One of the good things about renting an office space, well, any space for your business, would be the fact that it’s temporary, and if you want to leave earlier, you just need to sublet it, problem solved. You don't get that privilege when owning the space. 

Sure, it’s great to own your own space, but it needs to be a good space, or else it's a money pit. But yeah, just generally speaking here, buying an office building can make a business feel very official. Like, okay, look at that, actual keys, actual walls, actual ownership, very serious. There is a lot of appeal to owning and controlling your own space.

But an office building doesn’t get to be judged only on how it looks during a viewing. That’s too easy. Of course, a space can look decent when it’s empty, clean, and no one’s parked there on a busy day. That’s how they get you, you only see the good parts. So,  before falling for a nice lobby or a big window, it’s worth asking if the building is actually going to help the business, or just create new problems with a nicer front door.

A Great Address Can Still be a Pain to Use

It makes total sense to want to focus on the address, since it’s all about locations when you’re starting a business. But even so, a good location looks nice on paper, but daily life has a way of making things very real. If staff have a rough commute, clients struggle to find the entrance, deliveries block traffic, or parking is basically a competitive, well, there’s a pretty high chance that the charm will be lost fast, and you’d be highly inconveniencing your customers and clients.

There are other things you absolutely need to think about here, too, like the area that’s even around the building itself. For example, you should ideally consider the food options, public transport, safety after dark, nearby suppliers, noise levels, and access for visitors, which can all affect how useful the space actually feels. Yes, again, location matters, but it’s not just the exact location, though. 

 There Needs to be Checks in Place Before the Purchase

If you’ve never owned a commercial space, how are you even going to know about this, right? But it’s true, again, you dn’t want to risk a money pit here, lawsuits, failing compliance and regulations, there’s a lot to consider here because there’s fire safety, electrics, accessibility, ventilation, certificates, maintenance history, all deeply unglamorous, granted. 

Sure, nobody tours an office building dreaming about compliance paperwork, but you absolutely have to be educated on this, and so ideally, it’s going to help to look into a guide to building regulations for businesses, so you know what the offices you’re touring have and what’s needed. 

Sizes Can Lie a Little

Well, maybe a little, maybe a lot, it just depends on the country you’re living in and what’s legal (as in some countries you can “guestimate “ the size. But in general here, an office can have plenty of space and still feel badly planned. Like a floor plan can promise enough room, once you move in desks, printers, storage cabinets, staff bags, deliveries, cleaning supplies, bins, files, and anything and everything else is just sort of crammed together. 

Staff Comfort isn’t a Bonus

Be it physical comfort, as in no AC or heating in the space, or safety-level of comfort like being afraid of getting harmed in some sort of way while locking up at night. In general, both you and your staff, especially them, need to be comfortable.