Dedicated Office Set-up Vs Flexi-desks

One of the few major concerns when setting-up a new business is whether and where to lease/ rent office space for the company. A number of factors need to be taken into consideration while deciding which option to go for. The options we are discussing in this article are proper office set-up and Flexi desks.

What is a dedicated office set-up?

• It is the traditional style office space where business owns and operates in the entire space.
• The advantage of owning one’s own separate office is that the space can be created to cater to the specific needs for smoothly running the business operations.
• The company might choose to have few open layouts but mostly traditional workspaces focus on individual work. Keeping that in mind, traditional offices mostly have private offices or cubicles. These offices have dedicated areas for individual work and meetings or conferences.
• All administrative, IT, utilities, maintenance of the office is taken care of by the business
• Minimum of two years of lease should be taken.

What are Flexi desks or Flexispaces?

• Different companies, creatives, freelancers can share the space to work and spaces to hang-out and socialize.
• These have shared meeting rooms and shared internet and amenities.
• There are four types:

1. Shared co-working space/ hot desks: first-come, first-serve, communal space;
2. Desks: rented for individual workers by them or their employers;
3. Private offices: for a low number of employees (some may house more than 30);
4. Meeting spaces: can be rented at per-hour basis.

Proper Office Set-up vs. Fexidesks

• Cost:

Perfect for start-ups or SMEs as no need for renting office space. One can rent as per requirement. However, for big companies with huge number of employees, leasing traditional office spaces might be more cost-effective. Even for freelancers or consultants it might be cheaper to work from home or a coffee-shop than renting a flexidesk.

• Environment and work-culture:

The recent trend to increase productivity is to create the office as a fun, encouraging space. Flexidesks provide you just that. With increased morale, employees working out of flexidesks see a huge spike in their productivity. For large businesses which need more control over branding and work culture, flexidesks can be a poor choice. The set up or layout cannot be changed as and when required and one cannot dictate which room is used for what purpose in case of flexispaces. Sharing space with other industries may cause distraction that hampers individual work.

• Flexibility:

One has the freedom and flexibility to increase or decrease the number of flexidesks rented depending on their business requirement.

• Networking vs. Privacy and distractions:

Communal spaces help to mingle, exchange knowedge & expand one’s network and thus enhance their connections as well as client-base. Sharing working space can hinder work that needs focus and precision. Shared desks or meeting rooms can also an issue for companies that need their work to be private or confidential, like law, etc.

• Office management:

Administration, IT, utilities, etc. are all taken care of by the flexispace owner thus leaving time for businesses to focus on their core competencies. This also means less control over everything.

• Location:

Flexispaces are mostly located in central business locations that adds to the business’s success. These locations are costly and might prove difficult for SMEs/ start-ups or small-budget entities to rent a full-on office space there.

• Scheduling clashes:

Shared conference rooms may give rise to scheduling clashes which can be avoided in case of one’s own office. Some businesses prefer traditional proper office spaces, few prefer the Flexidesks and in this day and age many are even going for a hybrid model where they have office spaces as well as Flexidesks. The factors that should ideally govern one’s choice are the sector or industry in which the business operates, the size of the team required to carry out the business, budget of the whole endeavor and the type of operation being run. Flyingcolour Business setup services has been helping clients since the past 17 years. For any queries or assistance please feel free to mail at info@flyingcolour.com or contact us at +971 4 4542366.