Two tips for those having an extension added to their business premises

Business Blog

If you have decided to have an extension added to your current business premises, here are a couple of tips which should help you with this challenging process.

Take steps to minimise the disruption it will cause to your business operations

Increasing the size of your business premises will do wonders for your enterprise's long-term success. However, if you don't take steps to minimise the disruption the construction work causes to your daily basis operations, the extension could result in a short-term reduction in customer engagement and sales.

This is because construction work generates lots of noise and dust, both of which could be off-putting to your customers and might make them think twice about paying a visit to your premises.

As such, it's essential to take steps to minimise the amount of disruption the construction of the extension has on your day-to-day business operations.

There are a few ways to do this. Firstly, consider having the noisiest elements of the construction process done outside of your standard opening hours.

Secondly, make sure to completely seal off the area of your premises that is adjacent to the construction area, so that no dust from the building work ends up floating into your premises. This can be done by using heavy-duty tape and plastic sheeting to create an airtight seal around the entryways that connect your shop or office to the construction site area.

Use high-quality building supplies

Whilst it might be tempting to use 'economy' brand construction materials in order to keep the construction project's expenses as low as possible, doing so could cost you a lot of money in the long-term.

Inexpensive building materials can cause several problems. Firstly, they tend to look far less visually appealing than their higher-priced counterparts. Low-cost linoleum flooring, for example, is nowhere near as aesthetically pleasing as hardwood floors. The cheap appearance of your finished extension could have a negative effect on your customers' perception of your enterprise; they might assume, for instance, that your business is not particularly successful. This, in turn, might lead to them choosing to shop elsewhere.

Secondly, cheap materials will deteriorate far more rapidly than higher-quality ones. As such, they can end up being a false economy. 'Budget-friendly' particleboard shelving units, for example, often break or develop scratches in a matter of months, whilst ones made from teak or stainless steel could last for decades.

As such, if you want your new extension to appeal to customers and to stand the test of time, it is best to invest in quality building supplies.

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11 October 2017

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