About
The quiet corridor of a traditional office has given way to a stirring revolution. Shared workspaces or co-working spaces, the rapid growth of startups and alternative work models in the past 3-4 years.
What’s a co-working space?
In front of a structured, traditional workspace, a shared workplace is a fully equipped office in a relaxed setting. The place can be hired by multiple entities—individuals, small teams or a large company— for a flexible period. One can hire a single seat for an hour or take up a fixed number of seats for 2-3 years while sharing the place with other companies or individuals in an open floor plan.
What began as an option for startups now encompasses entrepreneurs, freelancers, frequent travelers, work-from-home professionals, SMEs, and corporates. “Amit Ramani, Chief Executive Officer of Office Space Solutions, says that 60% of our customers are SMEs, around 20% are startups and freelancers, and the rest are companies, “says Amit Ramani, Chief Executive Officer of Opium Space Solutions, in which seven Centers have 21 centers and 7,500 seats, and there is a plan to expand it. A number of 10,000 seats in 28 centers and nine cities.
Co-working offices are being set up by small, local players and bigger companies with the pan-India network, besides global players like WeWork and Spaces, who have recently set foot in India. Some of the more prominent players in the major metros include Avifs, Innov 8, Regus, BHIV Workspace, 91 Springboard, Bombay Connect etc. Is there such an office offer cost benefit and significant benefits to taking it for you or should you set up a special office or continue with the existing lease?
Cost & services
Provides basic shared workstation infrastructure (flexible and stationary seats), technical facilities (internet, Wi-Fi, phone, printer, copier, scanner, fax machine), housekeeping staff, dining area and common front desk or reception area. Charges for small set up are from Rs 4,000-6,000 per seat per month, whereas middle-level players charge Rs 6,500 to Rs 9 000, and for a month, premium spaces can spend 9,500-15,000 rupees.
Fees are different for flex and fixed seats, and you can get more facilities for extra charges. This add-on paid services can include lockers, meeting rooms, 3-4 seater cabins, video conferencing, meetings in third-party locations, access to mentors and capital, as well as legal, accounting and Organising HR Firms, events, promotions and conferences, parking spaces, gaming zones, and partnership waivers, among others.
Convenience
Sharing office allows anyone to pay attention to the business without worrying about securing the fund for establishing an office or managing the mess. “It provides a high facility because we can concentrate on the creation of revenue without disturbing the administrative work of running the office,” says King Kelkar, 43, who has started a nine-member startup and in Mumbai Worked on seven seats.
Sameer Mathai of Gurgaon says, “More than cost, this facility is a bridging factor”, which recently launched a startup. “You can impress the clients with a good business address, don’t have to focus on office peripherals, and if you are a bigger player and need to travel across the country, you can have an office in every metro,” he adds.
Agrees to Prasad Walawalkar, Senior V-P, HR & Legal, in a research organization, and part of the 65-member team at a workspace in Mumbai. “We can have client meetings in different cities like Delhi or Bengaluru because of the offices there,” he says. However, this option can only be provided by some players who have a countrywide network and there are offices in Metro or Tier 2 cities. A big benefit is the opportunity to interact with like-minded people from different organizations in the same workspace. “We didn’t have the in-house skill of coding, but the other team in the office had coders and we took their help,” says Kelkar.
Do you save money?
One more important factor for startups is whether these works translate for monetary benefits. If you choose a small or mid-range space provider, you can save 25-30% and can not take advantage of a lot of extra services. “Compared with a conventional lease option, we offer cost-effective solutions.
Since the cost associated with a workplace is 5-10% of the company’s business, a corporation of all sizes is looking at it as a strategic component of its business plans, “Large length, country head, Regus India, one of the oldest players in the market. “Besides, if you are a company of four and plan to grow to 10, in a conventional office, you have to tie in for 10 people from the start and are wasting space. We help these companies grow at their speed,” he adds.
However, this can not always be true because not all workspace providers can provide additional seats and when these are necessary. In addition, if you choose a premium office provider in a prominent place, then savings can not be enough. “By shifting from a premium workspace to a mid-segment one, I have cut down my costs by 30-40%,” says Kelkar.
Adds Mathai, who gave up a premium space at the best location in Gurgaon and opted for a mercantile lease during a residential area: “We used to pay Rs 2.5 lakh a month for a five seater. Now with 30 seats, we are shelling out much lesser. The savings are typically higher in the long term.” Remember, the savings will be a function of the space provider, location as well as the services availed of. But if you want this feature, then now choose the option of a shared workspace.
WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR…
Expansion may not be easy
If you have a one-year contract for, say, five seats and you want to add four more employees midway, there’s no guarantee that those seats will be available. Prasad Wavalawala, Senior VP, HR & Legal, TAM Media Research says, “If you want to hire 20 people, then it is not viable and you have to find another option. can go.” So keep this in mind if you are looking for an extension within a certain time frame.
Services not standardized
The quality of services may be a function of the building that the office is located in. Since workspace offices have lease agreements with individual builders, all owners may not offer ready assistance since they know the lessee is bound by a long-term agreement and won’t leave. “I had hired a space in Cybercity, where the service and staff were excellent, but when I shifted to the MG Road facility by the same company, the experience was terrible. The AC would fail often and nobody would repair it.The staff too was very unprofessional,” says Samir Mathai who tried the option for a few months in Gurgaon.
Beware of auto-renewal clause
Make sure you go through the fine print of the contract as some have the option of auto-renewal after a specified term. This means that if you don’t confirm your continued stay within the notice period, the contract will be automatically renewed with a 10% hike. It could be a price you may not be able to afford or be willing to pay.
Associated services expensive
Most shared offices provide basic services in overall cost and can charge heavy duty for additional services. You may have to pay a high price of, say, Rs 10 per page for a printout, or double the amount for a snack. There could also be a high price for using a projector, not included in the original quote.
Area may be too crowded
Be careful if you are looking for a quiet office. As space is shared by various individuals and companies, it can be a raucous mix not conducive to certain kinds of work. In addition, if you have selected seats and want privacy, then you may have to ask for a cabin or meeting room, which can increase your costs.
Credit- economic times
