Renting an office can be costly and time-consuming. Rent, furnishings, utilities and maintenance soon add up. Given these expenses and the cost of time to put it all together, more and more companies are turning to cost-effective and convenient solutions, like Serviced Offices.
Serviced Offices, also known as Executive Offices or Business Centres, come furnished, have communal meeting rooms, break out areas and kitchens, pay-as-you-use services, and are normally paid monthly on a ‘per desk’ basis. With no long-term leases and a system where you only pay for the space you need, it provides a flexible option for growing companies.
We’ve compiled 10 ways that Serviced Offices can, in fact, save you money.
1. Pay for the Office, Not the Facilities
As opposed to renting a leased office, you only pay for the space you really need in a Serviced Office. Facilities like toilets, kitchens, meeting rooms and break rooms are communal, managed facilities. The Serviced Office provider takes care of these so that you only have to pay for the desk space/office that you use. This can provide a large saving for businesses, who would otherwise have to pay rent on the whole internal area.
2. Already Fitted Out
When renting a Serviced Office, you won’t have to worry about chairs, desks, drawers or filing cabinets. In addition, the space will be decorated and can be configured on request. When you rent a leased office, you will need to purchase furniture as the space is typically an empty shell. Fitting an office out can also prove very expensive as build work isn’t cheap, so there is a lot of time and effort, in addition to cost, saved in the process.
3. Fixed Business Rates and Utility Bills
When renting a leased office, you will normally have to pay Business rates and a number of utility bills for the running of the office. Business rates are a property tax which can change depending on the valuation of the property. Utility bills can increase as well. So, if you rent a leased office, your business and utility rates may rise, meaning another additional cost that you may not have prepared for. Serviced Offices, however, come with fixed Business rates and utility bills. During the fixed period of rental in a Serviced Office, you won't be subject to any increases, as the Serviced Office absorbs these costs.
4. Outsourced Staffing Costs
Serviced Offices often already have employed staff, such as Receptionists and Admin Staff. This means that you can benefit from in-house staff who can perform any ad-hoc task you need (on site) without the need to employ and pay wages for a dedicated person/s for the role. Sometimes, you may need to pay an extra pay-as-you-go fee for support service staff, but this is minimal compared to an actual wage.
5. Flexible Space
Any company that wants to expand takes a risk renting leased office space. They cannot be certain that their company will definitely grow into the space, nor can they be definite they won't outgrow it. Either way, by taking a larger space to grow into, they will be paying for it (and for a long time, as you are usually bound to a 3 to 10 year contract). Renting a Serviced Office normally rids you of this worry. Rent the exact size you need initially and the provider will typically allow you to jump to larger spaces in the building as and when your company grows.
6. No Dilapidations
When leaving at the end of a leased office rental term, you would normally be charged for dilapidations, meaning that you may need to pay to have the office space returned to its original format, as it was before you moved in. These end-of-tenancy costs themselves can sometimes catch tenants out, with landlords exploiting this. It's additional costs like these that make a Serviced Office seem like such a paradise. Serviced Offices don’t normally charge any dilapidations and allow you to leave without a big bill.
7. Cheaper Call Costs
Once expensive additional costs in Serviced Offices, telephone calls are no longer a financial worry and have in fact gone the opposite way. Lots of Serviced Offices now provide very low-cost calls, and some even include the cost of calls in the monthly license agreement.
8. No Agent Fees
Often, in order to acquire a quality leased office opportunity as well as ensure you get a fair deal when negotiating the lease, you will need to pay an agent to represent you. It can be an hourly cost or a percentage of the rent. Either way, it's an added cost. Serviced Offices are much simpler and easier to locate. Companies such as FreeOfficeFinder host over 2,500 offices and do not charge any finder’s fees. So, with a free service like this, renting an office can be as easy as finding a hotel room.
9. No Maintenance Costs
Maintenance costs will no longer be a cause of pain once you have moved into your Serviced Office. When the air conditioning packs in, the electricity goes or the toilet gets blocked, it won’t be your problem. In a Serviced Office, these inevitable troubles are covered by the workspace provider, meaning you are saving on maintenance.
10. Networking
Although not strictly speaking a money saving point, the opportunities to network in Serviced Office spaces can provide an extra source of income and help your company’s growth. Serviced Offices are packed with a number of small to medium sized growing businesses and the networking possibilities are endless. If you become friendly with the event-planners down the corridor, you might even get some discounts on your Christmas party….
May 29, 2018