I spoke at a recent startup conference hosted by Techstars called FounderCon, where 400+ entrepreneurs across 36 programs came together to hear insights from thought leaders, tech gurus and business aficionados. Opting out of discussing the overall business basics, FounderCon wanted speakers to discuss their theme of “Connect”.
The interpretation of what the topic meant was left up to the presenters and for some, like Ellen Levy of Silicon Valley Connect, it meant networking and staying connected to people. For others, like
In a connected world that allows thousands of employees to work from home, the art of picking an office can easily be thrown to the wayside or out the door. Above all of the positive results, flexibility and continued profits of telecommuting, I think that is the wrong choice for how to develop a strong entrepreneurial business.
If you date back to the early days of American history, offices have been the places that have encouraged open communication and community. Extrinsically, the physical office is automatic PR and marketing for entrepreneurs trying to catch the attention of people they have yet to reach. Intrinsically, it encourages a certain sense of dedication to the cause of a new business. Entrepreneurship should be based on giving it your all to make a business successful and not cutting corners to play the safest route. An office proves to the other businesses in your areas (competitors especially) that you want to be a permanent asset to your area.
Three different decisions should be brought to an entrepreneur’s attention when picking an office. It starts with, first, how to pick an office location, second how to know when to expand and finally, how to connect the offices to make the greatest efficiency with your decision.
Opening the office is one of the first, big investments entrepreneurs should choose make, but it should be made carefully as they can be the game changer for your business if the decision is poorly made. When I first started my business, I learned early on that your headquarters should be well thought-out and should reflect what you hope to become. There are several questions that should be answered before investing in your property. Mainly, do you have a connection to your city? Do you have a network within that city? Do you see the potential for growth in the city itself? And lastly, is your location a space that you can see yourself grow into it? When I made my decision, all of these questions had a yes beside them. Yours should, too.
Just as if you are moving into a city for a job with a high unemployment rate, you should never pick a city for your headquarters that doesn’t have opportunities or growth in your industry. The headquarters location should be something that you can see yourself quickly taking roots and keeping the business there for years to come even after the business potentially expands into different locations. Without a city that is building around you, how can your business expect to be built? A strong foundation in the headquarters, allows for the business itself to grow to its full potential.
With an adult’s average workday comprising of more than half of their daylight hours (and often more), the work environment should be something welcoming and friendly. In the first few years of our business, we decided to rent an old historic house on Rio Grande Street in Austin, TX. As our headquarters started to grow, we encouraged creating a community within our office space instead of moving into a normal office building. What initially started as renting an old historic house in Austin, expanded to owning the first house and then buying more houses on the same street. One house turned into seven total houses and comprised of the different teams in the different homes to allow for the company to develop an actual community – including dogs and an in-house, parent-run childcare program. It may have been a zoo at times, but by owning the houses, newspapers like the NY Times took note of our “unique office” as one of the top two most creative spaces they had seen at the time and our environment totally changed how we worked and lived together.
Looking back to when I started my business in 1989, I only had one goal – to create a business. To me, that meant creating the company and having just that one office. As that dream evolved and the business grew to adding two other offices, several thousand employees over the years and hundreds of clients – our goal has continued to be to keep it as one, solidified office across all locations. That included the data, different in-house teams, communication lines and even finances. While other offices compete against each other, our ability to bridge the gap across offices allows for a more fluid system that cuts out politics and opens the door for the best possible work we can provide.
When the time came to make the initial expansion from our base-office, we didn’t choose to do so because it was our dream to expand into New York and San Francisco. Rather, each situation was made with necessity and for a unique purpose. First, for New York, filling talent needs and second, for San Francisco, retaining talent. With each decision we made, new hires were made solely from our new location and it allowed us to plant faster roots in each city and assimilate to the work environment. The branch offices would not have made it without our choice to hire from the city just as our headquarters would not have make it if we didn’t hire from the surrounding universities and cities.
In the end, creating an office space for your company is a personal choice that does not have an easy or perfect formula. What is important is that it should always match the personality and the feel of what your company has to offer, and meet the demands that your employees need. By making the smart decisions out of necessity and planning in advance to fit the needs of the business, there will always be room to grow, and that, is the best situation your entrepreneurial venture can ask for.
