Property Licences

3. Real Flexibility

Flexibility matters for a new business, as it can often be impossible to predict sales volumes and activity levels more than a few weeks in advance.

3.1 Going into a serviced office block may mean you can expand easily if your business grows quickly.

• You may be able to rent extra office, storage or meeting room space for short periods or special projects.
• As the business expands, you may be able to colonise extra offices in the building one by one, so that you are only ever renting the accommodation you need at that time.
• You may want to switch offices entirely, into larger or better accommodation in the same building.

3.2 You may have flexible access to office services and equipment on a pay-as-you-go basis.

• Many landlords with offices on licence provide word processing and telephone answering services as optional extras for their tenants. Paying for these when you need them may be a better short-term option than taking on more employees.
• Even if it is just for the first couple of months, being able to delay or avoid buying equipment like photocopiers or fax machines may be helpful.