Serviced offices killer apps – where are they?
October 6th, 2008 | by James Welch
Now that the market is tight and people are more frugal, serviced offices, as readers of our news section will know, is a great option for businesses as it allows a flexibility that is not offered by traditional office space.
However, it has got me thinking again about something we have written about in the past – extra services that serviced office providers can give to clients.
Regus announced their disaster recovery product a few months ago now and this is exactly the type of product that we are talking about. An extremely useful business product that also acts as a tie-in for customers, meaning a potentially longer-term lease from companies enjoying extra security for their business.
Why are there not more products like this offered by small and large office space providers that would help to tie-in customers for longer periods. Maybe a brainstorming session between serviced office companies should be held at some point?
Things that come to my mind are services such as web hosting. Imagine, you take in an client to your offices, give them free web hosting, free email service, and the purchasing of domain names should they not have one.
This would cost very little indeed for the serviced office company to do, yet would be a great headache saved for the client. Technical staff at business centres (or at one central location) could manage all of the necessary details for the client and provide a seamless service.
As the client grows, surely because you are the host of their site, their emails and everything relating to the site, they would feel more obliged to stay with you and choose to expand within your business, rather than take other options.
There are plenty of other services that I am sure that could be offered that would make serviced offices not just a great option, but also a necessary option for small businesses and large companies alike.
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8 Responses to “Serviced offices killer apps – where are they?”
By BakerG on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
web hosting idea – i cannot believe that people have not thought of that before!
By H.Gasket on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
Maybe local business listings – websites or books made by the local business centre and given out to the local business commmunity with businesses that use the centre having a higher profile in the book/website?
By Peter Rose on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
Brainstorming – could office space companies genuinely sit there are give ideas to each other?
Would that honestly work?
By James Jones on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
Why not brainstorming?
I have personally brainstormed with some of the leading lights of the office space and meeting room arenas and some very good things have come from it.
Doing this collectively, so that the industry as a whole improves surely would be a good thing.
By Serviced Offices Manchester on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
There is obviously a limit to what you’d discuss in networking or brainstorming between competitors, but there is definitely a place for it.
I couldn’t see it working where there were two near identical centres competing with each other but if there is enough differentiation between participants, coming up with new ideas could benefit the sector as a whole in a particular city or area.
While the sector is still at a relatively early stage there is definitely a place and, arguably, a need for it.
By Phil Gardener on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
James, we (Demute) are now offering the kind of things you allude to including company formation services and access to other service professionals such as Independent Financial Advisors, Solicitors, web design and hosting, SEO services, insurance brokers etc. I am a member of BNI and as part of this have a network of trusted associates to whom I can point people who use our offices to. On the flip these associates actively push people towards me if they feel I can help them by offering low cost temporary office/meeting space. People need reasons to come back, even Tesco don’t simply rely on pricing, they have to offer other things to keep you interested and to make you come back, why should our industry be any different?
By Romy O'Brien on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
I really like this idea of brainstorming. Im not a centre manager or a leader in this field but I read this blog most days and it would be a great idea for people in the industry.
By James Jones on Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
Exactly, Phil.
This is something I have been urging the industry to do for some time – there are so many tie-ins that could massively stabilise the whole industry and help it to grow at a much-increased rate of speed.