a business proposal

The new project's aim is to solve the challenge of business office accommodation. The project team is tasked with finding new six office units in a local city for an organization that is actually operating in three locations. Congestion in the new market setup has necessitated the addition of additional office units. As a result, the project team will do a technical review of the area to determine the supply of office units of no more than 2400 square feet and a monthly payment of $1500. The team will guide the company on the right option, as well as an assessment of the city and open slots.

Proposal for Business Starting a business is never an easy task. The entire process requires careful planning to ensure that everything is done correctly and meets the required standards. Other enterprises need a comprehensive market research to ascertain their viability. Entrepreneurs usually perform market analysis and undertake the cost-benefit analysis to evaluate the ability of the target market to meet the expected revenue projections (Mir & Pinnington, 2014). However, besides the process of analyzing the viability of the business, entrepreneurs always find it difficult to secure a strategic location for the company. The difficulty is more common in urban areas and cities as compared to other areas where people scramble for the limited space.

In this paper, the problem of office space is considered more critical for the business. The paper, therefore, comes up with the techniques for solving the problem of space thus boosting the prosperity of the firm. In this respect, the limited working area remains one of the major issues for the study. Finding new offices can be very tricky especially in major cities with huge populations and businesses (Kerzner, 2013). Entrepreneurs struggle a lot to secure a more strategic pace in the market to gain more sales. In this manner, most businesses keep relocating from one place to another and in the end, they eventually secure an appropriate place to base their operations. Business offices must be strategically located where customers can easily spot them. The goal is to come up with a solution of securing more six units. The paper will devise ways of achieving the set goal of securing six offices which are strategically located.

Securing six office slots is a great undertaking and requires a lot of money. Coming up with a budget remains critical to the achievement of this goal. With the strategic locations, their cost could be significantly higher than the rest of the offices located in areas which are not strategically placed. The reason for securing the offices at a strategic pace is to attract customers. The working areas must be visible for customers to locate it with ease. Strategic location also boosts business sales by increasing the inflow of customers. The solution to the problem will involve the business strategy and operation team. The group is entrusted with the role of ensuring that business ventures are analyzed by the objectives of the firm.

The central role in solving the current problem will be the assessment of the prospective place where the offices will be set. Such estimates involve the cost of the offices. The monthly pay for the offices must not exceed the budgeted expenses for the company. Additionally, they must assess the viability of the location of the business regarding its strategic position. Such assessments will help in making the right decision on the site of the offices. The team must evaluate various locations and compare their suitability for business. The offices must be readily accessible for both the employees and the customers. Furthermore, the environment around the working space must be conducive for all. By securing the offices, it will be easier to conduct business from the compared to the three offices where there is a lot of crowding especially during peak times when customers flood the offices. The new offices will ensure that there is order in handling customers where some customers can waiting in the waiting lounge to be served when the number is significant. Also, the proposed new offices will create more space allowing for the inclusion of other office furniture to increase the efficiency of the operations.

The offices must have adequate air conditioning to create a better experience for the employees and the business customers. The team must undertake a critical assessment of various available office spaces. Since there is a need for six offices, the team will evaluate the nearby city to ascertain whether or not the six units can be found from one location. Setting up the office units in different buildings can be very costly and straining in coordinating functions. Various structures have different costs per square foot and thus getting the six units from one place would be ideal. Also, securing the units from one location helps in reducing time wastage that could be wasted getting from one office to another located in different place. Furthermore, the offices must be spacious to accommodate all the staff. However, space must be assessed basing on the unit costs to ensure that the cost of space does not exceed the budgeted amount for the business. Hence, the team must consider such factors in their search for the offices.

Description of resources

There are various resources required for the office. Apart from the current furniture, the new offices will be restructured to include more computers for every employee. First, the new offices will require additional fittings such as lighting which fits the standards of business offices. Additionally, the units will be renovated with more air conditioners to ensure that the rooms remain conducive all through even when there are many customers. Since the office limit is between 2000 and 2400 square feet, it would be wise to get a big space of this size and embark on the partitioning process which is less costly compared to securing different office units. However, the total area must not exceed $1500 per month. Any cost beyond this value would result in losses for the business. Out of the six spaces, one will be the waiting room to reduce crowding in the service rooms during peak hours when there is the high inflow of customers. The waiting room will be serviced with two chairs a coffee table. The waiting room must be the initial office at the main entrance before getting to the customer service desk. The space for the waiting room should not be too big compared to the rest of the offices.

The first office after the waiting room will be the reception. The reception room will have one chair and a table. Additionally, later, the units will be fitted with a computer which helps in collection of customers’ feedback and comments regarding the business. The reception will also be equipped with one air-conditioner and proper lighting. There will be three rooms for the service teams. The working areas will host the human resource, marketing, and the operations departments. The human resource department will have two chairs and a desk. Additionally, the computers from the previous offices will be relocated to the three rooms. Furthermore, the old furniture from the former offices will be disposed of at the cost of $700 which is their current value. The money collected will be used to purchase office cabinets to help in the storage of files. The new cabinets will help in decongesting the desk drawers which are always full of office files. The operations office will host one employee who is the business operations director. Hence, it will have two chairs and one desk. Also, the unit will retain a computer from the previous location. Finally, the marketing department will have two chairs and a desk. The office will be engaging customers in most cases. Therefore, it will be adjacent to the reception. The unit is tasked with the branding of the business hence most of the inquiries will be addressed in the room.

Adjacent to the marketing section is the final office for the manager. The office will also have two chairs, a desk, and a computer. The manager will be in charge of the entire office activities, running all the operations and making crucial decisions required for the prosperity of the business. All the functions of the company will be coordinated from the manager's office. However, regarding space, the manager's office will not consume more space. The marketing department will have the largest area of all the offices since it will be hosting customers more often. Also, the unit will be used for business meetings when needed. All the offices will be connected to the internet to facilitate information sharing across the rooms. Additionally, the rooms will have office telephones. The total budget for the new furniture for the offices will be $2500. The current budget does not include the proceeds from the sale of the old furniture from the previous offices which are expected to bring in more $700 for the cabinets.

Research to Support Project

In the recent past, many businesses have moved from the traditional system of management where almost all the activities were coordinated from one office space. Due to the improving business activities and the need to create order in the management of businesses, people are shifting from this trend to more closed offices to increase customer experience. Initially, most businesses were working on cutting operational costs, and as a result, managers resorted to using one floor for all operations thus saving on rent. However, the offices could not be orderly. Most of the activities were often interrupted especially during peak hours when the number of customers was high (Davis, 2014). Additionally, it was challenging to control customers during peak hours. Employees could struggle to direct customers to different sections to be supported. As a result, a new business model was created to solve the problem. Businesses resorted to excluding the top management from the main floor. The process resulted in the creation of a different office for the manager while the rest of the departments remained on one level. The new model, however, did not result in a significant improvement of business operations. As a result, another model of securing a room for each office came, and it seemed to settle all the problems. At first, businesses were finding it difficult to adjust to the substantial operational costs. Firms resorted to reducing the number of employees to cut the costs. However, with time, businesses began to adapt to the new models as it helped in giving customers a better experience.

The new model created the waiting room to reduce overcrowding in various offices when there is an influx of customers. Additionally, there was order in the coordination of different functions thus increasing the efficiency of the various business. Even though the operating costs remained high, management was able to adjust to the expenses by changing other sections and combining different functions of multiple departments to be discharged from one unit. The current shift from open office to closed offices is a boost in the management of business operations. Activities are coordinated from each business unit, and it becomes easy to handle various customers during business hours. The current proposal is, therefore, anchored on the efficiency of business operations associated with the division of office units to accommodate every department. The current proposal will solve various business problems related to the previous single floor business management model which often created inconveniences for both the business and the customers.

Businesses must work hard to cut operations costs by ensuring that businesses units that are closely related are put together in one office unit. The move will help in reducing the number office units to be hired thus reducing operational costs associated with floor space. The paper proposes a floor space between 2000 and 2400 square units. The measurements were arrived at after analyzing the business operations and the cost the business can meet regarding floor space. The new business operations are expected to increase customer services by ensuring that customers' issues are addressed adequately by the different departments. The new model is expected to increase the number of customers being served daily thus boosting the image of the business.

Schedule

The process of looking for a business unit takes a long time especially in the current case where a considerable size of the office space is required. Hence, it is the project team to ensure that they move in fast in looking for a potential location with the required area for the six units. Additionally, space must meet the minimum requirements for the business which include floor space and the monthly expenses for space. The team is expected to complete their survey of the city where the operations will be based within two weeks. The process will involve making online inquiries and sending individuals to visit the management of different commercial buildings in the city. The team will then compile all the information and perform a critical analysis of the viable office unit. The analysis and assessment of the viable location are expected to take three days. The analysis will involve assessment of the different options gathered during the survey. The analysis will entail the cost of the available units and space. Offices which meet the minimum requirement will go for the second stage of evaluation which depends on the strategic location of the business units.

The next stage is decision-making process which will be arrived at after getting the best location out of the various alternatives obtained from the field survey. The decision-making process will involve all the business stakeholders who will be done in one day. The office unit chosen by the team will open another stage of contacting the management for booking. The process will be followed by the allocation of funds for the business units upon approval of the request by the building management. After settling the final payment, the business will set a date for the relocation to the new office.

Table 1: Schedule

Activity

duration

Survey of the nearby city and collection of information

1 week

Analysis of the information

3 days

Decision making

1 day

Submission of request and settlement of payment

1 week

Retrofitting and relocation

5 days

The business will contract a company to undertake the various retrofitting in the new office upon approval. The process will involve a few adjustments in the office units to fit the specification of the business structure. Since few modifications will be made on the new offices, the process is expected to take a maximum of two days. The relocation to the new business units will take a maximum of two days. The whole process will, therefore, take place in five days.

Table 2: Budget

Item

Cost ($)

Furniture

2500

Rent

1350 per month

Assessment and collection of information

500

Retrofitting

1200

The project team is expected to maintain constant communication with the entire management informing them of their progress. The team will be communicating developments to the project team manager on a daily basis. The project leader will update management as the whole on a weekly basis. The approach will ensure that every individual is part of the change being effected. The primary role of the project team is to undertake the technical processes involved in securing the new office units (Burke, 2013). They will first gather information and later analyze them to arrive at the best option regarding size and cost. Also, they must advise the business on the best options and give their reasons for choosing specific office units in a certain location. They, therefore, play a major role in influencing the decision-making process.

Team Qualifications

The project team comprises of four professionals of whom they are qualified to undertake the job of looking for a new office. I am the project manager, and my role is to ensure that my team works on strict deadlines and deliver on their respective assigned activities. The other three members have bachelor degrees and they meet the qualifications of being included in the team. One of the members, James has a degree in monitoring and evaluation. His skills are essential in this process as he can track the progress of different activities. The other two members, Victor and Elizabeth, are project management graduates and therefore, they fully understand all the processes of carrying out a project. Personally, I am a graduate with a business administration degree. I am confident that the combination of the four of us makes it possible to undertake the current process of securing new office units. In addition to their skills, the three members have attended regular training and workshops on project management and they fully understand all the aspects of project evaluation and implementation. Thus, they are in a better position to advise the management on the best alternative of office units in the nearby city.

A sample of office spaces

2217 Sq.feet

$1550

2079 sq. feet

$1350

2312 sq. feet

$1480

The above diagrams show a sample of the spaces assessed during the survey. The office spaces are in different locations, and their monthly prices are also given for a better comparison.

References

Burke, R. (2013). Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA.

Davis, K. (2014). Different stakeholder groups and their perceptions of project success. International Journal of Project Management, 32(2), 189-201.

Kerzner, H. (2013). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Mir, F. A., & Pinnington, A. H. (2014). Exploring the value of project management: linking project management performance and project success. International journal of project management, 32(2), 202-217.