Serviced offices: What to look for

When you’re deciding between serviced offices providers, how do you know what choices to make?

As budgets become tight and cash flow more important than ever, businesses are looking for cost-effective solutions to a range of issues. One of these is property, which is why serviced offices are becoming more popular. Whether you’re a start-up or you’re looking for ways to reduce your overheads, serviced offices could be the answer. Why pay out for long, restrictive leases, when you can benefit from offices in central locations for a reduced price?

Serviced offices – your criteria

You need to know what you want from your serviced offices before you go ahead and choose a supplier. Just as with any purchase, the more you know about what you’re looking for, the better chance you have of finding it. When you’re searching for serviced offices, think about:

• Location – where do you need your serviced offices to be? For businesses, location is incredibly important. You might need to be near a major road network, or within easy access of a train station. You might need offices with plenty of visitor parking, or within an easy taxi journey of a local airport. You might be looking at serviced offices for a part of your business that’s starting up in a new location, so proximity to where your staff members live is important.

• Lease period – one of the biggest benefits of serviced offices is that the lease periods are considerably more flexible than traditional commercial property deals. This means that you can commit to a short lease – as short as three months in some cases – so you can decide whether these offices are working for you. Look for serviced office suppliers that offer flexible leasing arrangements and notice periods.

• Packages – again, serviced offices come out on top when it comes to getting down to work in your office. In most cases, you don’t need to buy office furniture or telecoms equipment, and the upkeep of the office is included in the package. Whether you need self adhesive labels or envelopes, find out exactly what’s included in the price of your serviced offices so that you can compare suppliers and get real value for money.

Serviced offices – the extras

Of course, there may be requirements specific to your business that will help you decide between one serviced offices supplier and another. It’s always best to compile a specification of your needs before you start looking for serviced offices, and you should always talk to more than one supplier so that you can make some comparisons between space, location and price. If you can, take a look at the office space so that you can see whether it’s up to the standard you’re looking for.