The journey of getting our first web design office

Before moving into our Garland web design office, we would meet clients at local Starbucks locations across Dallas to go over their website design plans. Moving into a new office space is an exciting journey, especially when it is a goal that you’ve been anticipating from the beginning. Early planning is ideal for ensuring the office move-in transition is done as smoothly as possible.
 
We also had to think about the following questions, How many computers do we need for the team? Where will we meet our clients? How can we use the front lobby area to show our work to prospects? Don’t forget about the certificate of occupancy, sign permits, electricity, and internet! It would be ironic to try and sell a website without having any internet connection ourselves!

All hands on deck.

 

The whole remodeling process was a very fun experience when all hands are on deck. Similar to the process of designing a website, we had the opportunity to see how something that our team had in mind had become something you can now walk into and experience. We felt as if the choice of paint colors, our project experience wall, and furniture represented our brand in every way.

Our Garland Web Design Office Grand Opening also turned out as great as we could have hoped for. We gave away Free Panda Express to the first 100 people and placed tables & chairs outside of our office for people to sit and enjoy. We had graphic design promotions for business owners and had many walk-ins asking for different services. Overall, we had a great opportunity to greet, meet, and get to know the local businesses & business owners near our Garland Web Design Office that could benefit from our affordable website design services.

Our sign installation

 

When opening a storefront/ retail office space, there are many items to consider such as the cost of the outside sign, or permit requirements for the installation of your sign, or the necessary city permits needed in order to be open for business. You have to check with your landlord and city regulations prior to purchasing your sign as some office spaces don’t allow you to have light-box signs and instead require you to have a channel letters sign installed.

Channel letter signs provide higher customizability options as you can have any figure you want. In our case, we had the custom blue “M.A” letters installed. The bottom portion of the sign was a light-up capsule that only had a front plate with vinyl decals.

We had various companies provide us with quotes ranging from $4,500 to $7,500 for our channel letters sign. Sign companies take care of manufacturing, obtaining the necessary city permits, and include the installation of your sign.

The closing of our office.

Throughout our couple of years of having our Garland website design office, we were able to meet clients at our lobby to discuss all their website design needs and goals. We learned a lot from the experience of having a retail-style office space and know it’s just a bridge towards where we’d like to go as a team.
 
We started having video conferences with clients & moved our team to work remotely from home due to the 2020 pandemic. A couple of months after moving our team to work from home, we decided it would be best to close our retail-style office in Garland. Nonetheless, we were busier than ever helping local businesses and restaurants build an online presence due to what was going on. We managed to build online menus, integrated curbside pick-up systems for restaurants, and developed many more websites!
 
Are you planning on opening a retail space and don’t know where to start? Contact us! We’d love to help.

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