For any sized company, keeping overheads to a minimum is a crucial part of running
a successful business. Some of the major overheads companies face are staff, IT
and infrastructure and office
space costs.
It always pays to shop around for a good quality, reliable and good value IT provider
but quite often, cutting corners can be detrimental to your business. Staffing is
a far more complicated issue but it can often be worthwhile to look at outsourcing
functions as opposed to increasing in-house staff, or using interns or freelancers.
However, where you base your business can make a huge difference to your businesses
overheads and there are a number of options to choose from.
Working from a home office
For start ups and SMEs, basing your business at home is a sensible option, particularly
at the very early stages of your company''s life. Converting a bedroom, roof space
or even a garden shed provides
low cost office space with very little ongoing cost. If don''t want
your home address on your business cards, then you can look at taking a virtual
office which will give you a prestigious address / telephone number from which your
mail and calls will be forwarded on from. It will also give you a base at which
to meet clients which will give your company a more professional image than your
spare bedroom.
The drawback however, lies with when your business starts to grow and you get to
the stage of needing to recruit additional personnel. Some companies are happy for
individual staff members to work from their respective homes and meet up on an adhoc
basis. However, if this is not an option for your company, then a good alternative
to taking a conventional office space lease is to look at taking space in a business
centre.
Business centres
Business centres, or serviced offices, provide flexible
office space for companies looking for short term office lets. A great alternative
to signing a long term conventional lease, the major benefit of taking space in
a business
centre is that, if you are not sure what stage your company will be at in
a year, or even a couple of months, you retain flexibility for your company. Most
business centres work on a minimum 3 month term and can easily accommodate a company''s
changing needs, giving you the option of taking more space, or downsizing, depending
on your requirement.
Pricing for
business centres also includes rent, rates, service charge, utilities,
cleaning and security which can be extremely time consuming to organise if you are
taking a conventional lease. In some business centres, your license fee also includes
IT and telephony which, thanks to greater economies of scale, can give your business
a better and more cost effective service than if you were setting it up yourself.
A business centre will also have a reception team, photocopiers, printers, meeting rooms
and drinks machines which again, give companies cost effective support to help them
run their business.
If you are looking for a city centre location, or an out of town business park,
chances are that there will be a business centre to suit your needs. Not only will
they help you to keep your overheads down whilst retaining flexibility, but you
will be basing your company in a thriving community which often provides great business
opportunities.