Why Renting a serviced office is good for start-up businesses?
Physical office space is essential for your start-up, as it allows you to motivate your team and carry out your business operations without distractions.
But setting up an office can cost you a lot, as you will have to renovate it according to the office ambience. Also, you will have to spend your time now in office set-up and later managing administrative operations.
One option that is becoming increasingly popular among start-up businesses is renting serviced office space. But is renting a serviced office good for start-up businesses?
In this article, we'll explore the benefits of renting a serviced office for start-up businesses and how it can help them thrive.
What is a start-up business?
A start-up business starts without a large amount of capital and focuses on a single thing simultaneously as it doesn't have a detailed business model. It can be a single product or service under which the entrepreneur starts working.
This can also be a company or project taken by an entrepreneur to make it big and reach a large scale.
In contrast to a corporation, a start-up aims to scale up quickly. However, it is still in its early stages of development, while the corporation is already developed and focused on slow-moving but more production.
The start-up's goals are primarily generating opportunities (to become a big company), visibility, and, most importantly, cash flow as soon as possible.
What is a serviced office?
A serviced office is a building or a place that is fully furnished regarding decor and other office tools. This includes printers, meeting rooms, and additional facilities. Featuring coffee and snack bars, leisure spaces with stimulative activities like foosball, 8-ball pool and sometimes even ping pong tables.
In a serviced office, management operations are handled by the service office management, allowing companies to focus on their work bypassing the internal office operations.
Benefits of serviced office
Using a serviced office can bring many benefits to you and your business. It’s a cost-effective solution facilitating almost every ground running requirement: desks, kitchen areas, printing machines, network connection and others. Also, they have separate meeting rooms, IT support and a cleaning team.
Another benefit is easy building maintenance and flexibility moving in and out of the space. As the serviced office is fully equipped with management teams and essential workspace necessities, so you won't have to take care of any of the issues the building might throw at you. Also, you won’t need to install any equipment when moving in or uninstall it when it's time to leave.
Additionally, all the maintenance cost is handled by the in-house management, so no extra fees are coming out of your pocket. There administrative team is also always on-site, so you don’t need to hire any extra staff.
Lastly, it provides complete privacy and a good environment at an affordable price.
When a start-up business needs an office?
The start-up usually needs a physical office when it’s about to scale or thinking about expanding the team. But this certainly is not a general rule. There are a lot of small businesses consisting of teams, as small as three people, reaping the benefits of a physical office.
Physical existence is also a great way to gain credibility, respect and trust of early clients and even employees. It shows legitimacy and gives a sense that you are serious about the business and its growth.
Here are few benefits that comes with a serviced office:
Team building
For your start-up, you need an environment where your employees can socialize and at least can ask for each other help.
A serviced office space allows you to create a supportive environment and be physically present. The physical presence you provide to your start-up will contribute to the employees attracting each other, helping each other, and positively impacting the business.
No doubt, technology is the best way to communicate these days, but still, a regular meeting and time spent by two employees will always be better than the 5-6 people chatting all day.
Attracting new talent
To get your start-up to extraordinary heights, you need a team of talented professionals who can handle your tasks. There was a time when employees did not care much about the office environment, but things are different now. Now, employees want a comfortable environment where they can work with proper focus.
Getting an office space will show the new talent that you do not only care about your business but also your employees. As a result, attracting new talent would be easy for you.
Forming your brand identity
The most important thing to attract new clients or potential buyers (at the initial stage) is brand identity and awareness. Otherwise, who'd buy your services if you don't have an identity?
A physical existence of a company in the form of an office will provide your brand with a way to communicate with your potential clients.
So, getting an office workspace will help you increase your brand awareness and grow your start-up business.
Forming a professional work culture
Besides team building or attracting new clients, office space provides a professional work culture for you and your team.
Obviously, if you have a professional culture in your office, there will be no room for misbehaviour, and your team will stay with you for a long time.
Working privacy
Handling sensitive matters, information, records, or call with employees needs serious privacy to avoid issues in business deals. Private office space will help you keep all your confidential documents in one private place.
Apart from documentation privacy, your team also needs private space where there are no distractions. If you give them a place (office) for privacy, they will work better.
Who are the main users of serviced offices?
Start-ups & Entrepreneurs
Start-up businesses and entrepreneurs are the primary users of serviced offices as they're at the initial stage of their business and have less investment.
If they want to own or rent their own place, they will need more investment (which is not possible at the initial stage).
So, most start-ups start their business operations using serviced office, as a serviced office provides all necessary services at an affordable rent.
Businesses expanding into new markets
When large organizations need to expand their brand in a new market, they choose a serviced office because it is cost-effective and allows the brands to set up their offices quickly.
For example, if you're running a business in London and planning to expand your market in Liverpool, you will need a place to do so. Getting your own place will not be a wise choice, considering you're just starting your journey and need to invest wisely.
That's where serviced office space providers help you so that you may expand your business without spending investment on setting up your own office.
Project-based teams
Serviced offices are ideal for teams working on temporary projects because they can be rented on a short-term basis. Also, serviced office spaces can be more cost-effective than leasing or buying a permanent office, especially for teams that only need a workspace for a short period.
So, project-based teams usually use serviced offices, as they're getting all essential amenities at an affordable price.
Why is serviced office space perfect for a start-up business?
Besides all the internal benefits that any physical office provides to businesses, there are several specific advantages of using serviced office space for your start-up:
Serviced offices come already prepared to save you set-up time and cost:
As previously discussed serviced offices come with an advantage due to their fully furnished facilities (kitchen, meeting rooms, conference rooms, printers, scanners and sometimes leisure rooms). Offering end-to-end workspaces allowing you to save your precious time and money on setting up your new office. All you need is to go there, get your membership, and start working.
Serviced offices are usually located in prime city locations
As you're running a start-up, you potentially will have to leave your office to meet with potential clients or for any other work-related operation. So, it’s only convenient to have an office space located in prime city locations from where it's easy to travel to other places in the city.
Serviced offices are usually located comfortably near bus stations, tube stops or places with easy access to a taxi. It will help you save your commute time and won't disturb the customers, employees, or investors.
Serviced offices have administrative staff
If you plan on setting up your own office space, you will need to hire administrative staff for your daily operations.
Most of the service offices come with administrative staff who run and manage the office's day-to-day operations. The administrative staff will handle it all, whether it is about scheduling meetings or answering phone calls.
Serviced offices are more flexible with lease agreements
As service offices come with flexible leases, it lowers the operational cost of the office. You can have a short-term lease depending on the time duration of your stay.
In case of expanding, you can add more space, downsize the space, or even terminate the lease.
Serviced offices accommodate the unexpected growth of your business
You never know when you will hit the right spot and there is a queue of clients demanding your services. At that time, you will need to add more people to your team which essentially results in the need to expand your office space.
With serviced space you can increase or downsize your space at any time, which gives you a lot of flexibility while manage the unexpected growth of your business.
Serviced offices sometimes offer stimulating leisure spaces
Some of the luxurious service offices have gyms, sports areas, and a kitchen which allows an enjoyable environment for the employees of the building.
These types of facilities are a great way of relaxing and help in interacting with other businesses using that serviced office.
Serviced offices offer access to collaborations and networking
As multiple businesses are running in one place; you get a chance to interact with other people and learn from them.
Apart from learning, there is a huge chance you get your clients from the shared office space. Also, you can collaborate with other businesses on specific projects without hiring more people for your team.
Serviced office space payment methods and average pricing in the UK
Serviced office space providers in the UK generally offer different payment options, such as monthly payments and longer-term leases. It's totally up to you to decide your payment method.
As far as prices are concerned, the price range varies depending on location, city, size of the space, and amenities and services.
Here are some general price ranges for serviced office space in the UK:
Number of desks |
Price range (per month) |
1-2 person |
£500- £700 |
2-4 person |
£700-£1000 |
4+ person |
£1000-£1500 |
Listed above are average price ranges, which may change with time or vary based on the services included.
Find a perfect serviced start-up office space in London now!
If you're searching for a serviced office space for your start-up that suits your business requirements, contact our Prime Office Search team. Our team will ensure to get you on board with a serviced start-up office space in London that's reliable, cost-effective, and according to your requirements.
Also, you can browse our directory of office spaces in London. Use filters to narrow your search according to your team size and services.