Year on year the number of new startups is increasing exponentially. With 402,000 new businesses already launched in the UK in 2016, it looks like that figure will seriously outpace the substantial 600,000 startups launched in 2015.
While some of these new businesses will go straight into buying or renting office space, many will be looking to move into serviced offices. Testing the waters with a serviced office means less commitment and better management of how much you’re spending on rent – a considerable cost for any new enterprise.
But with such a competitive market and so many serviced office providers to choose from, how do you get the best and most affordable serviced office space for you?
Find a flexible serviced office provider
One of the key factors in choosing your serviced office is finding one that is the right size for your team. As your team size will reflect the scale of your business, and therefore how large a serviced office you can afford, you want to get the right space for the team you have now.
But you’ll still want to have the option of scaling up, or should your first foray into renting space be difficult, scale down. This is when you need to be working with a flexible office space provider.
While you may find some individual offices in buildings, serviced office providers will typically offer access to whole buildings with numerous spaces in a variety of sizes. One London serviced office provider, Easy Offices, advises that you can find spaces with flexible rooms. In these spaces, collapsible walls allow them to instantly change the size of your office to suit your needs.
Alternatively, you can speak with your serviced office manager when you are looking to expand. They can point out what spaces they have available, even reserving a future space that you want to move into.
Both of these techniques will help you to rent within your means, with a great serviced office space that is affordable and the right size.
Find cheaper rents in up and coming areas
Anyone who is looking to break into an industry will know where the hubs are. Each city, even each country, will have key locations where certain types of business thrive. But, because everyone knows this, it creates a congregation effect that has knock on consequences for serviced office availability and prices.
Take London for example – one of the most prominent cities in the world for tech startups and the UK’s answer to Silicon Valley in San Francisco, CA. The main hub is in Shoreditch in East London and, as a result, startups and tech businesses have been snatching up serviced and permanent office spaces for the last few years.
What we have now is a busy and thriving tech city, but prices for space is skyrocketing, leading many to abandon Shoreditch. In an effort to avoid current high prices, smart business owners are either moving out of London or to up and coming areas. For tech, it’s King’s Cross, which leading brand Google are on the move to.
When looking for space, make sure you check out where your industry is moving to, not where it is now, to ensure you’re ahead of the curve and benefit from rental price savings.
Consider long term leases to make long term savings
Serviced office spaces offer a huge amount of flexibility for users, giving you set size spaces on a time basis to suit you. But that doesn’t mean that you should avoid signing a longer term lease.
Agreeing to a long lease, such as six months or a year, will create a sense of stability for your staff and will help you feel like a more established business even if you’re a new startup. The financial benefit is that many owners or serviced office providers will be more willing to give you a discount or reduced monthly rate if you agree to a longer, fixed term. It’s a similar setup to renting a non-serviced office, but it’ll be far cheaper and can come with fixtures and fittings meaning you won’t have to buy your own.