Going through an office renovation isn’t easy. You not only need to find the funds, but you need to plan everything out and find the time to do it. This process is complicated enough during normal times, but now businesses owners are having to deal with tariffs. These tariffs make getting an office renovation done more complicated and often more costly. If you’ve been thinking about renovating your business’s office, but you’re unsure if you can proceed because of these tariffs, here is what you need to know.
What the New Tariffs Are
Over the past few years a number of different tariffs have been enacted. A tariff is simply a tax on either exports or imports from a particular country. Recently, these tariffs have mostly been against China. What this means is that it is now more expensive to sell things to China or to buy any of their products.
The goal of tariffs is ideally to discourage foreign consumption and instead encourage the buying and selling of products within the United States. However, because so many businesses rely on materials and products from other countries, it often becomes more expensive for them to do business, which in turn limits their spending power.
So, how do these new tariffs impact your business if you want to do a renovation on your office? There are a few ways.
Increased Cost of Office Furniture
First, there are some specific tariffs on office furniture, and office furniture parts, coming from China. This means that if you want to buy some new furniture, there’s a good chance that it will cost more than it normally would have. According to Rosi Inc, a supplier of office furniture in Houston, “It is safe to assume you will see a greater annual increase in price than you have in the past due to bloated material costs. If one assumes that roughly half of what ends up in office furniture products comes from China, a 10-25 percent increase in cost is substantial enough that consumers will feel it.”
Most office renovations require some new furniture, so this will likely impact you. However, the tariffs are changing all the time, so you should see what the current tariffs on office furniture and office furniture parts are before proceeding.
Smaller Profits
If your business at all relies on China, then you might see your profits shrink due to these tariffs. For example, if you need parts from China, you’ll now have to pay more to get them. Or if you sell to China, you’ll now have to pay a larger tax on it. Both things will narrow your profits, so that you have less money to spend on your office renovation. Office renovations can cost a serious amount of money, depending on the size of your office and what you want to have done. Any decrease in your profits will only make affording this renovation more difficult.
More Expensive Labor
Unless you were planning on doing the entire renovation yourself, you were likely going to hire a company to do it for you. This other company also likely has higher costs now due to the tariffs, meaning they may need to raise their own prices to make up the difference. When you combine the cost of labor with the increased costs in furniture, materials and supplies, your office renovation can be a lot more expensive than it would have been a few years ago.
What You Can Do
If you’re concerned about the cost of tariffs and the impact they will have on your office renovation, your best bet is to wait them out. Trade policies change all the time, and there’s no telling what the tariff situation could be in a few months. In the meantime, you can contact your congressional representatives and let them know your thoughts on tariffs.
In addition, you can begin saving up or looking into business renovation loans. Your office renovation might be a little more expensive now, so you’ll want extra money stored away. Set aside a little more each month, so that when it comes time to renovate, you have a nice head start. You’ll also likely want to do a little more planning for your renovation. Look for ways to get things done cheaper without sacrificing on quality. By exploring some more of your options you may be able to find a way around these tariffs and still get your renovation done.
The increased cost of doing business due to tariffs is an inconvenience, but they are likely only temporary. Start planning out your renovation and saving up, and by the time you’re ready to go, the tariffs could be gone.
