When you are trying to find the perfect workspace for your business, there are numerous options to choose from. It is important to know your preferences to avoid looking at potential office space that might not meet your basic criteria. This article will help you receive an overview of which office type to choose from.
1) Your own office.
The most straightforward and traditional choice is to just rent an office space that is entirely used and owned by you.
+ Customization. You can customize your office to your own needs and brand it with your logo so that you can receive your clients.
+ Privacy. Privacy and security should be straightforward specifically for smaller offices.
+ Team Spirit. Encouraging your team to work around their own walls are likely to keep your team spirit high and positive.
- Long-term Contract. The most severe disadvantage usually is connected to your lease agreement. For an own office space, you will be likely to have to sign a long-term contract without much flexibility.
- Costs. Specifically for smaller teams, the costs per person is another complex factor to consider.
- Flexibility. This arrangement is not very flexible for potential team growth or demand changes such as more meeting rooms or a second kitchen.
2) Co-Working Spaces
Specifically in large cities, there is an increasing amount of co-working spaces. In this concept you can chose from different office packages in a larger office building giving you choice of team size, meeting room needs, cleaning needs or even catering needs.
+ Choice. There is a high degree of choice - you will be able to find a suitable solution for your demands around co-working spaces in large cities.
+ Flexibility. This is the most flexible option for your company because these concepts are built for flexibility of their tenants. Due to a high fluctuation in the building, it is likely that you can stay in the same co-working space for a long period of time whilst your demands are constantly changing.
+ Networking Effects. Networking is a huge bonus of co-working spaces. Particularly for early stage startups, it might be extremely useful to challenge their concepts and even find help for technical problems among your fellow co-workers.
- Privacy. Privacy can be a huge issue within co-working spaces. Most of the times, different companies work right next to each other without any particular security between the respective office spaces.
- Comfort. Due to the fact that you do not own this office space and that another company will be working at different times of the day one desk next to you, it is highly recommended to take all your valuables with you at the end of the day.
- Level of Concentration. Without clear regulations about office hours, meeting guidelines or call restrictions, the noise level can rise considerably during the day and might impact your team's concentration negatively.
3) Subletting Space
In the age of new companies arising daily, the dynamics within offices are changing. This leads to the issue that companies have spare workspace and thus are heavily looking to subletting their offices.
+ Size. Even if your company hasn't grown to a size in which it can occupy a whole office, you can fit your team into somebody else's office.
+ Support. The company you will be sharing your spaces is likely to help you succeed in one way or another. Even if they are not in the same industry as you, they might have experts on common company topics of financial or technical nature.
+ Flexibility. Due to their heavy dependence on your subletting the space from them, you will most likely not have a complicated and long-term lease agreement.
- Dependence. Particularly due to a more flexible subletting agreement, you might be dependent on the development of your partner. If this company might be growing and needs to take over your space, you might have to move out too.
- Short-term Solution. Even though this solution might ensure you a good starting point for your company, you will not be able to maintain it in the long-term.
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So which type to choose? Well, that question is actually not as easy to answer as you might think. The following content offer will help you with a checklist and short quiz in your decision making. For any further consulting, you can of course always get in touch with us.