Business Renovations: A Survival Guide

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It’s an age-old dilemma for any business owner: weighing whether or not they should allocate business capital toward renovating the place of operation for the business.

It can often sometimes feel like a sunk cost in refurbishing a space merely for aesthetic reasons, but it usually pays off in the end in one form or another.

The trick is not pouring too much into it all at once. There are actually substantial benefits that can be had from drawing out renovations over long periods of time, and we’ll express why shortly. For now, let’s outline some of the keys your business needs to survive business renovations while keeping operations at a hundred percent.

Financial Benefits of Renovating Your Business

Renovation can afford plenty of benefits to all involved. It can:

Offer a facelift for the company
Increase worker mental health and morale
Improve the relevancy of the company
Transition out of dated utilities, appliances, and technology
Scale the size of the structure for company staff growth
Prevent future infrastructural hazards

On that note, it’s a great reason to renovate a business for the purpose of improving the style and look of the environment, but it’s also important to anticipate future problems due to aging.

Materials deteriorate over time, and interiors of workplaces, just like homes, need to be replaced and updated over time. Doing so proactively will prevent potential hazards that could spread and damage other areas of the building, such as mold growth, water damage, and failing utility hardware.

These two aspects combined will yield dividends in avoiding worse repairs in the future while also maintaining a good image with customers and clientele.

Another huge benefit is the good impression that an in-progress renovation gives to customers and clientele. You might think that active work sites and cordoned-off spaces are obtrusive and obnoxious, and while yes, that can be true, it also creates the appearance that the company is constantly improving, not growing stale.

Customers like to know that they’re accessing goods or services from somewhere that’s new and up-to-date. Having ongoing improvement projects inspires that desire in anyone who’s at your business. It promotes a positive sense of anticipation and eagerness for a good change!

Ways To Finance Business Renovations

Never discount the option of a loan for subsidizing your renovation. Taking out a loan to finance a renovation of your business can be the wiggle room you need to justify the renovation in the first place. For the sake of keeping improvements flowing in the workplace and the morale boost, it’s worth exploring the option.

In the event that your year-end profits are higher than usual, it may be the right moment then to allocate some of that profit to the renovation.

Always over budget for whatever renovation you’re planning. Inevitably, problems will come up, material costs originally quoted for the job might rise, and complications may impede the timeframe that the project should have been completed.

Staying Open and Managing Stress and Expectations During Renovations

It’s important to communicate expectations to your staff when planning an upcoming renovation. Measuring the time of the year or season is important when planning your renovation.

Some industries experience seasonality oh high and low periods. Usually, it looks like a couple of months in the year when business is busier than normal or slower. It’s generally wise to hold off on major renovation that might impede operations if it’s during the busy season. Even if it won’t impede operations, per se, it still might be worth postponing the renovation until you hit an anticipated slow period just to keep things less hectic. The goal in the end is to minimize any time your business might have to close down to accommodate the renovations.

In order to prepare for a business renovation, you should derive a projected completion date with any involved contractors so you can plan around when the project will start and end. Make sure to find a contractor who can cooperate in giving you estimations of completion. It can be frustrating to work with third-party groups that are very loose with their scheduling and might delay your project far longer than necessary or when you’d hoped it would be finished.

Renovation Is a Sign Your Business Is Thriving

Remember the outward effect that renovation brings. It creates the look of forward progress that can be both inspiring and motivating to yourself, your staff, your clientele, and onlookers.

Always be thinking about the next thing to improve, and your workplace will never become dull.

Need a Business loan for renovations, or to grow? Check out Capital for Business funding solutions or apply for a business loan today.

For more insightful articles and actionable tips about finance and business, check out Capital for Business’ The Working Capital and Financing Blog.

Did you enjoy this article? Here’s more to read: The Basics of Financing a Business