Serviced Offices If you need to give out a professional image, but cannot afford to spend thousands on expensive furniture, then serviced offices may provide a suitable alternative.
A serviced office is a ready to use, fully furnished office, projecting a highly professional look without you having to actually buy all the necessary equipment.
Serviced offices are good for short term office space. They are more expensive than standard offices, but are available on shorter contracts; making them useful for fast expanding businesses that may need to upgrade their space every 6 months.
For long term office space, it is cheaper to buy equipment and lease an ordinary office. Also, this allows you to sell equipment when you no longer need it, recovering some of your costs.
As a rough guideline, if you are looking to stay in an office for less than six months, a serviced office can help provide flexible office arrangements without upfront furniture costs. If you are looking to stay for more than six months, it is probably cheaper to buy your equipment and furniture and rent a conventional office.
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Summary - Key Points to Remember
Online purchasing and mail/phone order is usually the cheapest way to order supplies and equipment. However, if you wish to see the goods (particularly important with furniture) then an actual shop is the only real option.
A purchasing company can provide your supplies whilst also giving you valuable advice on the amounts and types of products you need.
With 'technology' equipment, make sure you know whether the product you are buying will do the right job and is not overpriced.
Office furniture can be custom made, but this is very expensive and is a waste of money for most small businesses. Unless customers will be visiting your office, there is no little point in spending huge amounts of money on stylish furniture when a cheaper equivalent will work just as well.
Management of your supplies and ordering is vital to ensure that the prices and the number of items are right. A purchasing company can help you manage your orders more effectively.
If you give employees the power to order supplies, ensure that all orders are checked and authorised by a member of management first. This will help prevent theft or crossed-over orders.
Second hand or refurbished goods can save you a lot of money, but be certain (especially with auctions) that you are not buying a heavily damaged or broken product.
Leasing can allow you to use a product without needing to pay for it upfront. However, because you do not own the product you must look at the agreement carefully. In many cases it is better to pay the full amount and recoup some costs through selling the product when it is no longer needed.
A serviced office will provide you with a furnished office. However, if you plan to remain in the same office for the long term, it is cheaper to buy the furniture and lease a standard office.
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