Setting Up a New Office? Here's What Most People Forget (But Really Shouldn't)
After 45 years of helping businesses get their act together from ambitious startups with more dreams than desks to seasoned SMEs moving into fresh premises, we’ve seen the full circus. Cables dangling from ceiling tiles. Servers wedged in under stairs, printers so far-flung, you’d nearly pack a lunch to fetch a page.
Setting up a new office should be exciting, not a logistical headache. Yet time and again, IT, infrastructure, and the actual flow of the workspace are left until the last minute. This guide is for the doers, the Irish startups and SMEs who want to get stuck in, without tripping over their own Ethernet cables.
Start With Strategy, Not Sockets
What do you want this office to do for your business? Is it about scaling up? Creating space for collaboration? Impressing clients? Or carving out quiet corners for deep work? If you’re unsure, hold off on calling the fit-out crew.
A quick reminder: your office layout sets the tone for your culture. Plonk the sales team beside the developers and you’ll be refereeing noise complaints by the end of week one.
Connectivity is King (and Queen)
A business without decent internet in 2025 is like a pub with no taps. Just because your broadband worked in your last gaff doesn’t mean it’ll cut it here. You’ll want fibre, 4G backup, and a network setup that’s built for business.
One to remember: Install double the data points you think you need. You won’t miss the extra ports until you don’t have them.
Plan for Growth - Not Just Day One
It’s grand having a setup that works on day one. But what about day 101, when you've hired two more people and added a new department?
Classic slip-up: One Wi-Fi access point for the whole building. Come Friday, the team’s camped out in the café next door because “it’s faster”.
IT Infrastructure: Build Like You Mean It
This is not the place to cut corners. Get a proper firewall (no, your cousin’s dusty router won’t do), decent switches, and backups that actually back things up.
Hot take: Cloud isn’t always the budget-friendly darling it’s made out to be. Sometimes, a local or hybrid solution offers better performance and more predictability on costs. Know your workload before you leap.
Phones, Printers and the Price of Penny-Pinching
VoIP phones give you loads of flexibility, but don’t go skimping on headsets or printers. If they’re not up to scratch, your team will let you know - loudly.
True story: One client shaved €150 off the budget with a bargain-bin printer. Ended up spending €700 on a proper one that could actually handle the workload. You can do the sums yourself.
Security - More Than a Lock on the Door
Firewall? Check. Antivirus? Check. MFA? Absolutely. Access controls by role? Yes, please. And for the love of all things secure, don’t write the Wi-Fi password on the whiteboard in reception.
Word to the wise: Irish SMEs are prime targets for cyberattacks. You're not too small to be hacked, you’re just small enough not to spot it until it’s too late.
Make It Comfortable, But Keep Productivity in Mind
Your office should feel welcoming, but comfort should never come at the expense of functionality. Good chairs, solid monitors, and a layout that doesn’t make people feel like sardines – all essential.
Quick win: Plants. Natural light. Ditch the cheesy posters. You’ll thank us later.
Onboarding: Don’t Leave It ‘Til the Day Of
When your first employee walks in, they should be able to plug in and crack on straight away. That means users, email accounts, permissions, drives, and support need to be sorted in advance.
Bonus tip: Print out a laminated IT welcome sheet. Saves your inbox from ten “how do I print?” queries before lunch.
Final Thoughts
Getting a new office up and running isn’t just about furniture and broadband. It’s about creating a space where your business can grow from day one. Most of the disasters we’re called in to fix start with someone saying, “Ah sure, it’ll be grand.” Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.
Don’t let your shiny new setup become a tech horror story. Do it right. Ask for help. And if you're unsure – give us a bell. Honestly, we’ve seen worse.