Whether you’re a start-up business or a growing company, one of the most important decisions you have to make when setting up an office is finding the right office space. There are a lot of factors you need to consider before arriving at a decision, including your budget, how much space you need and the number of employees you have or will have. Do you have enough financial outlay? How many employees are you going to hire? What type of facilities do you need? How long do you need the office for? These are the questions you have to think about when deciding to rent office space.

We’ve listed down the pros and cons of both options to help you, the business owner, arrive at an informed decision. No matter your choice, it should be able to provide you with a workplace where you can conduct your operations efficiently and smoothly.

Leasing a Dedicated Office Space

1. Advantages

With the exception of outright owning your office space entirely, renting (or leasing) your own dedicated commercial office space provides you with the most freedom to do what you want. If you have many staff members (or predict a steady growth) and plan to be in the business for a long time, then this may be more practical. A dedicated office space gives you complete control over your environment, which is a requirement for some businesses.

2. Disadvantages

Renting an office is a long term financial commitment which usually lasts five to seven years, depending on your lease terms. There may be a large amount of money required up front for deposit and advance rental. If the office space is unfurnished or even bare, you may be responsible for the expenditure of a large amount of capital to fit out the space and purchase furnishings. There can often be a lot of hidden costs including IT, plumbing, electrical, appliances and permits. You also need to take into account the cleaning, maintenance and repair which you would have to shoulder during the lease period.

Make sure that your business can afford this long term financial commitment before deciding to rent office space.

Seat Lease/Seat Rental

1. Advantages

Seat leasing requires less commitment for your time and money. You can start with a small amount of seats (even one!) and scale up as your business requires it and only when you truly need it. You also can often enter into short term agreements with just basic deposit and first and last month rental payments up front. This means only a small cash outlay from the onset which is attractive for start-up companies or small businesses. In addition, you don’t have to worry about the set up because most seat lease packages include office furniture, internet connection and all hardware or software needed for your business to hit the ground running. Your overhead is significantly less time and money, allowing you to focus strictly on your operations. Your business will have an easier and smoother transition, especially if you’re expanding operations abroad.

2. Disadvantages

Finding a reliable seat lease provider is one of the toughest challenges when offshoring. You need to find quality seat lease that is within your budget. You need to feel safe and comfortable with the others in the work space and you will have shared use of some facilities such as conference rooms, lunch-rooms and restrooms. You have less overall control over your workspace and may not be able to expand at the rate you would like. You also need to make sure your business (and staff) will comply with the rules of the lessor.

How Seat Lease Works?

Seat lease or seat rental allows businesses to rent seats or office space for their employees in an established and fully equipped outsourcing center. It frees up your working capital, allowing you to put more resources into your core processes. You can choose to rent office space for any aspect of your business and may even decide to have different parts of your business operations in different offices, cities or countries.

Seat lease packages usually include complete workstations, with a PC, monitors, internet connection, VOIP equipment, desk and chair, air conditioning, and use of conference rooms & lunch area.

Outsourcing vs. Seat Leasing

There are different types of office arrangements depending on what the business needs. A complete outsourcing solution provides businesses with a comprehensive package that is ideal for business owners who want to focus on their core services while outsourcing back office, administrative and other specific tasks. In this type of arrangement, aside from the workstation and facilities usage, the outsourcing provider supplies you with the employees and trains them to complete the tasks you want to be done. You will not be managing these employees directly because they will be under your provider’s management. This also protects your company from liability and gives removes your time and expense with recruiting, hiring, training, staffing, managing and paying staff.

On the other hand, seat leasing lets you retain full control of your employees. Your provider is only responsible for giving you the utilities and the office space. You will hire train and manage your own staff and retain full control over them, but you will be able to utilize a shared office space and remove the facilities and administrative time and expenses from your business. Hybrid outsourcing arrangements are also available which are fully customizable depending on what your business needs and can combine elements of both outsourcing and seat-leasing.

Global Strategic offers a range of office space solutions including complete outsourcing, seat leasing and hybrid models of both outsourcing and seat leasing.

Our outsourcing services include:

• Data entry
• Virtual assistance
• Inbound calls
• Outbound and lead generation
• Search Engine Optimization
• Social Media Marketing
• Graphic Design
• Website development
• Accounting
• Recruitment and staffing

Our seat lease package is inclusive of:

• PC/Laptop
• Agent desk and office chair
• Locker for each employee
• Seat lease plug and play
• Standard internet connection
• Electricity and Air Conditioning
• IT support ensuring internet connection is stable
• Fiber optic lease line
• Multiple ISP providers
• Redundant internet connection with multiple gateways
• Backup power provided by the building in case of power outage
• 24/7 Security guard with key card access
• Security cameras in work areas
• Open Source O/S, Open Office and Predictive Dialer / Vici Dial
• Predictive dialer maintenance and support
• Use of Conference room/Training room (to be booked in advance)

 

One of the most common questions once you decide to outsource is how to make the most of having a Virtual Assistant? It can be difficult to choose from candidates and deal with the uncertainty of hiring someone you don’t know, but there are some best practices that can help assist with a smooth transition into outsourcing for you and your business. Whether you’re looking for one or a team of Virtual Assistants (VA), here are some tips to help make it a success.

 

1. Define the job or tasks you need the VA to do:

Output is directly correlated to input. Before looking for a Virtual Assistant, you first need to determine the specific tasks that your remote employee will be doing on your behalf. Knowing these tasks, you will also be able to decide on which skills you need your VA to have. Make a list of the tasks and skills necessary to complete these tasks and the amount of hours needed to complete them. This way, you will know what to expect from the individual and vice versa.

2. Set a schedule or time frame

In every business, time is gold. It is essential that you find someone who can turn around the work in the time frame that you want. Depending on your business needs, you can either set a work schedule or set a deadline for every task. Your time frames should be reasonable and you should ensure you have allocated ample time for training and becoming versed with tasks that may require more familiarity and experience.

3. Budget

Can you afford the VA that you want? There are different types of Virtual Assistants but most of them can be classified into Beginners and Experienced. Does your employee need to have specific experience or expertise within a certain field or industry? It is important to know what your budget is so you know if the Virtual Assistant you are seeking can be hired with your range.

4. Quality of work

In any business, quality is imperative. The Virtual Assistant you wish to hire should understand this and should be able to complete the work with high quality even without your supervision. You may want them to complete practice exercises to see how they process the work. It is important to spend some time training and orientating your Virtual Assistant on exactly how you want things done so that they are completing tasks in the manner you prefer.

5. Reputation

You need to trust your employees whether they are in your office or working remotely from another location. Utilize social media and Google to research the person or company that you are employing and use long established individuals and companies who you can communicate and feel comfortable with.

In the end, it is important to keep in mind that outsourcing should save you time, money and effort. If you do the right homework prior to any engagement, you can reap the rewards of a successful outsourcing relationship.

It can be difficult to decide which is right for your project or business – should you hire someone to do it in-house or outsource it to a third party provider? There is no simple answer and it all depends on your needs and preferences.

Here are the pros and cons of in-house versus outsourcing, to help you decide on the best approach for your business.

It is crucial to understand whether a project is better done in-house or by an outside service provider.