Shared offices are a popular choice for entrepreneurs with an eye toward expansion, offering everything from best-in-class amenities to a built-in professional network that can prove invaluable to growing businesses. But at what point does it make financial sense for a company to leave the shared office environment and transition to a space of its own?
Month: May 2016
Not Just For Startups: The 4 Different Types of Shared Office Users
As the number of startup incubators and accelerators has continued to climb, so, too, has demand for flexible workspaces that cater to early-stage companies with big ideas and small budgets. For many, a shared office is a logical “next step” after graduating from an incubator environment, allowing them to enjoy many of the same benefits – state-of-the-art amenities, networking opportunities and a downtown address – at a price they can afford.
Yet startups account for only a portion of shared office users, with everyone from freelancers to national and international companies utilizing these spaces to reduce overhead while growing their respective businesses.
Cross-Channel Marketing to Millennials
As a business, understanding your audience is crucial. You have to know who you want to market to, how they think, what they want, and how they want it. Only then, can you begin to convert this audience into actual customers.
Client Spotlight: DSML Executive Search
Shared offices are a permanent home for some businesses, while others view them as more of a stepping stone to a space of their own. After outgrowing their office at Amata’s 161 N. Clark location, DSML tapped Amata’s in-house brokerage team, Amata Realty Group, to help the firm find and negotiate a lease for a larger space that could better accommodate their growing business. A few weeks later, they found an office just a couple of blocks away, allowing the firm to maintain a presence in Chicago’s central business district. “Amata’s brokers know the Loop market and were helpful in narrowing down our options,” said co-founder and director Myriam Le Cannellier.
The 5 Biggest Complaints About Open Coworking Spaces
It’s estimated that the average worker spends about 90,000 hours on the job. That’s a long time, especially if you’re stuck in an office environment that isn’t enjoyable or conducive to your day-to-day activities.
How Healthy Is Your Office? 4 Must-Have Perks
A recently released survey commissioned by the American Psychological Association found that six in 10 U.S. adults consider work to be a very or somewhat significant source of stress in their life. And for entrepreneurs, who often find themselves working longer hours for less pay, anxiety levels can be even higher, taking a toll on their business and, more importantly, their health.
While a person’s work environment can have negative effects on their mental and physical well-being – open-plan offices have been criticized for facilitating the spread of workplace illnesses – some offices also come with special services and amenities designed to help workers lead happier, healthier, and more productive lives. And it’s not just employees of Fortune 500 companies who have access to them. Thanks to the growing popularity of coworking spaces and other alternative office environments, these health-related perks have become accessible to freelancers and other self-employed individuals, including those who previously worked from home because they could not afford to lease a space of their own.
Shared Offices Hit the Right Note for International Music Firm
Shared offices come with a variety of perks – a full suite of amenities, on-site support staff and a central location, to name a few – but one of the biggest benefits isn’t something you’ll find on a center’s list of provided services.
By bringing together individuals from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, collaborative offices provide business owners with a unique, one-of-a-kind professional network that’s difficult, if not impossible, to replicate in a typical office environment. It was this camaraderie that struck a chord with James Lenger, founder of Chicago-based Guitar Cities, which provides music lessons to students of all ages and skill levels.
How having a Shared Office Space Affects Your Bottom Line
The bottom line. These three little words mean everything to the success of your business. Once you subtract all of the expenses and costs of operating a business from its revenue, you are left with the bottom line, aka pure profit.
Many business owners and entrepreneurs are finding success raising their bottom line by using cost-efficient shared office spaces. But how exactly does a shared office space help raise your bottom line?
