Arguably the most important step in searching for an office to rent is where it is located. This plays a massive role from an economic standpoint, looking at both how much it costs, and how much money is gained.

The area in which you rent implicates the number of sales you make. Having access to clients and the prospect of networking opportunities is subject to the type of business you own. Reflecting on your target audience and renting a space where the local community needs your business ensures that you are sought out for and customers will contact you for your services. Moreover, finding an area where you are not in competition and accordingly are in high demand means that you can raise your prices because the help you provide is rare and unique to your area. If the location is densely populated with businesses similar to yours, competition will be higher and there is less chance of success.

Another factor to look at is the consideration of your employees. Most businesses require a large number of employees and so it is of utmost importance to choose an area your employees will be able to commute to and from, for instance where there is parking spaces, bus and train stations, or nearby taxi ranks. Another factor to consider is if the roads are congested and if there is parking, as ensuring there is parking spaces and no traffic eliminates unnecessary time wastage. In contrast, if your business is small, it is worth noting the general area of where your employees live and choosing a building relatively close, so that they will not have to relocate or drive many miles. This is especially important if travel costs are included in your employee’s contract.

Lastly, the rent per month will be different based on the area you chose. From a price perspective, smaller businesses should look for cities that rent office spaces with a generally lower fee, as it is not wise to cut into your profit when you could instead find a more suitable location based on the amount you are willing to spend.

When renting, there can be a range of modifications allowed to be made in the space you are leasing. Before signing anything, it is vital to get a copy of the agreement and read thoroughly through the rules stated in the document to get a visual of the things you are within your rights to change. In most circumstances, landlords allow repainting and remodelling to a certain extent, however if the renting period expires and the space is not the same as it was initially, the safety deposit may not be given back. Due to this, extreme remodelling and knocking down walls may not be an option, and so it is important to pick an office that already has a similar layout to what you envision for your company. When looking at many different spaces you must take into account the conditions in which they are originally, and calculate how much the cost will be to decorate each of them into your desired office. Take into account the layout; for a successful office there must be structure. Especially in larger businesses, there must be separate and distinguished areas that serve for different functions. For instance, there must be a designated area for meetings and conferences, a separate room for private discussions and an area for a cafeteria or breaks.

Maintenance costs are defined as costs sustained in order to keep things in satisfactory working order. Invoices to take into account are Wi-Fi, telephone and electricity, especially if utilities are not included in your rent. Before leasing you should ensure that there is a high level of quality in the preservation of such things. It may also be worth noting that there may be alterations to your business insurance policy when changing location or upgrading from a basic policy.

Often the proposal of renting a new space is to promote expansion and this means that the office(s) will be bigger than before. Cost must be factored into how much space you want to have and how much space you should leave for further development. Before you search, set a firm budget for your monthly rent that you can go only slightly below or above for, and have an idea of roughly how long you want to lease the place for. Once you have decided on the budget, you must give thought as to how big the area you want to rent will be. Optimally, you want to have enough room to fit your anticipated layout into, but also leave an extra bit of space for the future. If you plan on renting for a while, it would be in your best interest to save a few square meters where you can add more furnishings to accommodate new employees if need be. If you fail to meet requirements for an increase in staff it could have dire consequences for the future, as the inability to match the demands of the client runs the risk of bad reviews and an unreliable reputation. If you had to break the lease early due to this and search for a new and bigger office, there would be consequences and additional fees.

There are a number of different businesses with their own individual targets and principles, and thus a range of different office room types that all vary based on business size and budget. The average cost of an office space per month per person can be between £150 to £1500, which is dependant on anything from location to type of space. Hence it is good to review each type of office and find the perfect one based on your budget.

Traditional office spaces are the oldest and most popular office space. They usually include a reception area which is the first point of contact for customers, separate cubicles for employees which limits the amount of contact between them, and one large communal room for important meetings.

The opposite type of office to this is creative spaces, where there are no cubicles for each individual employee and instead a general area fitted with copious desks and space. Whilst this space may have one private room for meetings, these types of office encourage communication and openness between co-workers. A creative space may be more appealing to new businesses that wish to spend less money by having shared resources instead of separate machineries for each person, and saving money by being able to fit more employees per unit area instead of separate rooms or booths. A business can lease this space for all of their employees to work in together.

If you have a bigger company, it may be worthwhile to consider a contiguous office space. This is where a large business may rent a number of offices in the same building, as one large office would not suffice. If there are many offices on different floors, this could be for each office to correlate to a different department within the business, however there is also the opportunity to rent offices on the same floor and have them combine.

Ensuring that your business is within its rights of the law to operate in the area it occupies is vital, as failure to do so can result in its closure. Checking your business’ compliance means that the government has all the correct legal information about what your company does. In addition to this, the law also states various rules required of the infrastructure, and so checking that the building is already equipped with emergency fire plans, limits waste, has strict hygiene and protects the environment can prevent problems in the future.

Some extras come included in the rental agreement and are part of the monthly rent. This is something to consider when picking from many options, as finding services like cleaning crews or paying for Wi-Fi on top of the rent may not be included in the budget. It is better to find a lease with some maintenance features already included, as even though this could cost slightly more per month, it would save money and time from hiring others or searching for your own telephone or internet providers. It would also be cheaper in the long run, as these services are usually used by the whole building and therefore the price would be split, making it ultimately lower.

Knowing roughly how long you wish to rent an office space for can be very handy in managing costs and finding the best prices. Renting for over a year or a longer period of time has to be thoughtfully planned out, because a lease has certain stipulations for termination and if these are not met and the agreement is broken, there are penalties involved and deposits are not given back. It is better to stick to a shorter plan, because if you wish to continue renting then the plan can simply be extended. However, if you are starting a new business, or there is a possibility of the business failing, it is not in your best interest to lease a new office or do so for a long period of time.

Having a clear contingency plan is very important when looking to rent an office space. If for any reason the lease should be discontinued or the area can no longer be of use, there must be a plan in place to take care of this. For instance, if your office space is the target of a natural disaster like an earthquake or flooding, there must be an emergency evacuation plan and an idea of what further action needs to be taken. Similarly, if there is damage to power lines and networks and the employees cannot get any of their work done, there must be a solution already devised to minimise the loss from the company.

Overall, there are many things to be considered when renting an office space. The aim of our website is to make the process easier, by comparing costs and optimizing your chance of success. There is a vast variety of spaces open for renting to be considered which can take a great deal of time, so it is important to first decide on the features you most wish to have based on the type of business you possess, and then eliminate those that do not match up to your expectations. From there, you can look at only the promising choices, and finally find your dream office rental!