Your tenant representative has advice that could save you thousands of dollars, but if you’re like most entrepreneurs, then you’re not listening to them – and you should be. The following is the best advice to start taking if you really want to get the best deal on your office space.
When launching a new business, one of the many questions entrepreneurs ask is where they will house their operations. For some, their home or garage is a convenient, affordable place to start – just ask tech giants like Microsoft, Apple and Google – but when it comes time to finding a more permanent and professional home for their company, many small business owners are overwhelmed by the number of options available to them.
Starting a business at home, whether it’s in the garage, basement or home office, is often a short-term solution to a long-term need. As a company brings on clients and employees, it’s important for them to have a long-term real estate plan in place that allows them to scale operations and relocate quickly and efficiently should they ever outgrow their space.
Whether U.S. businesses are still on a staffing pause due to the recession, or feeling optimistic about the economy, there is a new trend reshaping office markets across the country: rightsizing. And while this term doesn’t always imply a decrease in space, that has certainly been the case with most businesses, especially law firms.
In fact, a recent report from Chicago-based real estate services firm JLL found that law firms, on average, shed 17 percent of their space upon relocating in 2014 – up from 14 percent in 2013 – with many moving administrative functions off-site and, in some cases, adopting open-office floor plans that allow them to further reduce their real estate expenses. While this trend has most commonly been associated with the legal sector, other industries are adopting a similar strategy as they seek to maximize efficiency and facilitate collaboration in the workplace.
Last year marked the strongest year for hiring since 1999, but rather than expanding their offices, many U.S. employers have started fitting more employees into less space as they seek to reduce their real estate expenses and embrace the open-office model.
The average amount of space allocated to a North American office worker dropped from 225 square feet in 2010 to 176 in 2012, a decrease of more than 20 percent, according to CoreNet Global, a corporate real estate association. Businesses that were forced to reduce their footprint during the recession are now choosing to lease less space, even as their employee count returns to pre-recession levels, a trend that has ignited a debate over how small is too small when it comes to individual workspaces.
What’s the best way to promote teamwork and collaboration in the workplace?
Shared offices have become a popular choice for everyone from freelancers and “solopreneurs” to large national and international businesses looking to open short-term or satellite locations in new markets. While these alternative office environments have the obvious benefit – Class A space at a price smaller users can afford – they also come with a number of free perks tenants may not even think about when searching for office space.
Some people dream of a job where they can sit on their bum all day. Obviously, these people don’t work behind a desk.
It’s no secret that sitting all day can be bad for our bodies, but do you know just how bad? Recent research has shown that being sedentary for long periods of time is literally killing us. Our chances are greatly increased for practically all ailments; heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, obesity, etc. And that’s not all. Sitting at a desk all day can cause major spine and alignment issues, shoulder pain, eye strain and migraines if you stare at a computer, and wrist problems if using a keyboard.
The scary part is that even those who are physically active are still at “high risk.” So if regular exercise can’t combat this serious problem, what will?
Shared office centers are known for their ability to bring together professionals from different backgrounds and businesses, some of which have been around a few weeks and others that have been in business for several decades.
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.
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.
