Serviced Offices: Top Ten Tips You Need To Know – Part 1

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Location, Location, Location

Location is everything when it comes to choosing your ideal office space.  You may have fallen in love with an office that is in the middle of nowhere but if your clients, employees and suppliers have problems locating you then unfortunately your business will not survive for very long.  Your office broker will work closely with you, understanding your business to find the ideal location.

When choosing the location it helps if you can be specific as it will provide support with the search process.  If you can specify a postcode or an area of a city then it will put you in great stead. The reason for this is that your office broker will be able to quickly provide you with a range of properties in your desired area.

Be clear from the offset what your objectives are and what you want from your office location.  Do you want to be close to the city centre or prefer being out of town? To help you pinpoint a location ask yourself the following questions:

1 – Is it located close to your clients? Central city locations are the ideal place.  They contain fantastic transport links for your clients.  Mapping common journeys will help evaluate how close you are to your clients and also your employees.  You will want to make the journey to work as simple as possible.

2 – Is the neighbourhood safe? If your ideal premises seem cheap, there is often a good reason for this?  Your employees and visitors will need to feel safe when visiting your offices and is vital the area has a good reputation.

Timescales

If you are moving from an existing serviced building, have you been given an exit date?  And more importantly can your new serviced office space accommodate this exit date.  In other words if you need to vacate your existing building on a Monday can the new office space allow you to commence your rental agreement on the Tuesday.

It is extremely important from the outset to establish what your likely timescales are.  Make your office broker aware what your plans are and how soon you envisage the move to be.  The main reason for this is that your office broker can source properties that are vacant at your chosen time. Your office broker can sometimes find out which current tenants leases will be coming to an end at the time you are looking to move. Having a specific timescale makes the whole search process more directed.

Terms

Regardless of whether you are looking to rent a small amount of office space or are a larger business wanting to have a large floor space, a package should be created and tailored to suit your needs.  The office space should be available on flexible terms to suit you and your business. Be clear on specific terms before approaching your office broker as this may affect the properties available to you.

Terms also have an implication on price. Often the longer the term the lower the price you’ll pay. It is worth bearing this in mind and if possible be flexible to take a longer term contract should this be the case.

Size

Serviced offices are often quoted on a per workstation basis (WSTN). Workstation prices are quoted so you can approximately work out how much the office may be even if you don’t know how much actual office space by Sq Ft (Square Foot) you need i.e. you will probably know if you need a four or a six person office.

As a rule of thumb for serviced offices we suggest 70 Sq Ft per person, however, you may need more or less than this depending on how your company works and the budget you have.

When taking a serviced office solution you’ll need a lot less space than if you were taking out a conventional lease. For serviced offices you only need to calculate the actual space you’re going to work in (Net Space) rather than the Gross Space for a conventional lease where you need to calculate the space you’ll work in, along with space for reception areas, walkways, dead areas, meeting rooms, toilets, kitchens etc. As a general rule you’ll tend to need double the amount of space for a conventional lease over a serviced office.

Office Style

It is no secret that one of the most important aspects of business is the image it portrays.

It is important to consider the style of office you require. If you are a modern company that has a contemporary vision it is likely you will not be looking for a traditional or period office but a chic office with state of the art technology.  Consider what is more important, a building that offers the wow factor or one that has the facilities you need and is economical?

The more specific you are in regards to the office style, the more your office broker will be able to short list a number of properties that are very specific to your needs. The type of property you want can have a big influence on the price.

Serviced Offices: Top Ten Tips You Need To Know – Part 2

1 thought on “Serviced Offices: Top Ten Tips You Need To Know – Part 1”

  1. Charles Bolton

    I agree on the entire content of this article. I want to give an emphasis on the first part of this article’s subject, the LOCATION. I definitely agree that location is everything because when it comes to office space, the more it is accessible and the more it is closer to the acquired, target, and potential markets, the more satisfying and beneficial it is for the business owner. There are a lot of office space for rent available in almost all parts of the world, and no matter where your business is, make sure that the office that you will be renting is the right one for your business.

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