5 ways that serviced offices can help British business beat the economy

September 2nd, 2008 | by James Welch

Choregus has officially had enough of the doom and gloom merchants predicting economic collapse and writing that the commercial property market is dead.

The thing is, they don’t know enough about serviced offices and how they can actually help companies of the UK to fight back and pull itself through the next few years of uncertainty.

So, journalists of the UK press, here are 5 ways in which serviced offices can help British business to ride this economic tidal wave and allow small business to continue to be the backbone of this great country of ours.

1. Short-term rental contracts – Renting a serviced office from companies such as Regus, MWB, UBC, Yourspace and the myriad of independent UK serviced office space firms allows a business to have its own business space without tying themselves in to a prohibitive, traditional office space lease that can neutre a company from the off.

The landscape has changed – SMEs now have an opportunity to operate in a professional environment without having to risk life or limb.  It is absolutely crucial at this time, for many small businesses, to be able to take a short-term office rental deal over a 3-year lease.

2. Growth space – Should a new small business, having started up recently, need to increase staff numbers to meet demand, it could be impossible if they have taken a rigid, traditional 3-year+ office space lease.  They could not break the contract and would have to house staff in a separate building.  This could prove to be too prohibitive and could force the company to scupper its growth plan.  This is not good.

However, if they were using a flexible serviced office they could easily request additional space with the operator that would include no up-front costs and would allow them easily to add more workstations to the area or office that they were located in.  The new staff could start to work straight away.

3. Downsizing – If a business working from a serviced office is particularly affected by the credit crunch and needed to downsize its operation, it could easily do so by simply requesting that they no longer need desk space that they are not using.

Once the short-term contract that they are working on is over, the new contract that they sign will only charge for office space used.  This is one of the least talked about issues when discussing flexibility for its negative tone, but it also happens to be one of the better reasons to use a serviced office.

4. Bills, bills, bills (or lack of) – When business is tight and potential clients are using the economic situation to their own advantage, the last thing that a business needs is several bills to fall through the letterbox at once.  This can be a demorolising event for many small businesses and can stimulate panic actions when times get really tough.  Rent bills, water rates, electricity, internet usage – they all mount up and can be an administrative nightmare.

Now this is where serviced offices really come in to their own.  There is usually just one bill.  Yes, everything is contained when using a serviced office.  Electricity, internet usage, water, heating, cleaning and more.  Some operators are now offering completely free telephony deals when you take up a serviced office.

5. Staffing and office equipment – Typically a small business cannot afford to have a secretary or admin assistant until it reaches around 5 employees, so until then, phone handling duties are generally shared between the business owner and the remaining staff.  These staff also have to have computers, desks and chairs.  These costs mount up at an alarming rate.

By using a serviced office, a phone answering service is part of the deal.  You have a ready-made receptionist for your business from minute one.  Thats a saving of around £12,000 – £19,000 on secretarial staff depending on your location.  A desk and chair for each employee is provided by the operator, as are photocopiers and stationery.  Almost everyting for the office is provided with only a few items such as projectors that require additional cost.  All you generally need for each staff member is a computer or laptop.

In summary

Credit crunch and economy references are going to become heard more and more in the press over the coming months, so we feel that the timing of the information above is crucial to allow some away from the industry to understand just how serviced offices can come to the rescue for business in the UK.

If you would like to add your own items to this list, we will gladly reproduce them to give the wider business press as much information about serviced offices to help cement its place UK’s small business community.

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