Are You Ready for a Long Term Office?

Read in Bahasa

Common Ground Bukit Bintang, Malaysia

Ever since I started working in FlySpaces, people started asking me; what kind of office should I choose then? Should I choose this provider for this long or that one for that long? What type should I choose for my specific type of business? Being biased, I have been suggesting the most flexible options for them that allows a plug-and-play condition for their business. But now let’s take a look at all the options and explore all the possibilities; are you ready for a long term office?

Short Term Office vs Long Term Office

Tale as old as time, true as it can be. This phrase has been squeezed out dry and used by both sides of the industry since the day they discover each other, for good reason as well. There are obviously benefits and drawbacks from both sides, so to help you be more informed, let’s compare the two objectively.

Read also: The Financial Advantages of Short-Term Workspaces

See? Objectively both have their ups and downs. Even though we are a company that specializes in various types of flexible office needs (which you could find right here), we don’t close our eyes to the possibility that your business might outgrow the need to be flexible. In fact, we would like to congratulate you if that happens, good for you! With that said, there are three points you should think about before making and rush decision and who knows, it may change your mind about long term offices.

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

Is your business financially stable enough?

This should be the main concern. With a long term office, generally the rent upfront is much higher than a flexible one. You can be forced to pay for a whole year before even enjoying a month in said place, which is fine and normal. Not to mention, it is called a long term lease because it will still be enforced for more than 2-3 years, sometimes can be up to 10 years or more. On top of everything, your office would still be renovated and furnished, something that in most flexible workspace you won’t need to even think about. All long term care facilities that assist the residents of your company would need to be purchased. Would your company keep up if such thing happens?

Will you significantly benefit with a stable location?

One of the benefits of flexible workspaces are the possibility for plug-and-play. Without restriction, it is easy to move from one venue to another, maybe even across cities, regions, or continents. Some providers even offer the flexibility to move within their brand, like CoHive for example. However, not all will benefit from this ease. Some, which might include your business as well, would require a permanent space. Food and beverage businesses for example, would need a test kitchen which a regular flexible workspace provider usually does not offer and requires the company to create one themselves. The question, though, is your company one of them?

Is a contingency plan ready for your company’s growth?

A company’s lifespan goes up and down like nobody’s business. Hopefully yours would be ever growing with more and more days go by, increasing quality of life of many. But some are not so lucky, and requires to slim down their staff. A long term office would normally cause quite an extra layer of trouble in this problem. If the growth is good, then this ‘problem’ would be much easier to fix rather than if you need to cut down some people. But either way, any significant change in the number of people you employ would affect the need for space in most cases, and is your company ready for that?

Read also: Coworking in Southeast Asia: The Future of Office Spaces

If all of the above is checked yes, then we have no choice but to watch you fly and soar away to further greatness. We would feel honored that you have opted to work with flexible workspace options and now ready to grow even more. If you're still deciding what would be the best move for your business, don't hesitate to reach out to us and we can help you make an informed decision. Remember what Aristotle said: Patience is bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

Speaking of which, should you need a bigger space for you company or even just a change of scenery, we got you covered. Leave you contacts below or reach out to our Space Expert and we can help you with any of your flexible workspace need!