A commercial renovation can be both exciting and nerve wracking. Exciting because your business is getting a facelift that will ideally make it look and function better. Nerve wracking because you’ll be spending money that won’t provide an immediate return. And it might possibly disrupt the operations that provide your income. Keeping costs low is often a primary concern when it comes to situations such as this, so in an effort to help we’ve created an article about how to save money during a commercial renovation.
Plan
Having a plan to begin with will ensure you remain focused on what matters most – your priorities. A well thought out (and ideally written) plan provides you and all other involved parties a template to refer to and work from. The definition of your priorities, goals and desired results in clear terms will ensure the work stays focused while reducing unnecessary costs, delays and other issues. Prioritizing and effectively communicating what needs to be done establishes a blueprint that everyone involved can adhere to.
Budget
Knowing how much money you have to spend from the outset will reduce how much you actually spend to get the job done. Rushing into a commercial renovation without a budget is akin to writing a blank cheque. Or a bouncing one! Budgeting is in its very nature restrictive. It establishes a limit that bounds the amount of money that will be spent by you and those involved. A common understanding of that limit will dictate how everything proceeds and how the job is done. Being upfront with your budget will guard against money being wasted.
Recycle
When approaching a commercial renovation, it’s good to understand that not everything needs to be brand new. Reusing and recycling materials and equipment that you already have on hand can significantly reduce the amount of money you spend. It could be anything from building materials to plumbing to ventilation systems to electrical works to furniture. These things don’t necessarily need to be replaced. Of course, if you’re upgrading your HVAC units or improving your plumbing it’ll be necessary to bring in new equipment, but there’s no reason to replace everything if your focus is on a specific system. Think it out and try and be inventive when it comes to repurposing material that might otherwise end up in the landfill.
