Understanding which office space to use for your business can be a huge factor in your financial success.
After all, rent is one of the biggest expenses faced by many Australian businesses.
But not every business needs a fully occupied office space. We’ve seen rental prices increase across Australia, but also many alternative office spaces to counteract this rental rise.
The good news is you have options – and plenty of them!
Take a quick two minute read below to see which office space can save you a significant amount on rent liability, and which ones can even make you more productive!
The Classic Tried & True: Full Office Space
The most obvious choice for your business’s place of work is a full time office rental.
This comes with certain advantages:
- Like having a permanent base of operations
- A certain projection of authenticity
- Increased space to grow your team
- And if you’re lucky: aircon!
However, this type of space is really only good for businesses that can afford it.
For small businesses, the price of renting an office can oftentimes be their biggest expense.
Thinking you need an office in order to operate can often lead to pressuring yourself into overextended financially – just so you appear to be professional.
Before committing to a full office space you’ll want to consult with an accountant on whether or not your cash flow can support the rental expense.
Furthermore, you’ll want to ask yourself if the advantages of an office are worth the price for your business:
- Offices are great for large teams – do you have more than one or two team members?
- If you have lots of client meetings, offices are very convenient – how many meetings per month do you have?
- Does your team absolutely need to be together 24/7? – Or can you simply have a zoom call once a week
There’s Nothing Wrong With Sharing Your Office Space!
Shared office spaces have become increasingly popular in the last five years – and for good reason.
They provide sole traders and small – two to three person – teams with:
- A consistent place of work
- Meeting rooms
- Facilities such as bathrooms, kitchen, working space, free coffee, etc
- And networking options with other businesses
All without having to manage the premises!
The biggest advantage of shared office spaces is the networking potential: you could be sharing your office space with ten or a hundred other businesses on an average day.
Many of these businesses could be looking to collaborate, or even be the perfect client for you!
The downside of course is that larger versions of these spaces can become quite loud and chaotic.
Additionally, you still have to pay rent for your workspace – although not as much as your own office would be.
Working From Home Is No Longer A Trend; It’s A Reality
Many sole traders & freelancers were pioneers of working from home in the early days. To this day, it is still the most popular office choice in the freelancing industry.
But ever since covid, working from home has entered the mainstream: many Australian businesses are offering work from home options one or two days a week.
Indeed, plenty of employees have come to expect it as an option.
One of the biggest advantages to working from home is that it can cut your rental expenses to net zero. In turn, this allows you to focus those funds into growing your business through marketing.
You’ll also be much more comfortable at home; however, this comes as a double edged sword.
People tend to be far less productive when they are at home and easily distracted. You will need to stay focused and use far more discipline on yourself than if you were outside home at an office.
Consider A Mobile Meeting Place – Variety Is The Spice Of Life!
In this day and age, technology has an immense amount of leverage when it comes to flexibility.
One unconventional strategy you may want to employ is renting out a meeting room, rather than a whole or shared office.
Many businesses – such as hotels, convention centers, and restaurants – now allow you to rent out their meeting rooms for a few hours.
You can use this strategy to wow big clients at a particularly beautiful restaurant, for example.
Or, if you rarely have meetings – but when you do, it’s fairly important – this can provide a flexible option that is light on your office expenses.
Do You Even Need An Office?
The best part about some industries?
You don’t even need an office!
This logic can apply particularly well to the trades industry. The following trades do not typically require a static office of any kind:
- Builders
- Carpenters
- Plumbers
- Building and Pest Inspection
- Renderers
Instead of needing an office, businesses of these kinds can typically make do with a barebones website, phone number and email.
As you’ll be on site most of the time anyway, an office space may just be a liability in terms of rent.
Not many clients will need to visit your office as a builder, for example, as they will prefer you to visit their project site!
Office Space Sorted – How’s Your Cashflow Looking?
Congratulations! You now know which type of office space is the best environment for elevating your financial success.
Another crucial factor in your business’s continued success is asset and liability management – and an office space can be both, at different times.
So, who better to advise you on the best path – or office space – forward than a registered bookkeeper from The A Firm!
Give us a call today and we’ll talk you through exactly how much money you can save and grow from your new office space.