Open Office Space

Small Biz/Entrepreneurs - Estimating The Right Amount of Office Space For Your Company

Whether your company is looking for its very first office space or your current lease is ending and you are looking for some new digs, it is very important that you first carefully assess your office space requirements both from a short and long term perspective.

While a small and cozy space might cost a little less initially, if there is a strong possibility your company will need to expand its staff within your lease term, choosing this less expensive space can result in some very tight quarters and severly hinder productivity in your workplace. (#7 on our list of the Top 10 Leasing Misaktes)

Conversely, while it might be fun to have a football catch across the office, taking on too much space can result in a big drain on your company’s bottom line and a potential blow to morale.

Estimating how much office space you will need is not an exact science. The nature of your business, corporate culture, workflow and even your individual preferences might vary significantly from other company’s. These variations make it virtually impossible to standardize a specific guideline that will work for every company.  

As you contemplate the amount of space your company actually needs, it is helpful to understand the difference between rentable and usable space.

Landlords charge tenants based on the number of rentable square footage leased. The rentable square footage is calculated by adding the usable square footage (the amount of square footage to be used exclusively by you, the tenant) to a portion of the common area (areas shared by all tenants such as the lobby, restrooms, shared hallways, etc.).

The distinction between the two is especially important as you estimate the amount of usable space that will best suit your company.

As many leases will lock you into your space for at least 2 years, it is vital to carefully consider your company’s future growth before making a final decision on how much space you need.

Terminating your lease early because your company outgrew its space will cost your company money, time and probably serve as a major distraction from your normal course of business.

OK, good advice but how exactly are we supposed to estimate the right amount of space for our company?

Good question.

Open Office space recently launched Office Space For Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses: An Evolving Guide to Leasing. The guide breaks down the entire leasing process and offers several strategies to ensure you accurately estimate the amount of office space that is right for your company. 

The guide includes an indepth look at the Top 10 Leasing Mistakes, a breakdown of The 4 Steps involved with the leasing process and also includes 50+ ways to streamline office expenses.  

In addition to valuable content, the guide also features two powerful (and FREE) tools to help you estimate and plan the right amount of space for your company:

1) The space planner/floor plan tool allows a user to layout their entire office space including furniture...before the moving van arrives. The extremely easy to use interface features an ability to drag and drop furniture directly onto a floor plan. Finished plans can be saved, printed and shared.

2) A space estimation tool  which will give you a head start with regards to estimating the right amount of office space based on your company's needs.

As an entrepreneur or small business it is very likely that a large portion of your time/overhead will be devoted to your office. With stakes so high, it is mission critical that you take the time to plan accordingly.  

If you do find yourself in a situation where you are left with unused office space, consider posting it on our site and we will do our best to promote it for you.  

 

 

 

Open Space Ventures LLC Launches a New Website to Help Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses Find and Plan the Perfect Office Space for Their Company

Woodbury, NY (PRWEB) October 26, 2009 -- Open Space Ventures LLC. launches OpenOfficeSpace.com (http://www.OpenOfficeSpace.com) an innovative new website that allows companies to post their available office space online, while offering small businesses and entrepreneurs an opportunity to find and plan the "perfect office space." It's a win-win situation: companies with unused office space can eliminate the extra carrying cost, simultaneously small businesses can find niche office space at the right price. Best of all, there is no cost associated with either listing or finding a space.

Created by David Gise and his partner Marc Spector, OpenOfficeSpace.com (http://www.OpenOfficeSpace.com) was designed with ease of use as the number one priority. "We set out to create an extremely clean and user friendly experience that is unlike any other typical real estate or classified website" said Gise.

OpenOfficeSpace.com (http://www.OpenOfficeSpace.com) streamlines the process of finding and posting office space, while providing insightful advice and powerful interactive tools to help small businesses throughout the leasing process.

Gise, a former personal trainer turned entrepreneur and social media consultant, conceived the idea for Open Office Space after meeting with several of his clients. He noticed a trend of companies hampered with carrying the cost of their extra office space but unsure or unaware of the options available to ease this burden.

The comprehensive "Evolving Guide to Leasing" (http://openofficespace.com/index.php?mistake=1&mod=top_10_leasing_mistakes_made_by_entrepreneurs_and_small_businesses) alone is worth a visit to the site. The interactive guide explores the "Top 10 Mistakes" made by companies during the leasing process, outlines in layman's terms "The 4 Steps" it takes to be successful every step of the way and even offers more than 50 ways for companies to reduce their office expenses. From finding the right space and negotiating the lease to planning the layout and creating an eco-friendly work place, the site's powerful interactive tools and easy to understand content simplifies the leasing process for everyone involved.

One of the most common mistakes made during the leasing process is estimating how much space a company actually needs. Leasing too much can result in an unnecessary expense while leasing too little can leave a company in some very tight quarters. The site's free space estimation tool (http://openofficespace.com/index.php?guide=4steps&mod=space_estimation_tool) helps entrepreneurs and small businesses calculate the right amount of square footage based on their specific requirements. Whether a business requires a single desk, a cubicle, a shared office, a private office, a coworking space or an executive suite, the space estimation calculator will ensure that a company gauges their space requirements correctly.

Once a company determines their correct space requirements, the space planning/floor plan tool can be used to lay out the entire space by dragging and dropping furniture directly onto the plan. "It's a lot easier to arrange furniture using the space planning tool than to be surprised when the moving van arrives" Gise explains. Determining the placement of phones, computers, printers and copiers before the day of the move can help save entrepreneurs valuable time" adds Gise. Floor plans including furniture layouts can be saved, printed or shared with friends and colleagues or even posted on other property listing sites.

"The site is an excellent resource, not only in this economy but in any economy. It can really help many companies streamline their expenses while helping others create an ideal working environment" said Spector.

Open Office Space is based in New York. Users can design, find or post available office space at no cost anywhere in the US and Canada. Featured cities on the site include Austin, TX; Charleston, SC; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; Toronto, Ontario; Baltimore, MD; Chicago, IL; Miami, FL; San Jose, CA; Vancouver, British Columbia; Boston, MA; Dallas, TX; New York, NY and Seattle, WA.

Cool Huh? pick of the week (The Surf Shelf) No more excuses! Surf the internet while you exercise.

As we announced last week, we just launched a new weekly feature on the Open Office Space blog called Cool Huh?  Each week  we will select a new product, tool, application, website or technology that we think will make at least one entrepreneur or small business person (besides us) say "Holy s...! That could really be helpful to me and my business. How did I not hear about this before? "

Our featured subject for Thursday August 20th - The Surf Shelf

Description: The Surf Shelf is a shelf made of 100% polycarbonate and affixes to most cardiovascular machines for the purpose of surfing the internet during exercise.

       

The Features of The Surf Shelf:

- It is completely transparent so you can easily see the exercise machine readout

- Adjustable angle settings fit any exercise machine console

- 100% Polycarbonate- The same material used to make bullet-proof glass

- Easily collapses for storage in a briefcase or gym bag

- Built-in Velcro strap secures any laptop or DVD player

- Air vents keep the laptop or DVD player cool

- Stays out of the way while you exercise

Why we chose surfshelf.com as this weeks subject: As I mentioned in a previous post, for 17 years prior to getting involved in the whole technology thing I was a personal trainer. During this period, I worked with a very diverse group of clients including: professional athletes, CEO's of public companies, stay at home moms & dads, weekend warriors, children, teens as well as basically every personality type you can think of.

A by-product of working with this diverse clientele is that I became an expert on fielding all types of excuses. I became very accustomed to clients using a "lack of time" as the #1 reason they were not able to adhere to a regular exercise program.

Note: This excuse came in especially handy for the entrepreneurs I worked with.

Therefore, the reason we have chosen the Surf Shelf as this weeks pick is to help entrepreneurs kill two birds with one stone. There is overwhelming data which supports the positive impact exercise can have on a persons brain, stress levels, self confidence and overall ability to handle difficult situations.

I hope that the "inactive entrepreneurs" out there aren't going to be too angry with me as The Surf Shelf might just have eliminated their most effective excuse.

After we have had a chance to test this product ourselves we will offer our opinion. 

Content and Image Source: Surf Shelf Website

Related Posts:

Cool Huh? pick of the week (usertesting.com) - Great Resource for Entrepreneurs/Small Businesses

Entrepreneurs - Are your thumbs the most fit part of your body? 

As we announced last week, we just launched a new weekly feature on the Open Office Space blog called Cool Huh?  Each week  we will select a new product, tool, application, website or technology that we think will make at least one entrepreneur or small business person (besides us) say "Holy s...! That could really be helpful to me and my business. How did I not hear about this before? "

Our featured subject for Thursday August 20th - The Surf Shelf

Description: The Surf Shelf is a shelf made of 100% polycarbonate and affixes to most cardiovascular machines for the purpose of surfing the internet during exercise.

       

The Features of The Surf Shelf:

- It is completely transparent so you can easily see the exercise machine readout

- Adjustable angle settings fit any exercise machine console

- 100% Polycarbonate- The same material used to make bullet-proof glass

- Easily collapses for storage in a briefcase or gym bag

- Built-in Velcro strap secures any laptop or DVD player

- Air vents keep the laptop or DVD player cool

- Stays out of the way while you exercise

Why we chose surfshelf.com as this weeks subject: As I mentioned in a previous post, for 17 years prior to getting involved in the whole technology thing I was a personal trainer. During this period, I worked with a very diverse group of clients including: professional athletes, CEO's of public companies, stay at home moms & dads, weekend warriors, children, teens as well as basically every personality type you can think of.

A by-product of working with this diverse clientele is that I became an expert on fielding all types of excuses. I became very accustomed to clients using a "lack of time" as the #1 reason they were not able to adhere to a regular exercise program.

Note: This excuse came in especially handy for the entrepreneurs I worked with.

Therefore, the reason we have chosen the Surf Shelf as this weeks pick is to help entrepreneurs kill two birds with one stone. There is overwhelming data which supports the positive impact exercise can have on a persons brain, stress levels, self confidence and overall ability to handle difficult situations.

I hope that the "inactive entrepreneurs" out there aren't going to be too angry with me as The Surf Shelf might just have eliminated their most effective excuse.

After we have had a chance to test this product ourselves we will offer our opinion. 

Content and Image Source: Surf Shelf Website

Related Posts:

Cool Huh? pick of the week (usertesting.com) - Great Resource for Entrepreneurs/Small Businesses

Entrepreneurs - Are your thumbs the most fit part of your body? 

Cool Huh? pick of the week (usertesting.com) - Great Resource for Entrepreneurs/Small Businesses

Today, we are launching a new weekly feature on the Open Office Space blog called Cool Huh?  Every Thursday from here on out,  we will select a new tool, application, website or technology that we think will make at least one entrepreneur or small business person (besides us) say "Holy s...! That could really be helpful to my business. How did I not hear about this before? "

Here's the catch! The selected subject will be featured in 2 parts.

Part 1 will simply mention the featured product or site, include some basic information detailing what it's all about, describe why we selected the subject and then welcome any comments from others who have experienced the subject.

Part 2 will be our review of the subject after WE had a chance to experience it ourselves.

Our first featured subject - Thursday August 13th - Usertesting.com

   

Description: UserTesting.com uses the Web 2.0 crowdsourcing model to dramatically drop the price of usability testing. It lets website owners easily get pre-screened users to rapidly do usability testing of their websites.

What this low-cost user testing service offers:

• A Flash video of a user speaking their thoughts as they browse your website. Watch a sample video.

• A written summary where that same user tells you what they liked, disliked, and what would have caused them to leave your site. See a sample summary.

UserTesting.com lets you "look over the shoulder" of people in your target audience while they use your website. And makes it fast, easy, and inexpensive, so you’re more likely to do it.

Why we chose usertesting.com as this weeks subject:  Because we know that the overwhelming majority of us plot, plan and strategize our online initiatives in a vacuum. Whether it's because we are too "thin skinned", think we know it all, or simply because we think we can't afford it, we usually launch with only feedback from our inner circle. 

Take a look at the powerhouse list of testimonials and you will see why we have such high hopes for this one.

Just because people aren't emailing us telling us why our stuff sucks, does not mean it doesn't. Most people will just move on the someone else's stuff.

Content and Image Source: usertesting.com website

Entrepreneurs - Are your thumbs the most fit part of your body?

     

For 17 years prior to getting involved in the whole technology thing (and even to a small extent today), I was a personal trainer. Throughout my career I have worked with a very diverse group of clients including: professional athletes, CEO's of public companies, stay at home moms & dads, weekend warriors, children, teens as well as basically every personality type you can think of.

While there were many obvious differences between each one of my clients, there was definitely one constant...a noticeable improvement in mood and mental clarity immediately following a workout session. 

As part of another venture I am involved with, I have been exposed to fascinating research detailing the positive impact exercise can have on a persons brain. Spark - The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise And The Brain, written by John J. Ratey MD, is a groundbreaking exploration of the connection between exercise and the brain’s performance that shows how even moderate exercise will supercharge mental circuits to beat stress, sharpen thinking, enhance memory, and much more.  Here are some interesting facts and tidbits from the first few chapters of Spark:

- Chicago's Napperville District 203, consisting on the 19,000 students is one of the fittest in the nation...they are also one of the smartest. They consistently rank among the state's top ten in terms of academic performance

- Napperville students use heart rate monitors to gauge their progress. Their students are graded on how much time they spend in their target heart rate zones during any given activity. Using heart rate monitors to measure progress, as opposed to relying solely on athletic performance, prevents less coordinated students from becoming discouraged and building a lifelong to distaste for exercise.

- Napperville's school system is far ahead of the national norm for fitness. Only one out of every 130 students was obese.

- Exercise can postively affect mood, attention, self-esteem, and social skills. The cruel irony is that old school physical education programs, discouraged a lifelong adoption of exercise by alienating shy, clumsy and out of shape students.

- In a 2007 study of humans, German Researchers found that people learn vocabulary words 20 percent faster following exercise.

While the subjects in this book are mostly children, there is a lesson that can be applied to all age groups. I cannot help but be amazed at the amount of 20,30 and 40 something entrepreneurs that are completely physically inactive...except for getting a vigorous thumb workout on their blackberry's. 

The launch of Open Office Space has provided me with the good fortune to connect/converse with new entrepreneurs and small businesses every day.The 3 most common excuses by entrepreneurs for not including exercise as part of their daily routine are time, money and motivation. Here are my quick and dirty rebuttals to these excuses.

Time - Get up 30 minutes earlier, go to bed 30 minutes later or bring your clothes to work and exercise during lunch. You do not need to spend 2 hours in the gym to get results. I would bet that you waste much more than 30 minutes per day on things that are not truly productive. Replace these time wasters with a 30 minute bout of exercise.

Money - You absolutely do not need to pay for a gym to exercise. If you are not sure what kind of exercise would be right for you, pay a trainer for one hour of his time. They can create a workout you can do at home or in the office...for free.

Motivation - C'mon people we are entrepreneurs! We have more motivation than most. If you are not persuaded by the health benefits of exercise, spend a few minutes researching the benefits that exercise can offer you as abusinesseman. Perhaps your risk-reward analysis will produce a different result.  

From my own experience, nothing helps me break through a mental road block, manage stress or come up with creative solutions to tough issues better than a good workout.

I really hope that the fitness intiatives being launched in the school systems today are carried over to the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

Content Source: John Ratey MD website 
Image Source: The Wireless Report

"Talk to me, Goose. Talk to me." Where Do You Turn For Answers as a Small Biz/Entrepreneur?

                                 

A couple of days ago I was channel surfing and caught the beginning of the movie Top Gun...of course that is where I spent my next 2 hours. After the first hour I lost count of how many times I said the word "corny and "cheesy" to describe some of the dialogue.

If you get a chance, take a few hours and re-watch the movie but be prepared for the headache you will get from rolling your eyes.

(Click here for a  funny post titled "Talk to me, Goose. Talk to me" from a 2003 post on Espn.com by Bill Simmons detailing a lot of these corny lines and how it pertained to that years upcoming football season) 

The reason I was watching TV in the first place was because I was working on mock ups for some future upgrades to Open Office Space, hit a BAD mental block and needed to clear my head. 

In the past, instead of watching TV, I would have meandered over to one of the other entrepreneurs in my shared office space and chatted it up until I found the answers I needed to break through the given mental obstacle of the day.

About a month ago I moved into a new office space, and while awesome in many respects, it does not offer the same colloborative environment of the past.

So speaking of "cheesy", here is my segue.

Do you remember the scene in Top Gun where Maverick was rubbing his fallen partners Dog Tags while contemplating whether or not he should re-engage in battle? - "Talk to me, Goose. Talk to me." I am not sure why, but watching this scene made me realize the importance of doing a little soul searching before making a final decision on an office space. The goal being to identify the type of work environment in which we would be the most productive. Ex. collaborative, quiet and isolated, or bustling corporate.

If you are like me and depend on constant feedback, approval, naysaying and often tough love to help guide your business decisions, then a quiet and isolated environment might not be the right fit for your entrepreneurial intiative/small business. Just to be clear, isolated in this case might not mean there are no people around, but rather you cannot lean on anyone for feedback.   

If you spend a few minutes searching the ever growing inventory of unused office space on our site, you will quickly see that the average asking rent has dropped and the amount of affordable spaces have increased. In other words, you can be a little bit more selective in your final decision.

Moral of the story, if you constantly need a "Goose" to lean on for direction or inspiration, make sure that your decision for a new office space is not only a function of the cost of rent but also finding the type of space that meshes most effectively with your individual/corporate personality.

Image Source: Top Gun Day

Related Posts

Looking For Office Space? Price is only one of the options you need to consider.

Looking For Office Space? Price is only one of the options you need to consider.

Are you are an individual entrepreneur/small business and are looking to graduate from holding your meetings at the local Starbucks? If your answer to this question is yes, the time to look is NOW as there are many, many great deals to be had. Take a quick look at some of the unbelievable spaces listed on openofficespace.com and you will see what I mean.

Understandably, as a small business, the cost of the monthly rent will be one of the single most important factors that will drive your search. But are there other factors that should weigh as heavily upon your decision as the cost.

Before you begin your search, make sure you clearly define all of your goals for securing an office space. If your company is not productive in its new office space then all the savings in the world will probably not be justified.

Here are examples of a few other things you should consider as you begin looking for available office space.

- Does your business involve a lot of phone calls that require privacy?

- Do you frequently hold company meetings that would require the use of a conference room?

- Do your clients need to meet you at your office and you are concerned about the image you are portraying? Will there be a receptionist to greet your guests?

- Do you have a hard time concentrating with a lot of noise?

- Do you need access to your office 24/7/365?

- How will you get to/from work? Is parking important? Is the space near mass transit?

- How long is the lease you are being asked to commit to?

- What types of other companies occupy the space?

- Do the amenities in the area satisfy your needs? Restaurants, Coffee Shops, Health Clubs, Bars, Printers, etc.

- How many people/companies will be sharing the space with you?

- What are the build-out requirements of the space? How long will it take and does it mesh with your timeline?

While it may seem obvious, finding a seemingly "perfect space" at a great price might prove to be a bad move if any of the considerations mentioned above do not mesh with your expectations. In other words, do your due diligence.

Your homepage is a virtual 15-second elevator pitch. Does yours ramble on?

Prior to getting into the whole technology thing, I was a personal trainer (over 17 years) to the rich and famous in New York City and Long Island. In order to survive  as a personal trainer with this type of clientele, there was one communication skill that was a MUST...the ability to get to the point.

I am convinced that the concept of the bobblehead came from someone watching a conversation between myself and one of my clients during my first few years of training. Here's how it probably happened:

1)  I would bring up a topic and ramble on about it

2) My client would lose interest after my a few minutes but continue to shake their head in agreement to be polite.

3) Clients head would continue to bob their heads up and down as long as I was talking.

4) An outsider witnessed this exchange and the idea for the bobblehead was born. 

Thankfully, one of my clients sat me down and explained the importance of getting to the point. He informed me most business leaders are bombarded every day with ideas, business proposals and other types of pitches. In addition, they have very little patience for small talk as there are so many hours in the day, and so many people vying for their attention.

Needless to say, I have gotten very good at not only getting to the point, but also recognizing the signs when someone has lost interest in a conversation.

Not so subtle Segue.

A companies homepage needs to be as brief and to the point as a face to face elevator pitch. Unlike a human interaction, a homepage does offer the luxury of a direct conversation with regards to being able to recognize that a person is losing interest. They just click away from your site.

It is amazing how many websites, many which look quite impressive and even beautiful, do not express the benefits that can be derived from the site, service or application. They might be chock full of information, but it is not really clear what they do or exactly what problems they solve for their visitors.

Companies are spending huge dollars with SEO experts to ensure they rank high on the major search engines. And/or they retain  "social media experts" to help increase their brands exposure and drive more traffic to the website...but is it a waste? All the traffic in the world is pointless if people click away once they get to your site.

It is critical to constantly step outside of your own head, and view your homepage from a visitors standpoint. Does it clearly (and briefly) state your companies benefits and what problems you solve for your visitors? Are your calls to action consistent with your other marketing efforts?  Does it take more than 15 seconds to get the gist of the sites offerings?

Openofficespace.com is about a week and a half from launching version 2.0 of our site. While we'd like to think that our initial site accomplished all that is mentioned above, it was only after we stepped back and viewed the site from a different perspective that we came up with "flaw fixers" that we hope will take us to the next level.  

Create a Virtual Tour Of Your Unused Office Space and Stand Out From The Crowd

As the inventory of unused office space continues to rise across the country, the ability for spaceholders to get their properties to stand out from the crowd is growing increasingly more difficult.

With an unused commercial property representing anywhere from a few hundred dollars a month, to several tens of thousands, investing in the right marketing tools to help get your property noticed definitely makes financial sense.

While single shot photos are great and highly recommended for all properties posted on Open Office Space, an alternative marketing tool taking our site by storm is the virtual tour. Well known in the residential real estate market, virtual tours are beginning to make quite a splash in the lagging commercial real estate market as well.

A virtual tour is comprised of 360 degree panoramic images, partial panoramas, and even still images. In many cases, virtual tours are more effective than a single shot photograph as they show a space in its entirety. This  helps to better refine the search results for a small business/entrepreneur looking for a space, and more thoroughly qualifies the incoming leads for the spaceholder.

Click here to see a sample virtual tour of a commercial property.

There are several available virtual tour technologies on the market, however the best ones we have seen involve shooting twelve photos at a pre-specified overlap. The twelve overlapping photos are then stitched into a 360 degree panorama.

Real Tour Vison, based in Traverse Michigan, offers one of the most impressive virtual tour technologies in the industry and also has the largest full service virtual tour and property marketing network in the world. (this means you cannot use your location as an excuse not to one created for your space)

Of their many, many features that RTV offers, the ones that amaze me the most are the size of their virtual tour window along with how crisp and glossy their images appear. If this does not convince you, here are  31 more features offered by a Real Tour Vision virtual tour.

 

A virtual tour of your open office space can be easily added to your property listing. Simply copy and paste the link into your listing admin page and a link to your virtual tour is automatically added to your listing.

So here's the question: Will you take the steps to get your unused property noticed or will your start shopping for nerf hoops to make use of your unused space yourself?

History of RTV    

Begun in 1999, RTV sought to create a virtual tour system which would deliver the highest quality imagery at a much faster rate than other virtual tour products being offered at that time.

Originally designed for resorts, golf courses, upscale lodging facilities and others requiring high quality, the demand in the real estate industry accelerated the introduction of proprietary software in 2001 that decreased the tour building process to 30-45 minutes without sacrificing any quality.

Immediately, independent franchises and divisions of several Fortune 500 Companies such as GMAC, Land America, Stewart Title, RE/MAX, and Coldwell Banker began to use the nation's finest tour building product.

Launch, Listen, Learn - Don't Let Perfection Stand In The Way of Success

Over the years I have heard many variations of Voltaire's observation "The perfect is the enemy of the good." In my opinion, this concept is responsible for many failed online initiatives.

Let me explain.

When an entrepreneur or small business decides they are going to launch a new website/update a current one, the process often occurs in a vacuum. Mockups and demo links are shared with close friends, co-workers and even family members as a way to determine if your web designer is "on the right track."  

Sure as the sun will rise, if you ask for someones opinion, you will get it. The problem with this scenario is that more often than not, these groups do not accurately represent your target audience. As a result, you will spend a lot of time and money tweaking buttons, text, navigation and other elements that will really have very little impact on the success of your website.

It is nearly impossible to guarantee that a new or upgraded website will be 100% perfect when it launches. Only after launch, can you expect to get the feedback and/or criticisms that will help you improve the usability of your site.

Tip #1 - Make sure your website and social media efforts actively encourage feedback. Ex. Adding a suggestion form field on your homepage or posting a direct request for feedback on Twitter. 

When you do start to receive feedback, it is important that you qualify the source and carefully consider these suggestions before implementing any changes. Remember, no matter what changes you make to your site, you are not going to make everyone happy.

Tip #2 - Ask yourself if a change you are considering will actually improve the clarity of your brands message and overall site usability experience. Obsessing over the color of a button or size/style of a font could be a huge waste of time when more important things need to be changed (I am guilty of this)

The first iteration of openofficespace.com was launched after only about 4 weeks. Since our launch, we have received some very good feedback/criticism that we hope will elevate us from a very good idea, to an extremely valuable service for spaceholders, small businesses and entrepreneurs. We hope to launch iteration two in the next few weeks.

We acknowledge there is a delicate balance between launching something that is simply not ready vs. something that is good enough to generate quality feedback without losing the respect of your audience.

Assuming that your site is "good enough" - launching, listening and learning from your target audience can help you build traction on search engines while potentially preserving your first mover advantage.  Waiting to launch until your site is perfect is a great way to guarantee failure...only your audience will know the answer to that.