Tag: office space

FF&E Services You Need from Your Installation Company

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Joe DiGiovanni - Facility Installation, Office Furniture

The first impression your clients have of you and your company is extremely important. The client will build an expectation based on that initial impression and they’ll remember that impression when they leave, whether you exceeded it or not. The problem you’ll face will come when your office has seen better days and is starting to show age and wear. If that’s the case, your client will instantly have a poor expectation of the work or service you provide. After all, if you don’t take care of your office, how will you take care of them? You’re fighting an uphill battle. An FF&E Company can help to take care of the details for you.

Deciding to refurbish your office is an important decision that can have a huge impact on your client’s impression of your company. When choosing an installation company to help you transition with the new furniture, fixtures, and equipment you’ll need, ensure the company meets your expectations and needs in the following categories:

Furniture, Fixture, and Equipment Services You Need

Selection and Shipping

Many relocation services are limited in their resources and partnerships, making the process of refurnishing your office much more difficult. At The Quality Group, we partner with interior designers that have extensive knowledge in furniture selection. This strong partnership helps to give you the options you’ll need to find exactly what furniture, fixtures, and electronics you want.

After our partners at the interior design company select the perfect furniture for you, The Quality Group can help to order the furniture within a reasonable time frame. If you have limited space in your office or you can’t receive a delivery at any time, we have the ability to receive the shipment of furniture, fixtures, and equipment for you. From there, it’s important to ask about storage and warehousing.

Storage and Warehousing

Your office has limited space because it’s already filled with furniture and fixtures leaving no spare room for new items on top of the old ones. This means you can’t store the new furniture in your office while waiting for all of it to arrive from the different suppliers. You also may want to do the update room by room to limit operational disruption. For these reasons or others, if you want the new furniture, fixtures, and equipment to be stored off site until you are ready for it at your office, ensuring your installation company can store everything for you will be essential.

Ask your installation company if they have the storage room for your furniture and equipment. A professional installation company like The Quality Group will have warehousing space capable of storing your furniture until you need it at your office. They will also inventory check the items that you ordered for accuracy and quality control. Once your installation company has every item in, they’ll arrange for shipping to your office on your schedule.

Delivery and Installation

Updating your office is a massive project that can be taken in small steps or be done all at once. For your specific needs, verifying your delivery options with your installation company is important. The Quality Group can deliver your furniture, fixtures, and equipment in a way that is custom to your needs, whether that may be half of the new items at one time and half at another or all at once. Ask your installation company beforehand what your delivery options are.

You’ll also want to check on the installation company’s installing process. Ensure that the company will not only install case goods, which are already assembled but also knock down items, which need assembly. This will prevent you from unexpected surprises.

Every installation company is not equal. For a full-service installation company that partners with interior designers in order to take care of your every need, call The Quality Group, or ensure that the one you choose provides each of the above services. Your company update will go smoothly with a professional and customer-centric installation company supporting you.

Work with The Quality Group

At The Quality Group, we’re your commercial relocation specialists. Founded in 1987 in New Orleans, LA, The Quality Group serves the Gulf States with comprehensive commercial moving services from move planning to furniture installation. No other company puts in the time or preparation that we do to make your move stress and hassle-free.

Benefits of Hiring a Commercial Real Estate Agent

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Joe DiGiovanni - Commercial Relocation

Deciding to buy or rent a piece of commercial property is a big step for your company’s future. You’ll need to make sure you choose the right property for your business and that you’re getting the best deal when it comes to pricing. Having a professional commercial real estate agent can help you navigate through buying or renting property for your business. There are several positive benefits in hiring a commercial real estate agent when making this important company decision.

Hiring a Commercial Real Estate Agent is Beneficial for a Move

Time Dedication

As a business owner, you have limited time to spend on matters outside of business operations. Having to spend your free time sifting through listings of potential company buildings is probably not the best use of your limited time. Instead, a commercial real estate agent can provide this service for you and show you only the best options for your company’s needs. This will save you time by allowing someone who specializes in finding exactly what you need to do so on a daily basis until the need is met.

Industry Knowledge

Real estate agents know their industry inside and out. Not only do they take classes approved by the Louisiana Real Estate Commission, but are also licensed and affiliated with a real estate broker. On top of that, they keep up with the current market and news of the area. That means they’ll know the area where you’ll be looking, the prices of the properties selling in that area or comparable building prices, and what is available on the market. Real estate agents also know many industry-specific resources to check when looking for property for a client.

City Zoning Familiarity

Your business is unique but unfortunately, the city confines your business into one of several coding zones when you are dealing with property. Your real estate agent will know each property’s zone and about the paperwork that comes with the building zone. You won’t end up with a piece of property you can’t use for your business when you hire a commercial real estate agent who makes a point of knowing city zoning codes.

Negotiation Expertise

Commercial real estate agents are professionals who know the workings of negotiations when dealing with property. They know the hidden clauses and can sift through the entire document, which can be several stacks of paper tall. Agents can also fight for your case in negotiations, pointing out problems that need to be addressed or that aren’t in your favor. Your agent can negotiate for you in a professional manner that will give you full advantage of the situation.

Professionals Suggestions

Commercial real estate agents can also suggest other professionals you’ll need for the process of buying property. Due to commercial property not having the same consumer protection laws as residential property, having suggestions for people who can help you will be useful. Your real estate agent can save you some potential problems and money by providing suggestions for other professionals that will help provide due diligence on the property. Proposals will be made for those who can perform title checks, environmental hazards investigations, property line identification, and more.

Hiring a commercial real estate agent when you are searching for business property can help your moving experience go smoothly. With the knowledge they possess, the time they can dedicate, and the familiarity they have with the city and other professionals, they will steer you in the right direction and help you find the perfect property for your company.

Work with The Quality Group

Post-Move Checklist for Your Company

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Joe DiGiovanni - Commercial Relocation, Moving Preparation

Post-Move Checklist, checklist after your move your business, business moving baton rouge

Moving to a new office can be a positive sign that your business is growing. All the time spent planning and preparing for the move can be overwhelming but moving to a new location where your company can continue to grow and thrive makes it all worth it in the end. Even after the move is complete, there are still many things to do, especially the couple days directly following the relocation. Make sure you have everything covered for your business with this moving checklist so everything runs smoothly after the move. You’ll need a post-move checklist for your company, or you’ll run into all sorts of preventable problems!

Follow this Post-Move Checklist to Avoid Future Problems with Clients and Associates

Distribute Employee Packets

Making sure your employees can access the new office should be at the top of your moving list. Distribute the moving packets to your employees the day of the move with their new passcodes, keycards, desk locations, and parking spots so they have easy access on the first day.

Check Equipment

Directly following a move, assign the task of checking all equipment to your IT department. Include all electronics in the check such as computers, printers, phones, and projectors. Check any other specialty equipment to guarantee that it is working properly. You don’t want to have a client in your office a week after the move and have a technical malfunction occur in the middle of the meeting.

Remove Unnecessary Furniture and Equipment

After the office is arranged for optimal efficiency, you can arrange to have any excess furniture and equipment removed, including furniture from your previous office that doesn’t work with the new furniture. To avoid having any unneeded equipment, you can store, donate, sell, or throw away any excess. You’ll want to do this relatively soon after you move so the office is not crowded and uncomfortable.

Update Materials

Double-checking all business materials with the company’s contact information is one of the most important assignments to perform after a move. Do not leave any platform untouched because you don’t want to confuse your clients or customers. Change the contact information on your website and social media accounts, print new brochures and fliers, and reorder all your business cards for consistency.

Know the Area

Mapping out the new area will be critical when making appointments with associates and clients. Knowing traffic conditions, back roads, and transit options will be the difference between being on time for a meeting and not. You can also get a list of appropriate business lunch locations and their busy hours for future reference.

Contact Associates and Clients

Send out a reminder to all your clients and associates about your new location within a few days of the company’s move to prevent future confusion. Contact your clients, the cleaning company, your delivery company, and the USPS. You can confirm that they have your new address so meetings, services, and deliveries still happen and arrive on time.

File any Complaints

Once everything is unpacked and assessed you’ll need to file any complaints and insurance claims with the moving company if any equipment was damaged. If you notice something damaged, it is important to address it immediately to ensure accurate reports and claims.

Leave a Review

Leaving a review of the moving company can wait until a few days after the move. But, it should be done before the week is out. This is another place you can express your concerns and questions with the service. It can also help others make a decision about the company if you had a good experience.

Post-Move Checklist PDF Printout

After you move into the new office, don’t just relax or get back to your normal routine as soon as possible. Make sure you’ve covered your bases. To avoid problems in the future, however, you should keep everything in order. Tell everyone associated with your company where you are, and update all materials. Run through this checklist after your relocation to ensure your business runs smoothly going forward.

Let The Quality Group Take Care of the Move

At The Quality Group, we’re your commercial relocation specialists. We’ve been in operation for more than 30 years, starting in New Orleans. We offer comprehensive business moving services from move planning to furniture installation. And, we want to ensure that you’re post-move goes just as well as your move. We’ll handle the move and even advise on the post-move checklist for your business!

Documents During a Corporate Move

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Joe DiGiovanni - Moving Preparation

Businesses tend to collect a lot of paperwork over the years. Many businesses allow documents to stack up over time without realizing how much paperwork is actually collecting in their file cabinets. While it is important to keep many documents for your own records or to meet standards set forth by laws, it is a good idea to clean records out every once in a while to avoid a paper overload. Moving your company to a new location presents the perfect opportunity to do some paperwork “spring cleaning” for your business.

Find Out How and Why You Should Dispose of Documents During a Corporate Move

Why Should I Dispose of Documents During a Corporate Move?

The most obvious reason to get rid of documents you no longer need during a corporate move is that it will save space in your already packed file cabinets. Disposing of unneeded documents will make room for new forms you’ll be collecting in the future.

Another reason to get rid of unnecessary documents is that they could lead to information liabilities. Old documents that no longer pertain to your company could still hold confidential information. If this information gets into the wrong hands it could lead to legal problems and damage your company’s reputation. Getting rid of old documents can help stave off future problems for you and the company.

How Should I Dispose of Documents Before a Corporate Move?

Sensitive documents should be disposed of properly to remove any risk of leaked information. While you may have a document shredder at your office, it might not be sufficient enough to get the job done correctly. Paper shredders that only shred documents into long strips still run the risk of leaking information. It is quite easy to piece the strips back together again. You’ll want to either invest in a crosscut shredder or hire a company to shred your documents for you.

What Documents Should I Shred During a Corporate Move?

Keeping essential documents is extremely important for a company. Keeping records of items you haven’t had anything to do with in five years however, may not be the best use of your cabinet space. If you are still worried about shredding the older documents, you can hire a company to help you with record organization and retention.

Moving old, non-essential documents to your new location will just make it cluttered. Removing those documents before your relocation will help you be better organized from the start. Take the time to sort your documents and dispose of any you no longer need and enjoy a smoother relocation process.

Work with The Quality Group

Avoid Moving Twice with New Furniture

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Joe DiGiovanni - Commercial Relocation, Facility Installation, Moving Preparation, Office Furniture

Moving logistics can be a nightmare when trying to coordinate all variables. From the moving company, keeping clients informed of your schedule, interior designs, system installers and everyday vendors, the stress can add up quickly. The Quality Group can help alleviate much of this stress and can help our clients that use this time to update their office furniture as well. Whether it is due to normal wear and tear or the desire to keep the office atmosphere consistent with the new location, businesses can often add another layer of complexity with scheduling when making this decision. What happens if you order and it is scheduled to arrive after you’ve already moved? What happens if it arrives too early? We have some advise on how the Quality Group can help.

Don’t Let New Furniture Result in You Moving Twice

Avoid Moving Twice

A common practice in the business world when relocating is to essentially move twice. You may think this is absurd, but it happens more often than you think. Many companies will move into their new office with their old furniture, then pay someone to come and get the old furniture and then pay someone else to bring in the new furniture. Businesses lose a production day when this procedure is followed, but they often don’t see another option. Companies have to keep old furniture until new furniture arrives and scheduling pick-ups and deliveries for the same time is virtually impossible. You can however, avoid moving your furniture twice with a little help and planning.

Purchase and Ship Your New Furniture Early

To avoid moving twice, purchase your furniture early in the moving process. You can avoid a large amount of stress by researching and purchasing your new office furniture before you start attempting to coordinate companies. Purchasing the large items early will also give you leeway on deciding when and where you want it delivered. Instead of shipping your new furniture to your old location where you don’t have room for it, or having it shipped to your new place weeks after you’ve moved in, you can ship it to your moving company: The Quality Group.

Store Your New Furniture with the Quality Group

Storing your new furniture with The Quality Group can reduce the amount of work you have to do by cutting down coordination requirements and streamlining the time needed to get your new office up to par. When you purchase your furniture from an outside vendor, The Quality Group is able to safely store it until moving day. When you ship the furniture to The Quality Group, you remove the need to find storage elsewhere and you avoid moving twice. The Quality Group receives, inspects, corrects any mistakes, and stores your furniture until you are ready to move into your new office.

Enjoy the New Furniture at the New Office

When your move day comes, The Quality Group brings and installs the furniture to your specifications. With this process you don’t need to worry about having your old furniture in your new office until the new ones arrive. You also don’t have to worry about coordinating multiple companies, into your move. The Quality Group will already know your move schedule and relocate the new furniture into your office at the same time as moving all of your other equipment, thus avoiding operational downtime. The whole process will happen on the same day and you will avoid the double move situation.

Storing new furniture with your moving company can greatly reduce the stress and work that comes with business relocation. Excess company coordination is removed and aesthetics are not sacrificed when everything arrives at the new office at the same time. The Quality Group aims to ease your moving process by helping to manage your furniture substitution by storing your office furniture until the day you move into your new office.

Work with The Quality Group

The Modern Office

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Joe DiGiovanni - Office Furniture

The New Modern Office is Trending

It’s 2016 and the workforce is slowly shifting from the baby boomer generation to the millennial generation. With that workforce shift comes a shift in office space and lifestyle expectations. Keeping your new work force motivated and happy at work can have a huge effect on their happiness and productivity. Many millennials now want to be part of the open office trend, which means you might be looking into a new office space and an openly designed office layout. While you are shifting your office over to the new modern office trend, keep The Quality Group in mind as we can help you get into your new office with ease.

Location

The millennial generation puts emphasis on balancing work and home life. Having an office in an urban area with high walkability access will sit well with millennials who are big on convenience. Easy access to work and entertainment in an urban area will be exactly the kind of convenient balance of work and life they are searching for in their life. They also like the option to choose where they work. Finding an office that has multiple workspace options, including outside options, can go a long way with your upcoming employees. While moving into a new office can seem daunting, planning for the happiness of your future employees is important. The Quality Group can ease your move into that modern office by taking every detail into account. We even calculate how many elevator trips it will take to move you and do so at a time that won’t interrupt business.

Space Planning

The modern office trend that the millennial generation expects comes with a whole different setup from the cubicles that used to be popular. Open-concept design and collaborative furniture are now on the rise and require spaces where more than one person can sit. The Quality Group has partners who can help any office optimize its space for the new workforce. They can optimize your office for your workers who need open spaces and for those who need individual spaces.

Furniture

The Quality Group partners with interior design companies that can help any office plan, design, and equip their office with the right furniture. From collaboration furniture to individual workspaces, they can help create your modern office with a perfect blend of open and individual workspaces with furniture professionally assembled by the Quality Group. Whether you are bringing your previous furniture with you or are looking for new furniture, The Quality Group can help by moving, arranging, and collaborating with you on your furniture needs.

The millennial generation may have a different idea of an office from previous generations but The Quality Group is here to help you get a handle on moving. When you find the new office that will suit your workforce’s expectations, let The Quality Group come and seamlessly move you and create a workspace your new employees will love.

Work with The Quality Group

How much space does do I need for my office?

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Joe DiGiovanni - Moving Preparation

When searching for a new office for your business, there are several factors that influence your decision. The size of the office, rent, and location are all things considered during the process. It’s a good idea to work out your office space requirements before you even begin to look for real estate.

Office Size

Having the right size office will tremendously help in running your business efficiently. Too large of a space is a misuse of capital that could be used for something else. Not having enough room may cause you to outgrow the office before the lease is up, resulting in a waste of money and time.

Business Growth Strategy and Lease

One thing you need to consider is your business growth strategy, which can be determined by looking at anticipated growth throughout the term in terms of employees, and the length of the lease you’re signing. A lease of three years or shorter will be easier to judge because it’s hard to predict where your business will be after that. Your business needs may be very different three years from now than what they currently are. Anticipated industry growth and the economic client, also need to be considered. This gives you the growth density ratio, which typically rangers from up to 175 useable square feet per person for dense, larger offices, and up to 325 square feet per person for smaller, private offices.

Required Meeting Rooms

The number and size of required meeting rooms largely contribute to the space needed. These things can be determined by the total number of employees, how many meetings you have at a given time, as well any technical requirements, such as tools necessary for video conferencing.

Determining how much space you need in your new office will help you narrow down your choices and point you in the right direction for office leases. Be sure to determine what your space requirements are before you start your search to avoid problems in the future and get the best office for your business.

So, You’re Moving Your Business. Here’s How to Decide What Size Office You’ll Need.

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Joe DiGiovanni - Commercial Relocation, Moving Preparation

So, you’re thinking about moving your business to a new location. You need more space than you currently have, but you want to make sure you don’t have too much either. You’re looking for that perfect fit. But, how do you know what size office will fit your business perfectly? What things do you need to take in account when looking for new spaces? Choosing the right office space for your business is important, so we’ve got those much needed answers so that you can get the perfect office to suit your business’ wants and needs.

First, you should think about where your business is now, and where you want it to go. Will you hire more sales or administrative employees? When will you hire these employees? Do your business operations require more collaborative or more individualized work spaces?

After getting the answers to these questions you’ll have a better idea of what kind of office space you’ll need to best fit your business. If you plan to hire more employees within the next six months or so, you should think about having a few extra offices in your building to suit the new hires. Usually, the square footage per employee is about 150-350 square feet. Based on the square footage per employee, you can do some calculations to find out how many square feet you’ll need in order to accommodate the number of employees you currently have or will have in the near future.

When you determine the adequate square footage needed, you’ll need to think about each of your employees’ jobs and what type of atmosphere they need in order to successfully complete their jobs. Will they need to talk to different departments? Will they be crunching numbers, writing reports and generating spread sheets? Or, will they be out making sales calls?

If a lot of collaboration happens in your office, then choose a space that allows you and your employees to hash out large projects and bounce ideas off each other. If your work requires peace and quiet to get tedious work done, then choose an office space that has individual offices.

It’s important to always look for spaces that are just big enough to fit all of your employees comfortably without wasting space. So, do the math on the square footage per employee, and that should give you a solid guideline of what size building to search for. Additionally, finding a one size fits all solution is unrealistic, but, you should try to find an office space that will streamline your business processes. If collaboration is needed sometimes, but individual client meetings are needed as well, find a building with private offices, and a large conference room for collaboration.

When you’re ready to begin your new office hunt take these tips, put them into practice and get ready to move into a perfect office fit for your business.

Work with The Quality Group

Leasing or Buying office space. Which is best for my business? The answer is: It depends.

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Joe DiGiovanni - Commercial Relocation

When you’re in the market for a new office space, there are a lot of decisions to be made. Where should you move? How should you design the office layout? Will you take your existing furniture or buy new furniture? But most importantly, you need to ask yourself if leasing or buying your new office space is best for you and your company.

As with anything, there are pros and cons to leasing vs. buying office spaces. We’re going to take you through some pros and cons so that you can decide what will be your business’ best option.

Leasing

Pros

No down payment. Cash is king, so the longer you keep money in your pocket and business, the better.
No expenses regarding the upkeep of the office. So, whenever a light bulb goes out, no problem. Call your landlord and they’ll replace it at no expense to you.
You can sign a short-term lease, which gives you some flexibility. If you’re expanding, no problem. You can stay in a short-term lease for a few months and then move to a bigger facility.

Cons

Leasing is an expense that doesn’t go towards ownership of property, in fact, you can sometimes spend more renting.
You can’t fix things as you see fit because the landlord owns the property, not you.
A lease means that the landlord is in charge. And with that, comes uncertainty because the landlord could potentially make you move as soon as your lease is up. Even if you want to stay on the property, your landlord could also substantially increase your rent. This increase is especially possible if the landlord decides to sell the property.

Buying

Pros

Buying office space can end up being cheaper than renting, and your monthly note goes toward the ownership of property, not into your landlord’s pocket.
When you own the property, you can paint the building or hang anything on the walls without asking for permission, or getting a “no” from the landlord.
When you own property, you have control over when you move out. Nobody will force you to move out on short notice when you’re the one in charge.

Cons

Along with buying property, you also obtain the expenses that go along with the ownership. Any liability that goes along with the property is also put on you, the owner.
Replacing AC units or leaks in the roof can be pricey, and if you own the property, all costs fall on you.
If you find that your business is struggling in its new location, and you own the property, you don’t have the freedom to pick up and move out when your lease is up. You’re bound to the building, until you sell it at least.

As you can see, there are many options to weigh when deciding whether to buy or lease your new office space. There is no right choice because both have advantages and disadvantages. Whatever choice you make, The Quality Group will be there to help you seamlessly move your office to your new location.

Work with The Quality Group

Tag: office space

FF&E Services You Need from Your Installation Company

Furniture, Fixture, and Equipment Services You Need

Selection and Shipping

Storage and Warehousing

Delivery and Installation

Benefits of Hiring a Commercial Real Estate Agent

Hiring a Commercial Real Estate Agent is Beneficial for a Move

Post-Move Checklist for Your Company

Follow this Post-Move Checklist to Avoid Future Problems with Clients and Associates

Distribute Employee Packets

Check Equipment

Remove Unnecessary Furniture and Equipment

Update Materials

Know the Area

Contact Associates and Clients

File any Complaints

Leave a Review

Post-Move Checklist PDF Printout

Documents During a Corporate Move

Find Out How and Why You Should Dispose of Documents During a Corporate Move

Avoid Moving Twice with New Furniture

Don’t Let New Furniture Result in You Moving Twice

The Modern Office

The New Modern Office is Trending

How much space does do I need for my office?

So, You’re Moving Your Business. Here’s How to Decide What Size Office You’ll Need.

Leasing or Buying office space. Which is best for my business? The answer is: It depends.

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories