A serviced office space is a professional and often affordable option for all kinds of small businesses, and could give you an edge against your competition.
What is serviced office space?
Serviced office space is somewhere a business can walk into and get to work straight away. Desks, phones, internet and all utilities are included so there will be little to no disruption to your business’ workload. Access to conference rooms, a receptionist and telephone answering services are often available; which all contribute to making sure your business is a slick operation. It’s common for multiple businesses to share a serviced office building.
What are the benefits for a small UK business when considering a serviced office space?
Who better than to answer this question than to hear it from the horse’s mouth. We talked to small business owners, all with experience of using a serviced office at some point during their careers.
First of all, we spoke to Joanna Wake, director of a marketing company based in the north east of England who said:
“We come into our office and carry out our businesses doing the job that our clients pay us to do, we don’t need to worry about leaky taps, bin collections or infestations of ants!
“For me serviced offices are so much easier for small businesses, they usually allow you to grow with various office sizes available, and they can be quite social and collaborative too.”
Joanna has touched upon the networking potential of a serviced office space, an often overlooked selling point but one that is vital to any new or growing business – contacts. More of them. Contacts that could become, or lead your business to, potential clients. At the same time, however, shared facilities may not be available when you need them, something to consider if you need the conference room regularly and at short notice.
It is a convenient option – with one monthly payment covering internet, bills, the space and anything else you opt-in to. In terms of forecast budgeting for your business this can be a crucial factor, you know how much you are paying and for how long, surprise bills are not on the cards when using a serviced office space. In the long term, they can be less cost effective than rent. You’re paying for the convenience of having everything there when you need it, more or less, and after all, convenience costs.
Graeme Miller, business advisor says:
“A serviced office space provides a professional base for any small business, it means you can put a business, rather than a home address on any of your literature which could be the difference between a call-back from your business card or it being chucked in the bin.”
If you are a larger business and you want your presence known in a town or city then lack of branding may be a concern. In a serviced office space you cannot externally brand the building therefore no-one will know you’re there. As a small business however, this may not be a major concern.
Kevin Donald, director of a media company, previously ran his small news agency from home.
“As a journalist running a news agency it was easy to work from home to begin with.
“We only need a laptop and a phone, and most stories were within easy reach of where we lived.
“As the business grew, to three staff members, I felt it was the time to investigate a serviced office space.
“We found somewhere small and convenient for us in our local town centre so our staff, the two of them, now have a place to go and I’m confident that this has increased productivity and will continue to grow our business.
“It also means home is home now and isn’t cluttered with newspapers and notepads!”
A serviced office space can be a professional and exciting step for any small business, as well as being an affordable option for many. It can increase your business’ productivity which will mean your business grows, in this case, there are usually more offices for you to acquire in the same building.