What can I do with 4000Sq/Ft of office space?
Discussion
I have been given the opportunity to take on 4000 Sq/Ft of office space at a stupidly low price. I already run my own e-commerce business which is not in need of a premises this size. However, I do have around 10 - 20K saved which I could put into a new venture if the opportunity arose.
I have been brainstorming business ideas for the past couple weeks that could make real use of these premises and thought I would put it to the minds of PH for more ideas.
Ideally the business would be something I could devote time to set up and get running, but then be able to hire and train someone to oversee the day to day running whilst I take a step back.
Does such a thing exist? All ideas (no matter how crazy!) will be greatly appreciated...
I have been brainstorming business ideas for the past couple weeks that could make real use of these premises and thought I would put it to the minds of PH for more ideas.
Ideally the business would be something I could devote time to set up and get running, but then be able to hire and train someone to oversee the day to day running whilst I take a step back.
Does such a thing exist? All ideas (no matter how crazy!) will be greatly appreciated...
marcg said:
Depends on location but funky rent a desk sharespace is in short supply. Needs to be in a nice location though.
This is the obvious one... divide it up into smaller office 'cubicles', with shared facilities (toilets, reception, meeting rooms, kitchen) and rent out to small businesses.48k said:
Which part of the country, what are the transport links like, does it come with parking spaces, how fast is the internet and what other charges will you have (service charges, business rates, utilities) ?
South West. The premises has great transport links as it is next to an A road and it comes with 15 parking spaces. There is fibre on site with the possibility of leased lines. Other expenses have already been accounted for - Rate, service charge etcEquus said:
This is the obvious one... divide it up into smaller office 'cubicles', with shared facilities (toilets, reception, meeting rooms, kitchen) and rent out to small businesses.
This was my first thought but the issue is that it would take a lot more than 20k for the conversion£20k buys a lot of paint and furniture. It really depends on what is there at the moment. It needs to have good lighting and air, reasonable loos and kitchen and lots and lots of powerpoints and internet. If all of that is covered then it's an interior design exercise.
I'm thinking of one of those mismatched furniture cafes. Secondhand chic. Appeals to the sort of one man band businesses that operate from a laptop.
That's the slugline offices from house of cards S1.
I'm thinking of one of those mismatched furniture cafes. Secondhand chic. Appeals to the sort of one man band businesses that operate from a laptop.
That's the slugline offices from house of cards S1.
BeastCoast said:
48k said:
Which part of the country, what are the transport links like, does it come with parking spaces, how fast is the internet and what other charges will you have (service charges, business rates, utilities) ?
South West. The premises has great transport links as it is next to an A road and it comes with 15 parking spaces. There is fibre on site with the possibility of leased lines. Other expenses have already been accounted for - Rate, service charge etc48k said:
BeastCoast said:
48k said:
Which part of the country, what are the transport links like, does it come with parking spaces, how fast is the internet and what other charges will you have (service charges, business rates, utilities) ?
South West. The premises has great transport links as it is next to an A road and it comes with 15 parking spaces. There is fibre on site with the possibility of leased lines. Other expenses have already been accounted for - Rate, service charge etc
BeastCoast said:
Equus said:
This is the obvious one... divide it up into smaller office 'cubicles', with shared facilities (toilets, reception, meeting rooms, kitchen) and rent out to small businesses.
This was my first thought but the issue is that it would take a lot more than 20k for the conversionmarcg said:
Great minds!
I actually look in to doing this myself - I wanted to buy a commercial property with my pension and set up a "hatching space" for startups, entreprenerial businesses, home workers etc. My local uni and a local charity both rent out desks by the day and were rammed when I tried to make bookings when I started up. I had a business plan, bought the web domains, wrote the guts of the booking system had a I just couldn't find any premises which sort of put the kybosh on the whole thing. I'd give my eye teeth to have 4000 sq ft of office with fibre, parking, and good transport links to play with.
48k said:
Day desks then - rent desk space to startups / home workers by the day. Scour eBay and office clearance places for desks and chairs, set up an online booking system, basically do the minimum to get the space earning some revenue then improve it from there.
marcg said:
Great minds!
Can I ask you both - what would you be willing to pay for a hot desk or a private office per week/month?BeastCoast said:
Can I ask you both - what would you be willing to pay for a hot desk or a private office per week/month?
Here's some example pricing for the packages from my local one: http://mapleworks.co.uk/index.html#packagesBeastCoast said:
Can I ask you both - what would you be willing to pay for a hot desk or a private office per week/month?
You need to be aware that a hot desk and a private office are two different things in the market.I currently pay £520 per month (inc vat) for 600sq feet private office on a farm in the back of beyond with a piece of wet string as an internet connection and 5 day a week access. It's literally an empty room save for a sink, fridge and kettle in the corner. There's ample parking and shared toilet facilities but no public transport nearby and nowhere to get food on site.
When I was looking for serviced office space in a business centre I was offered a 329 sq ft office for £696 a month (inc vat) for 24 hour a day access, loads of free parking and a cafe on site. That price included insurance, cleaning, waste disposal. You can book meeting rooms, have them do post, franking etc as additional charges.
As an alternative, I looked at renting a hotdesk in a coworking space which is when I stumbled upon the Uni and the local charity that offer such a service. Typically they were charging in the region of £10 per hour.
48k said:
You need to be aware that a hot desk and a private office are two different things in the market.
I currently pay £520 per month (inc vat) for 600sq feet private office on a farm in the back of beyond with a piece of wet string as an internet connection and 5 day a week access. It's literally an empty room save for a sink, fridge and kettle in the corner. There's ample parking and shared toilet facilities but no public transport nearby and nowhere to get food on site.
When I was looking for serviced office space in a business centre I was offered a 329 sq ft office for £696 a month (inc vat) for 24 hour a day access, loads of free parking and a cafe on site. That price included insurance, cleaning, waste disposal. You can book meeting rooms, have them do post, franking etc as additional charges.
As an alternative, I looked at renting a hotdesk in a coworking space which is when I stumbled upon the Uni and the local charity that offer such a service. Typically they were charging in the region of £10 per hour.
Thanks for the info, it is very helpful.I currently pay £520 per month (inc vat) for 600sq feet private office on a farm in the back of beyond with a piece of wet string as an internet connection and 5 day a week access. It's literally an empty room save for a sink, fridge and kettle in the corner. There's ample parking and shared toilet facilities but no public transport nearby and nowhere to get food on site.
When I was looking for serviced office space in a business centre I was offered a 329 sq ft office for £696 a month (inc vat) for 24 hour a day access, loads of free parking and a cafe on site. That price included insurance, cleaning, waste disposal. You can book meeting rooms, have them do post, franking etc as additional charges.
As an alternative, I looked at renting a hotdesk in a coworking space which is when I stumbled upon the Uni and the local charity that offer such a service. Typically they were charging in the region of £10 per hour.
Could I ask where you are based? The location of the property in question is in a rural town with a population of ~45k
I used to own a business centre which I developed to quite a high spec from an old basement snooker hall in Glasgow a mile from the city centre. 3500 sq ft became 6 offices plus reception, 3 toilets (inc disabled), and kitchen.
It was a success when it was entirely occupied by my own businesses. But when offices became let to others it brought a plethora of easily foreseeable but overlooked issues, the principal one (though not the only one) being security.
I sold it a couple of years ago to someone who is going to deconstruct it and use it as an afterschool care facility which I think is a far better way to profit from the space than the business centre was. And whilst it wasn't loss-making as a collection of rented out offices I certainly wouldn't deliberately do the same thing again.
It was a success when it was entirely occupied by my own businesses. But when offices became let to others it brought a plethora of easily foreseeable but overlooked issues, the principal one (though not the only one) being security.
I sold it a couple of years ago to someone who is going to deconstruct it and use it as an afterschool care facility which I think is a far better way to profit from the space than the business centre was. And whilst it wasn't loss-making as a collection of rented out offices I certainly wouldn't deliberately do the same thing again.
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