Taking a serviced office or coworking desk

Aug 29
3 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Introduction

A business needs somewhere to work that is not a kitchen table. The assumption is that this means a lease, a solicitor, a fit-out and a multi-year commitment, and the whole idea is postponed for another year.

Flexible space sits between working from home and taking a lease, and it suits a considerable number of small businesses that never consider it. It costs more per square metre and it removes almost every commitment and cost that makes a lease daunting, which is a trade worth evaluating rather than assuming. The comparison is rarely made because the two are assumed to be different categories.

1. Taking a serviced office or coworking desk trades cost for flexibility

Understand the trade directly.

The monthly figure looks high against a lease rent, and it includes rates, utilities, furniture, cleaning, internet and reception. Compared like for like, and with no fit-out or legal costs, the gap is considerably smaller than it appears.

2. Compare the total cost, not the rent

Where the comparison goes wrong.

A lease carries rates, service charge, insurance, utilities, fit-out, furniture, legal fees and maintenance. Adding those to a rent produces a figure that can be surprisingly close to serviced space for a small requirement. For two or three people the serviced option is frequently cheaper outright.

3. Value the absence of commitment properly

Frequently the deciding factor.

A monthly or annual arrangement, expandable and contractable, with no dilapidations and no exit negotiation. For a business that cannot forecast its size in two years, this is worth a genuine premium.

4. Read the agreement anyway

Not a lease, and not nothing.

Notice periods, deposits, what the monthly fee includes, charges for meeting rooms and printing, and how price increases are handled. These agreements are shorter than leases and still contain terms worth knowing.

5. Check what is actually included

The variable that determines the real cost.

Internet, telephone, meeting room hours, printing, refreshments, mail handling and out-of-hours access. Providers differ substantially, and extras can add materially to the headline figure.

6. Consider whether the address matters to you

A genuine benefit in some sectors.

A business address, mail handling and somewhere professional to meet clients solve a real problem for home-based businesses. For others it is an expense with no return.

7. Think about whether the environment suits the work

Not everything works in open space.

Confidential conversations, workshop activity, stock, noisy work or long periods of concentration each sit awkwardly in shared space. Visit at a busy time rather than during a quiet viewing.

8. Be realistic about growth within the building

Ask before committing.

Whether larger offices are available, at what notice, and what happens if the building is full. Flexibility is the main proposition and it depends on the provider actually having space.

9. Watch how the cost scales with headcount

Where it stops making sense.

Per-desk pricing is efficient at two or three people and becomes expensive at ten or twelve. Knowing roughly where that crossover falls tells you how long this is a solution for.

Use it as a stepping stone deliberately. A year or two in flexible space while the business establishes its size and pattern produces a far better-informed decision about a lease, and it costs much less than committing to premises you have to guess the shape of.

Conclusion

Evaluate it as a genuine option rather than assuming premises means a lease.

Compare total occupancy costs rather than rent against monthly fee, put a real value on having no commitment or dilapidations, read the agreement for notice periods and included services, establish exactly what the fee covers and what is charged separately, consider whether the address and meeting facilities solve a problem you have, check the environment suits your actual work by visiting when busy, ask about growth within the building, understand where per-desk pricing stops being efficient, and treat it as a deliberate stepping stone.