Co-working: Leverages Entrepreneurs and Start-Ups

Co-working is a term used to describe the growing trend of small businesses and start-ups sharing office space and staff in an effort to offset expenses. The downturn of the economy gave rise to a booming new industry designed to meet this need. Think of this venture as a hospitality industry for businesses. It’s similar to how a person on vacation can reserve and stay in a room at an upscale hotel and have access to certain amenities like Wi-Fi, cable, and concierge services. A business that rents office space from a company like KeyCorp Executive Suites in West Palm Beach, has access to certain amenities that make doing business just a little bit easier and more efficient.

These amenities include things like receptionist and administrative services, conference room access, internet and IT services, and more. In addition to these services, renting an office space like this comes with other benefits:

• Provides flexibility and room for growth. Businesses like KeyCorp Executive Suites offer a range of different office options from a “virtual office space” to larger suites that accommodate a number of people. As a start-up grows from a home business to a viable professional powerhouse, it can graduate from one service level to the next.

• Offsets expenses. One of the problems for small businesses and start-ups is the need to have a professional physical location. If a business chooses to go the traditional route, they’ll have to find the right office, negotiate their own lease, employ staff, purchase furnishings, wire the office, pay for utilities and cleaning, and cover all the other unexpected costs of maintaining a private office. Sometimes a business doesn’t need all the staff, space, and hassle.

• Co-working, or renting a shared office space, means a single business doesn’t need to carry all the risk and expense itself. Instead, a number of businesses work together to fund a space that takes care of all the office logistics on their behalf.

• Networking and socializing opportunities are in-house. The nature of this new co-working trend is that an eclectic set of businesses and entrepreneurs end up working in the same space. This provides a unique networking opportunity to make contacts with other businesses that can either leverage or use each other’s services. Also, running a one-person operation can be a lonely venture. Going to a co-working space provides the social interaction of water cooler chat sessions when needed.

• Staff when it’s needed, no staff when it’s not. Businesses like KeyCorp Executive Suites offer staffing support for things like receptionist and message services, copying and mailing services, and other basic administrative services that can be used as needed. As the staff are shared among the other businesses in the building, no one business needs to carry the cost of hiring unnecessary people.

• Provides a professional and well-equipped space for work. Many businesses start at home and this can be a challenge for some. Constant interruptions from family or pets can prevent focus. It’s easier to be distracted in a home environment by little things as the typical person is not conditioned to work at home on the same level as one typically works outside the home. Not to mention, maintaining a physical office space demonstrates a certain level of stability and professional success. It also provides a space that can accommodate face-to-face client meetings, if needed.

KeyCorp Executive Offices now provides a way for local entrepreneurs to pool their resources and get state of the art and fully staffed office space at a fraction of the cost it would take to do on their own. To find out more about how co-working may be of benefit please visit www.officespaceinwestpalmbeach.com or call (561) 721-3700.