LONDON – REAL ESTATE – Starting a new business venture is always exciting, and there’s barely any feeling out there that compares to the promise of building something from the ground up. However, it’s the kind of thing that will present various obstacles from day 1. One of the first such obstacles is the fact that you will need to choose a place to buy or rent, which will constitute your office space. You might think that you don’t need such a thing right now, but eventually, you will. You’ll realize that you need a dedicated office space in order to accommodate all the business needs that can’t be catered for with a living room coffee table, especially if you throw children into the mix!
In that respect, we have prepared a couple of useful tips on how you should go about finding such a place to buy or rent.
Try looking for a cost-effective solution
An office space is a pretty big deal, but you mustn’t let ego take over, or put your wants ahead of needs. Whilst a swanky office will make you feel like you have made it, your bottom line may not look all that favorable. For a first time office, you should look into securing a rather inexpensive office solution. Calculate the space that you will need based on the number of employees and how often they will be office based. Will you need to store stock or inventory, will you have clients visiting? If you don’t really need a big, expensive space, don’t get one. Instead, let your profit margin grow, and ultimately your business will begin to prosper. Explore the option of renting V’s buying. You could also join a business incubator or even sublet from another business that has excess space. Many businesses are opting for shared space these days and if your business is in its infancy, you would do well to opt for a flexible solution, so if the business doesn’t go as planned, you aren’t tied into a legally binding contract for the next 10 years.
Get a tenant broker
If you’re not all that versed in finding commercial property and the jargon associated with it, you might want to hire a tenant broker. A tenant broker basically takes care of everything for you. They will find out what is available in your chosen area, arrange viewings and negotiate contracts. A tenant broker possess so much knowledge about occupancy levels, up and coming developments and all of the legalities associated with leasing a commercial property which they can explain to you so you don’t make any critical contractual errors (It happens more often than you think!) A tenant broker provides a free service to you and will receive their fee from the landlord or property owner of where you take space, so why wouldn’t you use one!?
Stay away from multi-year deals
It’s in a landlord’s nature to try and lock you down. This means trying to secure a deal with you which would tie you to that specific location for multiple years. As I mentioned previously, this isn’t advisable in the early days because you can’t predict what your business will be like more than a year from now. Of course, you have forecasts, but these, unfortunately, aren’t always realized. New businesses often need to resize, reconfigure and reevaluate their activities and diversify their services in order to establish a buoyant business, this all takes time. Being tied down to a multi-year lease can be a big problem in such a situation. Having a lease deal for a single year offers you the freedom and control you need in order to make the right decisions for your business.
Leasing more than the office space
Leasing the office space is one thing, but many entrepreneurs fail to think about the possibility of renting out more than just the physical space for the office. Once that is secured, you will still need to invest in furniture, equipment and all kinds of things like that. However, renting these as well instead of buying them can provide a highly significant benefit to your finances and make it a lot easier on your budget.
