In conversation with Marnix: signing it off
Aquablu CEO Marnix Stokvis made the final calls on our own office move. We asked him what he wishes we had done differently, what he thinks is worth fighting for, and how he decides on a cost that will never show a qualitative return.
Our own move was managed by people who already had full-time jobs, including yourself. What was that like?
At that stage we were so busy running the company, running the fundraise, running a hundred things. We had no dedicated person doing the office move as well. In the beginning, Fabi and I were literally doing it together. We just didn’t have the full headspace to think it through properly, which meant we were sometimes surprised by additional costs.
If I had to do this again, I would have made sure that, even if it was on a temporary basis, I had a dedicated person to spend time on this office move, so that we could actually track the budgets better, sit down with the CFO, and look at what we’re doing and what we’re not doing. We did it to the best of our abilities. We have an amazing office, but it ended up a little bit more expensive than I initially had hoped for.
Where did the budget go wrong?
We were trying to do as much as possible with as little money as possible. So we first made a very, very big, let’s say gold-plated, idealistic office design, and then we looked at how we could make it fit the budget, which was tough. And because we did it that way, you kind of get the budget creep.
The difficult thing was that we focused a lot on the design phase, and on the budget there I think we got that really well under control. But then with the contracting part there were unforeseen costs, and we didn’t budget for that at all. In hindsight, that’s something I could have done better: budget better for unforeseen costs. I also think we had an unreasonably ambitious low budget. But doing a lot with very little means you can’t always play it safe. Sometimes you just have to take the risk.
If somebody can only fight for a few things, which ones should they go for?
The things that are built in, you need to get right. The ventilation, in our case, is something you need to build in. Anything in your kitchen, you need to get right. We have steel worktops, and if I now have to drill a hole for another product, it’s really tough. So everything that needs to be built in needs to go right. Everything that can be flexible, take the flexibility.
With office chairs, for example, there’s some flexibility. Maybe you lease them, you can upgrade them along the way. TV screens need to function, but you can also upgrade them. The add-ons you can be flexible with, but the core things, get them right from the start.
Are there any decisions you would take back?
The ventilation. We got three quotes, and initially they said, this is the version, you’ll be all good, that’s the minimum amount, you’ll have enough ventilation, it will be enough cooling. And we thought, okay, if that’s enough, let’s do it.
And now we’ve been pushing to get it sorted, and it takes three, four, five months to actually get that adjustment going through. I don’t care if I need to spend thousands more on it, but I can’t live with this situation. That was a tough one. That was a big learning.
What’s something you’re happy you spent the money on?
An example is the standing desks. We could have gone for something like a hundred flat desks, and I think it would have saved us about sixty, seventy per cent. What we did is we went for full-on standing desks, and ones with cable management specifically. Ergonomically, for a workplace, it's pretty good. People can stand up, sit down, and you need the movement. We have a pretty active team.
I'd rather invest in products that are high quality, that I know aren't going to break down, and that are also the better option for the people. I believe we're investing to make people thrive.
What if the budget genuinely will not stretch?
If you look at our office move, we achieved so much with fairly little budget by being very creative. Where do you get your tables from? Where do you get the desks in the middle, the electronics and all of that? We made really good deals with potential partners as well.
So you can have a minimum budget, but you can get creative, and just focus on getting the right solutions in, and then maybe you phase some things into a second part, instead of committing to everything and doing it cheap.
How do you decide on something that will not show a return?
It’s not always directly possible to quantify the impact as a financial metric and say, 'okay, this gives us so much more productivity, therefore it’s a good financial decision'. Often these things are pretty vague. I think there’s a massive amount of hidden cost, hidden cost of productivity, hidden costs around employment, that people don’t visibly notice and can hardly quantify, but we all know it’s there. And that’s thinking not from an Excel sheet, but thinking as humans, essentially.
It's really difficult to quantify, so on the one hand you need to do it a bit intuitively. It's different if you're making a 5,000-person office versus a 110-person office, right? But for me, I essentially try to look at it logically. So if we're building an experience centre, it's great for the people, can I also set it up for partners? Now it becomes a way that we can also generate some kind of revenue from it. If we have multipurpose locations, that's great. For the other things that aren't normally multipurpose, I try to look at what's reasonable and makes sense for the team.
Is there a way to frame these decisions to finance?
If it costs ten, twenty, thirty euros per employee per month extra, that’s not even a percentage of the employment cost of that person. So if you invest one per cent in all these other amenities, or two, and you make this person feel happy, they’re committed to the brand, they’re more creative, they’re more productive, they’re healthy. It’s so much more beneficial.
What you'll hear, and what to say
Here are six things that often get said when organising an office move and responses to consider when the time comes.
"Can't we sort that out after we move in?"
For anything that needs water, waste, power, ventilation or space above a ceiling, leaving it until later can mean a much higher price to pay when you’re ready. For anything designed-in, do it now. For anything flexible, it’s up to you and your budget.
"It's a nice-to-have"
An office move is the chance to invest in your people. The nice-to-haves can be the difference between four walls plus a set of desks and a space they want to be in, boost productivity, and even improve efficiency. Work out which ones make the most sense for your team and whether they need to be specced now or can be genuinely added later at no additional cost.
"We've already got something that works"
Okay, but are we happy with the status quo and how does it compare to an upgrade? What’s the experience like, do people really use it, who’s managing it, how much of their time does it take, and how easy is it to service? Weigh up the pros and cons on a long-term timeline, work out what each is really costing and then decide.
"We've got a cheaper quote."
Don’t assume the quality of comparable products and services are the same, or even sufficient. When it comes to subcontractors reliability and quality will vary greatly so do your due diligence. When it comes to a building, one might include furniture and the other might not. For products and services, one might include maintenance and the other assumes you will arrange it. Ask both suppliers to itemise the same list, including who is accountable when something fails and what happens at the end of the term.
"Renting works out more expensive"
Renting or leasing over buying is almost always going to be more expensive over the course of a long-term contract, but offers other benefits that can offset the cost. Whether it’s flexibility, the cost to manage the thing or job, the time and energy to maintain or replace something. Work out what the hidden costs are, including hours of time, and weigh up the options side by side.
"Can't you manage it yourself?"
You probably can, but the question is at what cost. What is your own time worth and what are the stakes of making a mistake, because the errors a rushed move produces tend to be structural rather than cosmetic and expensive to undo. Compare the cost of a resource or facility against the work or rework you are trying to avoid.
More resources
Previous article
Work.club: having it done for you
We partnered with work.club, not just for their office design expertise, but because we know a move is a huge job and they have the tools to carry it. Jules Hooijdonk, who is commercially responsible for work. club and .re-group, shares how having someone else take care of the hard parts can make the difference.
Next article
Tebi: reading the room, and building the healthy choice in
For Tebi's workplace experience manager, Stacy Bergener, a good office move begins by knowing your people and trusting your gut.
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