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OFFICE SPACE NORTH DORSET
If you’re at the point in your business life where you’re beginning to think “how do I find the perfect office space near me?” then this article is for you!
Finding the perfect office space near you can be challenging and time consuming and definitely something you don’t want to get wrong.
So, as a serviced office space provider ourselves (having seen and heard it all over the years), we’ve put together a detailed article to help ensure you get things right the first time.
The most important first step when it comes to finding office space near you is to define exactly what your business needs.
This might sound obvious, but making sure you spend time clearly thinking through these things first, will help make your search quick and stress-free.
How much space you require will come down to a few things:
Our advice would be to think about the next two to three years and where you see your business in that time.
The beauty of our own serviced office space is that the license terms are flexible, so if you do decide to scale up (or even down), it only requires 2 weeks notice meaning you aren’t stuck.
Many of our tenants find this extremely beneficial as this flexibility has allowed them to grow their businesses without having to relocate and also scale back if things get tight.
Where you base your business is definitely still very important, but perhaps slightly less so these days.
Location definitely doesn’t have to limit the scope of the geographical areas within which you work (depending on the nature of your business of course).
Your business’s physical location does however need to be easily accessible not only for you, but also any employees you have.
However in this day and age of “hybrid working” you may have employees only coming into the office for only one or two days per week, so the commute time isn’t such an issue.
This might give you much more flexibility and allow you to open up your search for office space to a slightly larger area, in order to find great value and great facilities.
When finding office space you’ll also need to think about any new business meetings or existing clients that might need to visit your office.
Having onsite meeting rooms is extremely useful and you’ll be pleased to know that at The Wincombe Centre we have two meeting rooms available to hire at discounted rates for tenants.
This makes it easy to host client meetings and even carry out staff meetings and appraisals too.
Next up it’s important to budget for your office space. What can you afford and what will that get you in terms of space and square footage?
Office space doesn’t have to be as expensive as you might think, and with our units starting at around £200 (every four weeks), it’s a minimal investment versus the huge benefits it will provide.
Our top tip when looking at local office space for rent would be to get clear on whether the cost being shown online includes your bills (electricity, gas and water), as this generally won’t be included with the vast majority of offices you look to rent.
We’re pleased to say however, this isn’t the case at The Wincombe Centre and your four weekly license fee also covers your electricity, gas and water without you having to budget anything extra.
Another consideration many people forget about is the cost of business rates, which can be really crippling to many small businesses if you haven’t budgeted for it.
The government charges a tax on offices that have a “rateable value” of over £15,000 (correct at the time of writing). You can check out the Gov.uk website for more information.
You’ll be pleased to know that all of The Wincombe Centre’s units have a rateable value under this threshold, so as long as this is your one and only business premises, you will qualify for small business rate relief and won’t have to pay this tax.
Now that you’re crystal clear on what you need from your office space and the location(s) you are happy to be based in, it’s time to start the search.
We’d recommend staying away from the big property search sites such as Rightmove and Instant Offices, and instead fire up Google and search for “office space near me”.
Skip past the links to the big property sites and start to explore the websites’ of the serviced office providers that come up in your area.
The benefit of doing this is that you’ll get an instant feel for how each serviced office comes across, what their offices look like, the size of the units on offer, current availability and pricing information too.
You might even be able to look at the businesses already based within and even see testimonials from them too.
Once you’ve made a shortlist of two or three office spaces you like, it’s time to make contact!
We’d suggest picking up the phone for a chat (but email is fine if you’re strapped for time) so you can get instant answers to any preliminary questions you might have.
Ultimately it’s really important to arrange a visit, so schedule a date and time that works for you and head out to visit each office space so you can see it in the flesh and make sure it’s right for you.
Once you’ve found office space you want to proceed with, you should then be presented with:
Make sure you read everything in detail, ask any questions and look out for the things we’ve mentioned above, such as:
Having to pay a small deposit upfront is common place at all serviced office centres, so don’t be put off by that – it should be completely refundable if and when you decide to move on.
Exciting! You’re about to move into your new office.
Once you’ve got a date arranged to move in, the process should be pretty simple.
At The Wincombe Centre we do a short handover, providing you with your keys and letting you know a date on which you can move in – which can usually be arranged extremely quickly after we’ve received your signed license agreement.
Depending on the size of business you are, it may take you a couple of hours to move in, or a couple of days.
However long it takes, you’ll be pleased to know that you can either move in during working hours, or (due to our 24/7 access) move in out of hours, so as not to cause too much disruption to your working day.
It’s also important to note that at The Wincombe Centre, you can be up and running with your phone line and internet connection on the day you move in, so you won’t face business interruptions.
We hope our article has helped you make the best plan for finding office space near you.
It’s a hugely exciting (but often daunting) prospect, but if you follow the steps in our article you’ll find the perfect office for your business, allowing you to grow your business in the coming years.
If you are on the lookout for office space in North Dorset, then please do get in touch. We offer incredible value for money, with office space to rent from as little as £200 every four weeks.
If you’d like more information please give Wendy, our centre manager, a call for a friendly chat.
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