Do they allow you to effectively market the products you carry?
- Product choice: reflects personality. Does it also reflect the market around you?
- Product presentation: reflects personality. Do your displays give you the freedom to create interest in the products. To immediately show what lines you carry and take the guess work out of the equation for your clients.
- Lighting: reflects personality. Do you have good general lighting? Do you have interesting accent lighting? Do you have great product lighting? Various light sources do great things to create mood and a feeling of comfort. It enhances the sale by making the product more desirable and attractive on the face. Resulting in better sales.
- Invest in your office: if you have an established business, this should be a no brainer. Your investment will only reap you great rewards, if you do it well. If this is your first office, it is even more relevant that you do it right the first time.
The better you do it, the better are the chances your business will find success and the faster you ill achieve success.
Lastly, as investments go, there is no safer place to put your money. You control the success of the investment.