In the initial days when you’re running your startup on a shoestring budget, working from your basement or garage may seem like an appealing option.
After all, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs created Apple’s first devices in a small garage in California. Kevin Plank launched Under Armour from the basement of his grandmother’s townhouse. And Jeff Bezos founded Amazon from his garage in Washington.
As you grow your operations, however, you’ll realize that in order to truly set up your startup for success, you need to rent a proper workspace where you can meet clients and have employees working productively. And if you’re struggling to find a cost-effective launchpad that helps in scaling your startup growth, renting a coworking space may just be the answer. That’s because a coworking space:
Offers Increased Flexibility
Renting traditional office space usually means signing an expensive lease that binds you for a few years. What’s more, you will also have to shell out big bucks for office furniture, rental insurance, and administrative necessities such as office supplies and internet connection.
On the other hand, renting a coworking space is synonymous with flexibility. Signing up for a coworking space is like becoming a member of a club that provides you with all the necessities such as workstations, meeting rooms, and office equipment on a subscription basis (such as monthly or quarterly) which means no long-term commitment. You can easily upgrade or downgrade your plan as and when you hire new team members or downsize.
Improves Your Brand Image
Whether you like it or not, appearances do matter. If you run your startup from your garage, you will likely be viewed as “not a serious business” and thus, treated lightly by potential leads and clients. So to be taken seriously, your startup needs to have a proper business address that proves your legitimacy and professionalism.
That’s exactly what happens when you rent a coworking space. You’ll have a professional phone and mailing address in a prime business location instead of your home, call answering by a live receptionist, company branding on your coworking desks/cabins, and all the other stuff you need to showcase your startup as a serious business to potential clients.
Provides Ample Networking Opportunities
A coworking space is an energetic work environment that you’ll share with other entrepreneurs, small business owners, and freelancers. This provides you with endless opportunities to network and build business relationships that may be valuable in the future.
In fact, your coworking space may also be an excellent source of immediate business support and advice. You may meet experienced founders that can guide you in the right direction and refer you to the right people (such as investors or potential clients). You may meet freelancers who can help you out when you need something to be done urgently.
Plus, many coworking spaces also host frequent events, workshops, and fun activities that facilitate networking amongst the coworking community. Simply put, renting a coworking space means your company would become a part of a community of like-minded people and this can play a huge role in scaling your startup.
Allows Access to Amenities You May Not Be Able to Afford Otherwise
As a startup, it’s understandable that you likely don’t have the budget to provide world-class facilities to your employees such as a fitness center, gaming area, and gourmet machines. And even if you do, it makes sense to invest it in activities that directly help scale your startup instead of on an espresso machine.
However, renting a coworking space means your company has access to top-notch amenities such as breakout spaces (with ping pong and pool tables), ergonomic workstations, coffee machines, healthy snacks and beverages, meeting rooms, high-speed internet, and more.
Such amenities are typically included in a cost-effective all-inclusive package designed for startups like yours, which means you don’t need to have a big budget to allow your team to enjoy top-notch amenities, while you can focus your funds on scaling your startup.
All of this, in turn, also…
Makes for Happier Employees
All these first-class amenities, combined with a lively environment that enables employees to interact with like-minded peers and make new connections, add up to create a happier and more motivated team.
Many coworking spaces go the extra mile to create a strong community-like feeling in the workplace by regularly hosting bonding activities such as Monday morning breakfast meetups, movie screenings, and gaming tournaments in which all coworkers can partake. From time to time, they may also conduct free health checkups for all members of the community.
Together, these things make for more enthusiastic and productive employees that would actually look forward to coming to work. And happier, more efficient employees directly translates into better business output and growth for your startup.
Conclusion
In light of these five reasons and more, it is clear that renting a coworking space can seriously help you scale your startup to new heights.
So, if you’re looking for a flexible way to cut costs on office space without cutting any corners in terms of workplace amenities and employee satisfaction, and also benefit from the networking opportunities inherent to shared workspaces, it’s about time you rent a coworking space for your startup.
