A perfect workspace is a myth. Every workspace has pros and cons. While some may give you benefits of networking, they may not offer you a quiet environment to focus. By the same token, private offices may give you a quiet environment, but that compromises your ability to develop contacts to grow your business.
Two popular kinds of workspaces today are plug and play offices and coworking spaces. Plug and play offices are the ones that offer you a plug and play ready rented office for you and/or your team. Coworking hubs, on the other hand, give you a place that is open to other working tenants in the same office. In this post, we will help you choose the one that best suits your needs.
What separates private offices from coworking spaces is that the former is leased per square meter and the latter, per person.
You must take care of the following factors while choosing a workspace:
If you own a well-established business and lack any plans to expand in the next few years, then a plug and play office can be a good choice. For startups, however, the story is different. Startups need to adapt to changes in the dynamic business environment quickly, unlike seasoned players. And when your business’s future is unpredictable, a co-working setup will help you cut down your costs and also help you with the general business administration.
This applies mostly to start-ups or businesses that are currently growing rapidly. Rapid growth brings rapid responsibility. If you want to make the most of the time of your growth, you may end up wasting time in finding the ideal accommodation. This should make you go for a co-working setup.
However, if yours is a business growing at a steady rate and you want to prioritize increasing operational efficiency for a couple of years instead of expanding mindlessly, you can spend a good amount of time finding a leased plug and play office to suit the needs of your employees.
Small teams which need a lot of concentrated communication and privacy can benefit from a small accommodation rented exclusively for their concerned business. Big teams, on the other hand, can get great cost-cutting benefits from a spacious coworking space, while giving lots of flexibility to your team.
We discussed it earlier. Businesses with no plans to expand in the next few years can benefit from a plug and play rented office. Whereas, coworking spaces are great for infant businesses.
This is tricky. You need to weigh your budget in terms of both long-term and short-term goals. As mentioned previously, coworking offices seem pricey at face value. They are priced per person instead of per square meter.
However, if you look at the bigger picture, you will understand that moving to a co-working setup can play an instrumental role in stepping up your business growth. It brings you invaluable long-term benefits such as opportunities for learning from other coworkers, developing a big network therefrom and collaborating on several projects.
If you lack enough experience and want to learn as much as possible in less time, you may benefit immensely from a working setup, as long as you can afford one.
Companies with big teams like Snapdeal moved 90 of its employees to a coworking hub. Such examples tell us that businesses, both big and small, understand the benefits of a coworking space and invest wisely.
We are certain that you liked our little comparison guide between coworking spaces and plug and play offices. Hope you make the best choice!
Happy hustling!