Skip to main content

Making the Jump into Rented Office Space: 5 Tips


Making the decision to lease office space can often be one of the biggest milestones of a person's life. It is like having a baby, except that the baby is your new business.

Like any new parent, the choices you make for your new baby (business) will often have a big impact on its growth later on in life. Renting office space will often be indicative of your current success, as well as pave the way for your future success down the road.

There are five key factors that we hear time and time again that new businesses find critical when first leasing London office space. We've listed them here, and we suggest you study and map them out very carefully before putting your name on the dotted line.

#1. Parking
So you want the suite that's in the heart of downtown, surrounded by nothing but other office buildings? Well, that's fine, but you better be sure you have a parking plan in place for you and your employees, or most days you will probably just end up wanting to stay home.

Parking is consistently the number one factor we hear is most important, AFTER the client has already signed the lease and been in the office for several months. Before they sign the lease however, it is always location.

You want to have a smooth ride to and from work for you and your employees, without having to pay a meter, find a space, or worry about a ticket. You also don't want your clients to have to worry about that either, so be sure to have your own spaces reserved somewhere close by.

#2. Location
The priority of location in determining a lease should take several factors into consideration.

The first is if you are a front end commercial business, that is to say you sell your product or service directly from your office. If you are, then location is paramount. If you don't, and you are just performing logistical work or remote business activities, then location should take a back seat to our other four factors.

#3. Cost
You will want to become a mini expert on what's available before you sign your office lease, or else hire a real estate agent who is. If you don't do your homework beforehand, then you may end up paying thousands of dollars more for a less-equipped space, when a cheaper one was right next door.

#4. Flexibility
This is especially important in office space for start-up companies. While you want to remain modest and pay for only what you need in the short term, you also want to have the option to expand quickly along with your company.

This means you should always have an "out" in your contract if something goes wrong, or if things go spectacularly right.

One of the best ways to do this is to have an "upgrade option" that many companies will offer. This means you sign, say, a 6 month lease, but if you want to upgrade to a larger space within that time period, you are not charged with any lease-breaking fees.

#5. Amenities
Finding office space to rent in a good location is difficult enough, but once you do, you still have to negotiate all the little extras that come with it.

The most important of these will be the all-important "conference room" that is so lauded among big and small businesses alike.

Even if you deal with most of your customers remotely, you will very soon come to realize the importance of the conference room. Friends, suppliers, employees, partners, affiliates, investors, charities, and the guys next door, all seem to stop by more than you would expect. Having a place to sit down and talk with them will be a much-maligned oversight if left out.

There is also phone, fax, copy machines, printers, broadband, TV's, telecom, and many other things you will have to take into consideration as well. Many buildings make more profit off these things than they do on the rent, so be sure and upgrade wisely.

That just about wraps it up for this brief introduction to the wide world of renting office space. Be sure to do your homework and your future success should be as good as gold.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is Sharing Office Space a Good Idea - Pros and Cons

More and more people are thinking about sharing office space, and who can blame them? The economy today is making a large number of companies downsize in employees, as well as start looking for someone to rent the extra offices to. On the other hand, many small companies and freelancers need to think about finding someone to share office with simply because they cannot afford to take care of all the expenses related to leasing office space. Therefore, taking both of these into consideration, we can say that sharing office will become even more popular in years to come, and this is why you should be aware of the most important pros and cons related to this practice. The Pros of Sharing Office Space • Financial factor - Obviously, the financial factor is the most important benefit of sharing office space with another professional or company. It is simple really - you should find office space that is big enough, as well as a professional you can get along with, and you will end...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tips To Find Furnished Commercial Office Spaces

Furnished commercial office spaces are high in demand. This is because they offer an easy time to get started as a business. These office spaces are also well done in modern designs and offer plenty of options for all kinds of businesses. They are now made available in major cities with most developments focusing on offering an easy time to business people by providing furnished office spaces. It can however be a tedious task to find the best furnished space in your area of interest. New and small entrepreneurs spend months trying to find the ideal office space for their business. A few important tips can help ease the search process for your business. Choose and Shortlist Areas Based on Budget - When thinking of investing in a furnished commercial space, you most definitely have locations of interest. The rental charges will vary from one locality to another. It makes it helpful to begin by short listing your areas of interest based on the budget you have set aside for your...
Post a Comment
Read more

Three Things to Consider Before Upgrading to a Serviced Office

If you are looking to open a business but you do not have the money or the collateral to get a loan from the bank, then you could easily share a building with another business. That is what a serviced office is and you have to have a big enough building where you can fit your business and your employees as well as their business and their employees. There are other factors that you need to consider when checking out serviced offices such as the money, who to share it with, and where a good place would be to share the place of your business. Even though you would be sharing with another business owner you still may not have enough money to pay for your half. What you can do is pick out a serviced office to rent and pay for it as if you were paying for any apartment complex, which means you would have to sign a lease as well as pay some of the money every month. You can choose to grab someone you know who is thinking about opening up their business to share the building with or if y...
Post a Comment
Read more