Solving Pain Points by Finding the Right Office Space
TenantBase's own office space pain points, from parking to poor layouts to outgrowing a space fast, and what they taught us about finding the right fit.
The market for commercial office space is sometimes frustrating, always dynamic, and can shift with a stiff breeze. Navigating it alone can feel like swimming against the tide, always a day late on the perfect space, an amenity short of ideal, perpetually stalled in negotiations. Businesses don't have to go it alone, but even TenantBase itself hasn't been immune to genuine office space pain points along the way.
Even TenantBase has run into real office pain points: a Nashville parking situation that hurt client meetings, an Orange County office too stuffy and poorly laid out for a fast-moving team, and an LA space the team outgrew far faster than planned. The lesson across all three: prioritize what actually affects daily operations, look at the whole market rather than settling, and plan for at least two years of real growth.
TenantBase Understands Office Space Pain Points
TenantBase isn't just a trusted partner for office space needs, it's a company with employees, clients, and office space requirements of its own. Here's a look at real pain points across three of our own offices, and the specific issues that led to each move.
Nashville
In our Nashville office, an inconvenient parking situation had a real effect on the business, particularly on brokers who were in and out of the office all day for tours. Frustrating parking tends to keep both current and potential clients away entirely, and in this case it disrupted the free-flowing, collaborative nature the local team depended on.
Orange County
TenantBase's Orange County office sat in a high-rise tower that, while nice, felt stuffy and stifling, at odds with the team's quick, flexible working style. The space became so ill-fitted that employees began arriving late and leaving early, a real problem for any service-based team. Its long, rectangular layout also made real collaboration difficult, and combined with an old-fashioned corporate feel, it worked directly against the image the team was trying to build.
When it came time to find new space, the search started by explicitly analyzing what had caused the frustration, making sure future options didn't share the same issues. Rather than chasing amenities like on-site food or a gym, the priority became a ground-floor, open space with free surface parking and ample natural light, a much better fit even without the extras.
Los Angeles
The Los Angeles office offers a genuine case study in the importance of staying flexible and forward-looking. The team initially opted for a short-term, one-year lease in a space originally designed for a small core of corporate and engineering staff, chosen for its inviting, creative atmosphere that fit LA's culture well.
The team grew much faster than expected, a genuinely good problem to have, but one that created real friction. The space had been designed around engineers, not the growing sales team that joined soon after, and what worked well at move-in quickly became inefficient and inflexible as headcount grew. It's a clear example of why future needs deserve real weight in any space decision, not just current requirements: a little foresight goes a long way toward avoiding problems before they start.
Set Your Company Up for Success
Every company is susceptible to pain points that can genuinely affect operations. A handful of best practices can meaningfully reduce the odds of running into them in your own next space:
- Make sure the space genuinely fits how your business works, and that parking or commuting options are realistic for both employees and client meetings
- Prioritize your most pressing needs over nice-to-have amenities, and be honest with yourself about which is which
- Don't let cost per square foot alone drive the decision, since it can distract from other real problems that become costly later
- Plan for space that fits for at least two years; moving more often than that slows operations and wastes resources
- See the whole market before settling, rather than choosing new space just because it's the closest option that mostly works
A skilled local advisor can tell you when a landlord's terms are reasonable, when a lease runs against market standards, and when there's genuinely nothing better available in your target area, insight that's hard to come by searching alone.
Avoid the Pain Points We Learned the Hard Way
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