New Office Scaries - what to expect when you’re expecting (to move)

Is starting the hunt for a new office space too frightening to bear? We know for many business owners, finding a new home for your company can be a daunting task, but with The Anderson Group, it might not be as scary as you think.

Hear how Richard Akullian worked with The Anderson Group to find his perfect office space, making his fear of signing a lease a thing of the past.

Akullian Creative is a full-production advertising agency in Albany, NY that specializes in Marketing, Design, Branding, and Video Production. With that being said, there are a few different things we looked for when researching a new office space. First, we needed the space to implement a production studio. After all, we will be shooting videos and holding photoshoots, both things require a large, dark, enclosed space where you’re able to manipulate light and sound. Secondly, we knew we needed offices for our graphic design, marketing, and video production teams, in addition to a private office for me. We wanted each of these offices to be big enough for at least two people with desks, so finding the right space was important to us.

Thirdly, we wanted to have an area to put a conference table for meetings, extra desk space for interns, and general sitting area. We wanted to make sure the space was well designed for efficiency, productivity, and of course, aesthetic.

Moving your business (and employees) into a new office is a big commitment, so of course we had a few concerns going into the search. Aside from all our necessary pre-move-in requests, there were a few other things to consider before signing the lease.

1. Location Choosing the right location for our business was imperative. As a portion of our income will come from renting out studio space, we wanted to be in a central location in Albany that provided off-street parking. Wolf Road made the perfect home for us as it is surrounded by hundreds of businesses, restaurants, and retail companies, as well as being right off the Northway, making this location a convenient commute for employees and clients.

2. Building maintenance Something I was worried about when looking for office space was the possibility of having to deal with building and grounds maintenance such as snow removal, landscaping, housekeeping, etc. Luckily, The Anderson Group provides full facility management, leaving us time to focus on what we do best.

3. Space planning

In terms of space, one of the concerns we had was the ability to plan our space exactly how we wanted it. Being a Marketing and Design agency, we needed a space that would represent what we offer in our company. Therefore, we needed to agree on colors, layout, designs, etc. At the end of the day, we wanted our company to be able to grow around the space we were moving into as we planned on making a 5+ year commitment. Sue and their construction team guided us through the design process with zero stress, letting us know their opinion on what would work best for the space as we began our renovation plan. Having their expertise was invaluable through this process as we were able to come up with a convenient layout as well as recognize problems that were in our original design plan.

4. Setting realistic budgets

Office expenses definitely add up. You may not think you need to spend much, but if you include new desks, chairs, tables, couches, decorations, and other aesthetic equipment, you’re looking at a pretty hefty bill. Add on any custom renovations you plan on doing, and you can blow your budget before even moving in! The Anderson Group helped us modify our office space design plan to fit within our budget by helping us choose the right flooring, paint, and layout. To avoid one large payment for renovations to be due upon moving in, we built in an amortization agreement into our lease agreement.

It turned out that leasing office space with The Anderson Group was not so scary after all. Despite all our concerns, The Anderson Group solved each and every one of them with ease as we prepared to sign a lease agreement. Their team met with us countless times to make sure the office space was exactly what we wanted and assisted us at every turn so that we could get it there. We’re looking forward to continuing to work with them through our renovations and to becoming a tenant in December of 2021!