February 28th, 2014
As Britain and Europe’s economies start to turn the corner, many businesses are thinking about how to begin growing for the future. You may be considering taking on new staff and embarking on a new office rental, or even buying business property outright.
However, with the credit crunch fresh in many people’s minds and banks still often proving slow to lend, expanding your operation can look like a Catch 22 situation: You can’t grow without the cash to pay for new staff and premises – but you can’t generate the cash until you grow.
What’s more, even where banks are willing to lend, many businesses are wary of taking on debt, with all its associated costs, unless they really need to. Young companies are also understandably often nervous about investing in new branches or additional office space. This can be perceived as risky, because it means buying and leasing premises and paying staff to manage them – before you have a single new sale to show for it.
Fortunately, though, there are ways of expanding without a major outlay or the need for a hefty loan. Here’s a look at some of the options, and factors to consider before making a decision about which way forward is the best for your company.
Low-Cost, Low-Investment Routes to Growing Your Business
Going Online: It’s possible to reach many more customers and service them via online methods – but this is only suitable for some types of product and service. A cyberspace-only presence wouldn’t work as a main business option for a hypnotherapist or a hairdresser, where customers and clients need to meet in person. While a website and social media may be great routes for promoting this type of business venture, you are always going to need bricks and mortar too!
Virtual Offices: These can be a cost-effective option if you don’t need a full-blown office rental, for instance if you are mainly working in one town, but need a regular point of contact in a second area. Some virtual offices give just an address, perhaps together with other services such as phone answering or mail forwarding. Other virtual offices for rent offer packages including the use of physical workspace, with serviced meeting rooms which can be used as a place to meet clients on an ad hoc basis.
Leased Offices: Taking on offices for lease involves less outlay upfront than buying office space outright. Even so, you are usually committed to a minimum lease of 6 months or a year – and you still have to hire staff to manage the premises. Then there is the whole job of kitting them out and paying for services and utilities to be installed. Some offices to let also require a large amount of rent up front, along with deposits. All this is likely to add up to a substantial sum, meaning you will need to be in the premises for a considerable time to get your money’s worth.
In addition to the investment of money, you will also have to invest a lot of time in finding suitable commercial property for your new office. Other tasks include arranging the lease and getting everything set up before you move in. This means losing valuable time which you could be spending on running your business and keeping your customers satisfied.
Serviced Offices: If you decide that a standard office lease is not for you, serviced offices can offer a great alternative. One major advantage is the range of facilities that can be provided without any need for you to organise them separately, including many different aspects of day-to-day management. Serviced office accommodation is also likely to offer IT infrastructure, including broadband, printing and photocopying. In addition, some business centres will provide overall reception facilities and postal services.
For minimum risk, you also need to have a short commitment period, such as a rolling monthly contract, and low, fixed monthly costs. Moving into managed office space on this basis allows you to dip a toe in the water and build up business in a new area without the need for a major financial outlay right at the start.
An office rental with Basepoint offers a comprehensive range of services on a low commitment, low-risk basis. Maximum flexibility is built into the leases, meaning a business can move in quickly and only needs to give two weeks’ notice before leaving. It is also possible to relocate within one of the business centres as your needs change. Virtual offices services and fully serviced office space are available in 30 locations including Ipswich, Newhaven, Bromsgrove and Winchester.
