How flexible is your work space? Let’s first discuss what flexible working is. Flexible working can mean a variety of things to different businesses. It could refer to hours of operation, accessibility, size of your office or even the location of your office space. Office space can be a drain on resources for start-up companies. Most landlords demand 3-5 year lease terms and personal guarantees when securing an office.
With most traditional office spaces, you only get access for a limited amount of the day and only Monday to Friday. In a flexible office working situation, you get 24-hour access every day of the week (including holidays). Having flexible access whenever you need it, gives you and your business much more flexibility. For example, you can decide when to work and when you must service your customers’ needs. This also allows you to give your employees more flexible working hours – to cope with rush-hour traffic and their busy home life.
Depending on your business model, your business office needs may change over time. At some point, your business may need more space for workers, while at other times, you may need less office space. With flexible office alternatives, you can take more office space when you need it and less office space when you don’t. You cannot get that with a traditional office space where you have a set amount of space on a long-term lease that is not flexible. Bottom line: Renting office space from a flexible office business centre reduces the overall costs of operating an office more efficiently.
In most major cities around the world, you can have the flexibility of location when it comes time to choosing a main office or a satellite office for your business. You can have your head office located at a prestigious business address and house non-front-line workers at another location (where you pay less rent). Even small businesses, where the majority of staffers work remotely from home, will choose to have a small office in an office business centre that has a prestigious business address. Then there are those businesses that do not necessarily need office space for core employees (but still desire an upscale address) that will rent a virtual office or a mail service at a business centre – while never needing to actually go into that space.
When your small business or start-up needs office space or a prestigious address, be sure to do your homework and make certain that the place you select meets your needs – and is flexible about your possible future needs as well.
