The cost of office space is a major element of a company’s overhead and something that, in many cases, has to be committed to over several years.
This is due to the nature of leases that will force a tenant to pay rent for years to come, and many businesses must consider what their business will do in this same period of time. When there are major changes in the economy, this can mean that a business is left with an office space that no longer meets its requirements and while, in some circumstances, alternative tenants can be found to take over the rent and other commitments of leasing in many cases. , a business is stuck with property liability.
Against this backdrop, while the opportunity to reduce the amount of office space and associated costs may seem attractive, it can be difficult to make immediate changes. However, there are steps that can be taken to identify potential savings now and plan for greater savings in the future.
1. Identify leasing opportunities
The first thing you need to know is how much office space you have, how much each property costs, when the leases expire and if there is any opportunity to break the lease early.
If you are only responsible for a single property, this can be an easy task, however if your business has multiple properties, not having this information on hand soon can lead to problems.
Because it can take many months to find an alternative property and arrange a relocation, you should review your property obligations at least every six months, although a quarterly review may be more appropriate for larger portfolios. Having all the lease information in a simple format will make this task much easier.
2. Conduct a spatial audit
Another important benchmark is understanding the number of staff you have in each location you occupy. While a spatial audit can be as complicated as you want, simple is usually better. Take some time to decide what you want to measure (cost per person or space per person can be two useful measures) and do the necessary calculations. This can help you identify the best performing properties and the ones you need to make changes to.
3. Enter work on interactive desktop
Shared desks aren’t universally popular, but if you need more office space and are limited by a long lease, desktop sharing can help. This is useful if you have a lot of staff who leave the office regularly and need a desk one or two days a week. By sharing desks or providing a shared workspace, you can increase the number of staff that can work from a particular location.
4. Look for opportunities between groups
If your company is part of a larger group, find out if they have free office space that they could share, or if some other division needs more space if they can provide additional accommodation.
5. Transfer to offices with services
If you have the ability to move and are unsure how your requirements will change, serviced offices can be profitable as they provide flexible leases, the ability to increase or decrease office space with relative ease, and the benefit of sharing facilities such as rooms. of meetings.
