How do I set a realistic budget?

In the office design and fit-out industry, one piece of advice is the same across the board: you need to have an established budget before you begin the project.

Setting a budget allows you the opportunity to calculate a realistic return-on-investment whilst acting as a method to financially measure what success looks like for your company. It also allows you to prioritise your budget needs and most important goals. A clear budget allows you to see clearly from the outside areas where potential savings can be made.

So how much money will it take to accomplish your goals? How do you set a realistic budget?

Methods such as an online calculator help to configure costs, and give you a steer in the right direction. Our new tool helps to inspire your vision for your office design and fit-out and start to see the beginning of turning your dreams into reality by helping you understand what you need in your new office as well as providing a budget almost instantaneously.

Speaking to industry experts or building consultants with experience in similar projects may be able to guide you, and give advice on your budget, such as whether it is appropriate and/or suitable.

Our friendly team at Officeinsight is experienced at fine-tuning budgets to ensure they are suitable for calculating a realistic ROI. Get in touch here to find out more.

Using the Define tool to fine-tune your budget

At Officeinsight, one of our core values is being open and honest, and this value is often reflected during the budget stage with our clients. It is not uncommon for us to see that some clients believe that if they tell us their budget, the budget will probably be too high and that their fit-out contractor will simply adjust the profit margins to soak up the budget – this doesn’t happen, and if your budget is too high, we will be open and tell you. Similarly, if your budget is too low, we will also make you aware.

The first stage of our 3-stage process – define – helps in setting the right budget and creating a brief that encapsulates your vision whilst coming up with solutions to your problems. Working closely together, we first identify the issues through a Define workshop. This allows for us to interact with your staff and helps to immerse ourselves in your business so that the culture can be fully grasped.

Once your needs have been identified, we can then discuss how your budget will be used to solve these problems and create a brief.

Setting a budget for an office refurbishment

As we deal with both office fit-outs and refurbishments, generally the costing is similar however office refurbishments require different mechanical and electrical works and this could affect how you budget. Speaking to a consultant here at Officeinsight, we can guide you with what is best for your project, whether it be an office fit-out or a refurbishment, or see what we say in our brief overview:

How do I set a realistic budget?

In all, setting a realistic budget may sound like an overwhelming task, especially with the added pressure of ensuring it achieves maximum accuracy – however, our specialist team are on hand, ready to help and our years of experience allow us to work with you to create a budget that works for you and your dream office.