Part II: New Year, New Venture, New Office?

Business centres have a lot of uses and caters to several types of businesses in various stages.

It could be the ideal set-up for start-up companies, break-away companies, local and international businesses.

As discussed in my previous post, a business centre can offer the services of a virtual office, to an office facility with staff  on demand depending on your personal needs and the requirements of your business.

In part I, I discussed about the virtual office and what comes with it.  Now, I will blog about the other services and features of business centres.

Most business centres will have the following facilities:

•  Office Space – It could be an office suite for 1 to 100+ people fully furnished and ready to use.
•  Reception Area
•  Meeting and Video Conference Rooms – Fully furnished with technical equipment. Some even comes with   technical support on call.
• Kitchen – It usually comes with a complimentary coffee or tea.
• Common Areas
• Parking Areas

It usually comes with the following services:

• Telephone Service
• Printers, fax machines, scanners and copiers
• Mail delivery and postage
• Security system in place
• Internet/Broadband access
• Cleaning service

Some offer the following additional facilities and services:

• On-site center manager
• Secretarial and support services such as telephone answering, call patching services and more.
• Continuous IT maintenance and support
• On-site utilities and maintenance
• 24/7 availability
• Access to a fitness centre, swimming pool and some even have an all weather sports courts.

Benefits of using a Business Centre

• Flexible terms: Private working space or furnished office rooms are available from 1 hour, days, weeks, months to years! It all depends on the flexible lease time and packages offered by your chosen business centre. You don’t need to commit yourself to a long-term lease that is usually imposed by most commercial offices for lease.
• Move-in immediately and utilize your time more on how to grow your business than set-up an office. 
• Minimal start-up costs. No capital investments in office furniture and equipment.
• Flexible growth and downsizing.  You can upgrade to a bigger space later as your business grows. Some even offer leasing services should you a need to move into a permanent office facility for your business.
• Save on staff, you can choose to use the services of a secretary and IT support on demand. You can concentrate on hiring the staff that you need on a daily basis to make your business grow.
• Professional business address and image for your businees.
• Professional work space and possibly a more fun atmosphere, since you are working in an environment where other businesses are also operating.  You may even get clients within the business centre.  In fact, some centres offer social functions where you can network with other businesses within the centre, within the building or within its network of business centres.
• Some business centres can expand your access to its facilities in its other locations within the area, other domestic city centres and some even to international locations.

In the end, the most important feature of any business centre irregardless of the facilities would still be the location!  A business centre is a type of commercial real estate.  Compared to any other type of real estate, the location says a lot about the business centre.  In fact, most of them emphasizes on their location more than any of  its other features. Sometimes, its the one thing that gives them an edge over the other business centres.  So if you are looking for a new office this year, don’t get smitten with the nice interiors and other facilities you don’t really need…remember it’s just the icing on the on the cake…concentrate on the best location where you think will give the utmost benefit for your business!