New Venture Lab: Equipping Christian Entrepreneurs

Question

What options are there for office space that will give my small company a professional image, but keep my costs low?

Answer

There are many good options to choose from including the following:

• Virtual address only - most UPS/Mail Boxes Etc. storefront type of services offer a physical street address (which is actually a P.O. Box but it works off of a physical suite number address) that you can use to keep your privacy rather than using your home address.  These offerings do not offer any type of office space or meeting space services.  These types of services are typically only $10 - $20 per month.
• Virtual office - most executive office centers such as HQ Global offer a Class A office address in a high-end office building with live reception services that answer a discrete phone number with the name of your company and forward the call to you.  Voice mail and other telephone-based services are normally included.  They also have conference room rentals, copiers, faxes, etc. that you can use for extra fees.  This option works well for a small company that has meetings from time to time and that want someone to answer their office number for them.  The virtual office with live reception answering is typically $150 - $200 per month.
• Executive office - all executive office centers such as HQ Global offer office suites (furnished or unfurnished) for small early-stage businesses that only want to commit to a short-term lease for one or two offices.  Their services bundle includes telephone, fax, voice mail, live reception services, conference room usage, etc.  This option works well if you need a physical office space to go work in on most days rather than working in your home.  Executive office rental are typically $1,000 - $1,500 per month for each office space that accomodates one or two people.
• Office within an office - from time-to-time companies will have extra offices that could be used easily by a "friend of the firm" to simply drop into an office or cubicle space to work.  Network, telephone, conference rooms, etc. would all be shared with the host company.  This option works well if you know the owner/CEO of the company, know that they have extra space and you do not need any formal "presence" such as the name of your company on the buildling marquee.  These deals are relationship based and the "rental" fee might run from a few hundred dollars a month to several hundred dollars per month.  For them it is a chance to get some extra revenue for space they are not currently using, while for you it is an office space you can immediately drop into without committing to a long-term lease.
• Sublease - by going through a commercial broker, you can typically find some good sublease deals on space that companies are committed to a lease on, but no longer need.  The value of the space is usually subsidized by the lease holder and the term is a short-term deal since you will only be subleasing for the remainder of the lease.  For example, let's say XYZ Company has 16 months remaining on a $5,000 per month office lease that is perfect for your growing company to "drop into," but you negotiate to get the space for only $4,000 and they pay the difference of $1,000 per month to the landlord.  On one such deal with one of my fast-growth companies, I dropped into a space for just 11 months complete with all the furniture, fixtures, network and telephone system.  All we had to do was walk in with our laptops and begin working.  By the time our sublease was up we had already outgrown the space and we then sourced our own primary lease in a much bigger space.