Archive Page 2
A business planning a company-wide consolidation effort has many difficult decisions to make ahead of them. A sure sign of the times, many industries that are finding a slower market will attempt to restructure their assets into one main office location to streamline expenses and centralize a revenue flow. Looking at short-term office options in this case is a great way for many organizations to accommodate as flexible a consolidation effort as needed.
With each unique corporation comes a unique set of risks and gambles associated with a consolidation effort. While short-term offices are not always the answer, it always presents an alternative towards continuing to hemorrhage funds with an undesirably strict conventional office leasing agreement. A number of companies use temporary serviced office solutions for aiding in expansion efforts, in between nailing down ideal properties especially at times like the present where companies are faced with wildly uncertain office market property values. Signing a lease today for a multi-year agreement that tomorrow could vary by significant term according to a fluctuating market standard presents such a risky business venture that a short-term option almost always makes more fiscal sense.
In addition to securing a more financially-viable rental agreement with an option to expand in the future, short-term offices allow almost limitless freedom in relocating to an ideal business area. The importance of this benefit cannot be overstated, especially for those corporations that are involved in client-heavy relations where a prestigious business address could be a difference maker in closing deals and generating more profit. Whether consolidating as a preemptive move or a way to exploit decreasing property costs, businesses serious about financial success in troubling economic times may find unforeseen benefits within short-term office solutions
Filed under: Office Space, Serviced Offices | Leave a Comment
A rising trend among many businesses in the face of the current financial uncertainty is to opt for short-term office solutions over traditional offices. With more focus on conserving revenue and limiting losses, the idea of long lease terms with high upfront costs that are associated with conventional offices are fast becoming a corporation’s worst nightmare. Short-term offices, on the other hand, provide everything that a cost-sensitive corporation or smaller independent company is looking for in office solutions currently: flexible leasing terms, little or no start-up costs, immediate availability, and the freedom of selecting an ideal location.
Short-term offices are good alternatives for both a smaller business hoping to avoid start-up hurdles, as well as the larger corporation that needs a flexible alternative for office property needs. Serviced offices come fully-furnished with office equipment and reception staff depending on the leasing agreement. This takes out one of the bigger initial concerns for most start-up business owners who would rather deal with more pressing business decisions than be forced to manage the telecoms/IT infrastructure, handle office furniture orders, or devote time to filling support staff positions. Using serviced office providers also gives a new business the flexibility of safely entering a shaky marketplace without being bound to a lengthy lease if the unfortunate happens and their business endeavor fails to take-off after a few months.
For the successful start-ups, short-term offices are easily expandable to accommodate any future changes in company size, thanks to the shorter rental agreement. The fact that relocation to a more prestigious business area is a simple phone call away is yet another advantage, unlike those corporations who are locked into an undesirable business property with a multiple-year lease. Large established corporations that are looking to escape their inflexible traditional office spaces can also take advantage of short-term offices to exploit constantly-changing office property values.
Filed under: Office Space, Serviced Offices, short term | Leave a Comment
Tags: London, Office Space, Serviced Offices, short term
Yes, the rules have changed with the office market in lieu of the credit crunch that affects the world’s financial status. Gone are the days where landlords held absolute power over tenants, charging record highs (and being able to close deals!) for prestigious office space in prime locations. Nowadays, the freeze on many businesses’ expense accounts as a result of the credit crunch gives them less freedom to have a ‘Class A’ mentality on doing business, opting instead for functionality over form. Landlords are (for the first time in a long time) at the mercy of tenants as demand for office space falls, and will continue to fall by all expert opinion.
It’s this shift in power from the landlords to the tenants that has created an ideal opportunity for an alternative means of finding office solutions. Instead of submitting to restrictive, multi-year terms offered on properties that are must-have locations for many businesses, the better option is to research a managed or serviced office alternative. Exploiting the ability to rent for months at a time, instead of being locked into traditional office leases gives a company more power to focus their efforts on staying successful in times of economic change. The power shift to tenants is best realized in these short term office solutions, where prices reflect current market values (unlike traditional offices), flexibility in rental terms exist (unlike traditional offices), and the freedom of selecting from a wide spectrum of ideal business locations without concern over high upfront costs or credit/reference checks can be realized (ibid).
It’s time for corporations to accept the mantle of power that the credit crunch has passed to them in terms of their office solutions. After all, the only route that exists for businesses to take which leads to prosperity in these turbulent times is the one they have the freedom of navigating themselves.
Filed under: Office Space, short term | Leave a Comment
While bad news for landlords that aren’t operating in the West End area, the City of London continues to increase office market supply while the demand sharply falls. This stagnation in the traditional office space market presents a clear opportunity for ambitious businesses that seek to relocate under more-favourable terms to strike while the iron’s hot.
But not so fast—how likely is the market to continue the steep decline in pricing? Many experts maintain that normal prices will not return to the office market until at least 2013—which astonishingly is the general time that most traditional office space leases will expire. While it may be quite an attractive option to accept ballooned rent free periods in exchange for a traditionally-high priced, traditionally-restrictive lease agreement, perhaps a serviced or managed office solution with a short term rental agreement makes more fiscal sense for the frugal company looking for a great office space.
In Soho alone, current rents have seen steady declines to well below GBP60.00 per sq. foot of space. While this is not the case with the more prestigious areas of business like the West End, it hardly means that prices are locked in for that area either. It is entirely possible for the resilient business that selects a short term office lease to eventually find an affordable property in a historically-exclusive district during this caustic economic period while landlords scramble to revitalize the market with increasingly attractive offers. Instead of being chained to a lease that lasts until the end of this opportunely favourable situation for office seeking tenants, a short term lease will provide the flexibility to hold a wide array of options when things eventually go back to normal.
Filed under: flexible, short term | Leave a Comment
Tags: flexible, Office Space, short term
With a challenging future laying ahead for most businesses post-credit crunch, there is an added need to be aware of all alternatives for conducting business in the event that the ‘old’ ways cease working. Although operations such as serviced office solutions and business centres are not new, they are fast becoming an ideal operation for smaller businesses, and even larger corporations that want to test out the waters in areas that could potentially be more financially-friendly.
The biggest draw of alternative office market choices such as the serviced office solution is the short-term nature of it. As a monthly license (compared to a multi-year contract subject to legal fees and strict regulation) the freedom gained with a serviced office over a conventional setup gives a company more room to focus on making profit (rather than juggling expenses and handling perpetual property headaches). Office tenants in short-term office establishments share the cost of many of the services included in the monthly invoice, drastically reducing the overall cost as compared with a conventional office. This also has an added bonus of helping smaller businesses network with their fellow office tenants, possibly engendering a future business-to-business relationship down the road.
Yet another draw of alternative office choices like serviced office solutions can be the high-quality services offered: reception staffing/telephone answering service, free IT support, fully-equipped telecoms, state-of-the-art copy/fax machines, and free access to meeting rooms just to name a few. Many businesses that merely want a prestigious business location, without paying a prestigious price or agreeing to a prestigious 5-year lease can have just that on a month-to-month basis with alternative office solutions. Whether trying out an alternative method, or sticking with a traditional office space setup, any business that is serious about surviving (and thriving) in a rocky economic period should look at all available options before making decisions that affect their future flexibility.
Filed under: credit crunch, short term | Leave a Comment
Tags: credit crunch, Office Space, short term
