5 tips for finding the right office space

Here are five tips to help make the help make your search easier from our friends at FlexiOffices

Last year was a record year for company registrations in the UK. 529,363 businesses were incorporated which represents a 7.6% increase to the previous year according to the Duport Annual Business Confidence Report 2013.

With so many start-ups, the hunt for the right office space can be tricky if you don’t know your way around the different types of offices.

PropertySales asked Paul Slinn, founder of Flexioffices that provides virtual and serviced office space, for his top five tips.

1.    Make a decision on when you want to move out of your spare bedroom or garage or local coffee shop and stick to it

Many famous founders have started their businesses in their garages, including Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, the late Steve Jobs of Apple, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon to name just a few.

When you manage to get your first major client or you need to start hiring staff, you will probably need to find an office space quickly.

2.    Pick the right location

The choice of office location depends on whether you have a client facing business or not. If you need meeting rooms that are centrally located so that clients as well as staff can get to easily, then you are probably looking at city centres or offices near train and tube stations.

3.    Consider business incubator centres

If you don’t have steady income streams yet, you are probably better off with choosing a business incubator, which are office spaces subsidised by the government or EU. These are usually shared with other start-ups and you can benefit from the social capital – exchange of ideas, finding collaborators and even potential clients.  

You are also more likely to succeed according to the UKBI, a professional association for start-ups. 98% of companies succeed while in a business incubator and 87% survive after five years (the national average success rate is 30% of small and medium sized companies registered). However, there is a limited time you can use these centres for. 

4.    Get a virtual office space as a low cost alternative

Virtual office spaces are a great low cost alternative to your home office space as you can use meeting rooms, get a mailing address, telephone line and even a receptionist, all of which are important for when you want to give your potential clients a positive first impression.

5.    Move into a serviced office space if you are planning of expanding quickly 

For fast growth businesses, serviced office spaces are probably the best option as it gives you the necessary flexibility – i.e. you tend to pay per work station and you can expand your office space relatively easily without the hassle of having to organise an office move. In addition, you don’t have to worry about buying furniture, utility bills, broadband, receptionist, etc.

London saw an above national average rise in company formations last year with a total of 134,621 businesses registering which represents an increase of 8.3% compared to the previous year. 

Flexioffices has helped companies big and small, inside London as well as outside of London find a suitable office. The company has an online database of office spaces which includes thousands of properties which and can be searched by postcode, street, town, stations, airports, and countries. Here is a selection of office spaces in Covent Garden, London for example.

 



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