Will A Serviced Office Suit My Business?
October 17th, 2007 | by Simon Rattray
The serviced office industry has evolved so that nowadays there is a great deal more flexibility in what is on offer from brokers and providers. Choregus recommends to companies that are seeking new or extra office space, that they should consider a serviced or managed office, because of the increase in the flexible terms that now makes the whole process more financially viable.There are three principal reasons that have traditionally put companies off using serviced office space - the price, percieved lack of control, size restrictions.
It is commonly believed that serviced offices provide an expensive property option to business. This is not generally the case.
This perceived notion of being expensive comes about because many businesses have not seen property costs in a way that a serviced office provider would present to them. Businesses will attribute budget in terms of the cost of the rent. This cost is calculated by multiplying the price per sq. foot by the area needed. Doing this will offer you a proportion of the total cost of occupancy - it won’t include any service charges, rates, utility charges, building staff, office furniture, switchboards, networks, security. Contrast this with the price you pay for a serviced office which will include all costs and will quite clearly be greater than the cost of the rent - but could still be cheaper than paying all the aforementioned costs yourself.
Of course there are pricey serviced offices as there are pricey everything else such as cars, houses, hotels, clothes etc. However as there is expensive serviced offices, there is of course cheaper serviced offices.
Many businesses think that by renting a serviced offices they will lose their own corporate image. This can be true in some buildings but in many cases, particularly the managed offices this is not so much of a problem.
Another perception of serviced offices is that they can only cope with SME’s wanting relatively small areas of office space. In fact larger campanies can be accommodated as many providers will own entire buildings that can be rented out to one company if they so wish.
Serviced offices have traditionally appealed to companies that:
- Need to move within three months.
- Require a flexible contract in case of expansion / contraction in size.
- Need to move location.
- Have staffing levels that increase / decrease by a fifth or more each year.
- Are venturing into a new, untried area of commerce.
- Would prefer someone else dealing with the administration of the building while they focus on their own business
From this information you should now be able to make an informed decision about whether your business would be suitable for a serviced or managed office. And remember it is not just the costs, it is the potential hassle of administration as well!
Related tags: serviced offices.
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