For many businesses, the start of a new year holds exciting opportunities as they look toward the future. But for companies that signed leases on or around January 1, the new year can also bring unexpected challenges in the form of rent increases that can cause real estate budgets to soar.
If you work in a shared office space, chances are, you have been invited to networking events and turned them down. Maybe you were actually busy, or maybe you thought they would be a boring waste of time. Actually, these events can be incredibly beneficial, and any business person serious about their growth should invest some extra attention into them.
Networking events can help you expand your network (big surprise, right?) of colleagues, mentors, customers, employees, friends, the list can go on. You never know what kind of connections might spring from them. And we are all familiar with the old adage, “It’s not what you know, but who you know”. This is a valuable benefit to working in a Chicago shared office space.
Demand for freelancers continued to climb in 2014 as employers sought to streamline operations and reduce overhead, and if the latest numbers are any indication, the trend shows no sign of slowing in the months and years ahead.
In fact, it’s estimated that freelancers, defined as “individuals who have engaged in supplemental, temporary, or project- or contract-based work in the past 12 months,” currently account for 34 percent of the U.S. workforce, contributing more than $700 billion to the nation’s economy each year. While experts have varying opinions on how quickly the freelance economy will grow – some predict independent workers will make up as much as 50 percent of the workforce by 2020 – the general consensus is that the “full-time job with benefits” is falling out of favor with workers who increasingly prefer the flexibility of the project-to-project lifestyle.
Beautiful photography can work magic in the eyes of its beholder. It can re-invent a time or place long lost or changed. It can take us to a destination we’ve never been to before. It can evoke emotions we didn’t know we felt and even help us sympathize with the emotions of others. To top it all off- it just looks great.
Inspiring and eye-catching photography like this hangs on the walls of two of Amata’s Chicago shared office spaces at 150 S. Wacker and 225 W. Washington. The photographer responsible for these striking photos is Tony Reynes, the founder of Northshore Digital Photography. His photographs have attracted the attention of Amata’s clients and their guests, so we want to give you a re-cap on a quick chat we recently had with Tony himself. But first…
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 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.
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?
Do you love Chicago, but aren’t sure if working here is right for you? If you’ve never worked in the Windy City, it may seem a little intimidating at first. It is the third largest city in the U.S. after all. It’s big, it’s busy, and it boasts a huge population of hard-core professionals. Does Chicago even have room for anyone else?
Well, let us assure you it does. And despite any setbacks the city might have, they don’t hold a candle to the value of working in Chicago.
Chicago offers employment opportunities in almost any trade you can imagine. Be it business, finance, manufacturing, tech, communication, information, transportation, or health- Chicago offers them all and so much more. This makes it a promising work destination for nearly anyone.
But that’s not the only reason it’s worth working in Chicago. Check out our list of our favorite perks of working in Chicago.
