Store Refurbishments – Maximising Value, Minimising Costs

For the average small business, the idea of going about store refurbishments treads that very fine line between painful and entirely implausible. Getting by with a limited budget is difficult enough, meaning that allocating any real cash to store improvements often isn’t a realistic possibility.

Or is it?

Well, the simple answer is that it all depends how you go about things.  The reason being that if you are creative, proactive and as savvy as possible, it’s perfectly possible to refresh and revamp your store without overspending.

Too good to be true? You’d be surprised – here’s a quick look at just a few tips and tricks for making it happen:

1. First and foremost, you need to establish what exactly it is you are looking to achieve with the refurbishment. Are you looking to improve safety? Make a difference to employee motivation?  Improve sales?  Simply refresh the place? The primary purpose of the overhaul will influence every subsequent decision you make.

2. In terms of your available budget, work out exactly how much you can afford to spend in advance and stick to it like glue. One of the biggest mistakes so many small businesses make is simply spending randomly as they go along, which almost always results in dangerous overspending.

3. Plan absolutely everything in advance and never approach things randomly. Decide what needs to be done, how it will be done, when the changes will take place, who will be involved and so on.

4. Given the fact that they may have the kinds of crucial insights that could be pure gold, be sure to involve your employees in the process. Ask for their ideas and contributions, or perhaps even get them to help out with the physical refurbishment efforts. Chances are, they will be cheaper than third-party service providers!

5. Plan altering the lighting in your retail store and you may be able to significantly enhance the overall ambiance and customer experience.

6. The same also goes for the fixtures, furniture and shelving around your store, which could simply be moved around to create a refreshing new layout. This way, you effectively spend absolutely nothing on transforming your store’s interior.

7. Don’t overlook exactly how much attention the ceiling and floor of your store receive from customers. Creating the illusion of a total refurbishment can often be as simple as revamping what’s above and below.

8. There’s also the option of switching to a higher-quality shelving units and display solutions in general, which can be an extremely affordable way of revamping your store’s appearance and efficiency.

9. One of the most affordable ways of breathing new life into any retail environment is to consider getting busy with a can of paint and a roller. Even if it’s just to add a splash of colour to one feature wall, it may have just the kind of impact you are looking for.

10. Last but not least, research suggests that if you haven’t already brought plenty of plant life into your workspace, it’s high time you did exactly that. Along with really brightening up the place and improving air quality, studies have shown that the presence of plants can boost the productivity of employees by an impressive 15%!