Singaporean companies have been hit hard by the Circuit Breaker restrictions. Did your business go through a major slowdown? If so, you’re not alone.

Over the past few months, some firms have downsized their manpower and streamlined departments or even shut down their businesses to cope with the economy slowdown.

Are you currently going through a business downsizing? If so, you may think about relocating to a cheaper venue or giving up your office altogether, both definitely requiring office reinstatement services.

One thing to consider, however, is that the situation is transient. Finances and global economies go through cyclical developments. The world is slowly starting to return to normalcy and Singapore isn’t an exception.

Right now, you may feel that either downsizing or giving up your current office are the best choices for your company. Before making the decision, however, you should definitely take some time to think about future possibilities. If finances permit, an office renovation at this time could make sense now and there are specific reasons why. It will prepare your business for a future surge, creating the right productivity conditions for employees who’ll eventually come back to the workplace – and you would not have to worry about looking for a new venue, dealing with current and new contracts, termination penalties, rent deposits – you will be ready to roll again.

Key Considerations: To Downsize and/or to Renovate?

You need a solid reason for every business decision you make. Whether you’re going to move to a new office or renovate the current one, you need a solid reason to go through the project.

That reason shouldn’t be based on the current state of affairs. The situation that we experienced in 2020 and the beginning of 2021 is temporary. Prognoses suggest some return to normalcy by the fall of 2021, and with vaccines being rolled out, things are indeed looking up. In that time, business is supposed to pick up once again and many companies will experience a much-needed surge.

Do plan for this future.

Chances are that many of your workers perform from a home office right now. You probably even had to let some employees go. Will the situation be the same in one year, however? In five years? When planning an upgrade or a downgrade of your corporate space, you need a realistic long-term horizon.

Also, think of the challenges that your current workspace poses. How long has it been since the last office renovation? Are there issues standing in the way of performance or the safety of your workers during the day? Such problems have to be addressed and the sooner, the better – no better time to do this if workers are working from home!

Finally, think about the attributes of your current office before moving to a smaller one or opting for a remote work mode altogether. An attractive location is worth preserving, especially if your line of work involves meetings with clients. Also, you should not give up a venue that you’ve already personalised and renovated in the past. Such adjustments will obviously reduce the cost of future work and make the venue much more suitable for your team.

Planning an Office Renovation During Economic Slowdowns

The biggest concern you probably have about carrying out an office renovation is the cost of the project. There are ways, however, to improve and upgrade your office space without spending a ton of money on the execution.

Managing an executing an office renovation project when business is slow will depend on a couple of essentials.

For a start, you need to have tangible goals. Renovating for the sake of renovating isn’t the optimal approach. Some specific outcomes you may want to pursue include an environment that boosts productivity and employee engagement, a more efficient layout, enhanced collaboration, improved safety and effortless accessibility.

Next, think about the ways to accomplish these goals.

An office renovation and upgrade project can be carried out in more than one way. The road you choose will determine the cost and your satisfaction with the outcome. If you don’t have a strategic plan and a direction, you may end up spending a large sum that will still fail guaranteeing the outcome you desire.

You should also set a renovation budget before seeking out designers and contractors. Not only will this decision give the renovation tangible parameters, it will also help you identify the professionals that can accomplish the task on your behalf.

Professional Assistance Will Give You a Tailored, Budget-Friendly Outcome

Hiring office interior design company like SORDC when going through an office renovation, even when you’re downsizing, is the most economical way and let the space shine at the same time.

An interior design, space planning and renovation project management team will get to know your parameters intimately before planning, hiring contractors, choosing materials and executing the project on your behalf. Having such professionals overseeing every single steps will completely eliminate the risk of costly errors and unnecessary work.

If you’re not a professional, you risk going for office improvements that will not yield a good return on investment. Also, a failure to stick to evergreen practices could lead to follow-up work soon after the renovation is complete.

SORDC’s team specialises in an array of office renovation services. We will handle the design and conceptualisation, the submission of regulatory documents, project management, contractor hiring, furniture selection/manufacture and the finishing touches.

You can count on a no-obligations, free of charge first consultation with us. Based on the information exchanged at that meeting, we’ll do a detailed project that we can move on to executing as soon as you’re ready.