Why You Should Rent a Private Office in a Co-working Space?

Image Credit : JustCo

 

 

One of the biggest dilemmas that most businesses face when they are looking for new office space, especially for budget-conscious businesses, is whether they should rent a private office or a co-working office. In fact, this question has been always been a big debate lately, in view of the rising popularity of multiple flexible workspaces and co-working space options.

In recent years, we have seen an explosion of co-working in most business cities in Asia. As co-working continue to build traction among freelancers,  digital nomads, and small businesses, most people tend to associate such space with small businesses and startups. However, we have seen an increase in a trend of bigger businesses and multi nationals beginning to lease co-working space for the purpose of promoting collaboration and innovation among them.

What a new user may think about co-working, is probably about all about sharing desk space with strangers? Given that such situations may not even happen say 5 years back when you are handling private and confidential work and meeting in the company of people that are not associated with your organization.

Not necessarily for now. What is happening or in fact a much bigger trend that is taking place- Most businesses actually lease your own office within the co-working space that’s exclusively for your team. These private office suites offer a space for entire teams to collaborate and of course to work in privacy and peace. Concurrently, you get to work in the same common premises with other companies who are members of the same co-working space.

In fact, most co-working space operators have openly acknowledged that most of their profits or revenue are predominantly generated from these private offices in their premises, not co-working desks membership.

Let’s discuss why and how this trend will become bigger and popular and why you should rent a private office in a co-working office!

 

1. Privacy

Your private office allows for the privacy and freedom of what you can your team can do and execute in your own private space, and yet possess access to the common shared space. What is really critical is you can still hold private, confidential conversations or conduct teleconference in your own space, where its close to impossible to do that in the open space co-working area. You don’t even need to run to a private phone booth that some co-working operators don’t even provide. With a private office, you can even invite clients or partners in at any time and talk business quietly in total privacy.

2. Create Your Own Culture & Identity

If your team is just renting a few co-working desks, you are probably just one of the many members that are doing the same thing. In the shared, open space environment,  it’s extremely tough for you to create your own culture and identity especially if you are part of a growing startup where the brand identity and culture associated to it,  are so important to keep your team cohesive.  With your own private office, not only you can break away from the larger group and also create your own culture and identity among your team members.

 

3. Access to Community

The is by far most important reason that most people lease a co-working space. As a member of the space, you have the same access to the other companies and members within the same co-working space.  The main area of a co-working space normally fosters a collaborative environment. Managed by a community manager, his or her role is to create such an environment and to foster such spirit and vibe in it. Additionally, you can find partnership opportunities, or develop long-term relationships that you or anyone in your team are able to leverage upon even after you are no longer a member there.

A DeskMag Survey has shown that 70% of respondents working in co-working spaces are happy with their co-working spaces and have no intention of changing. 85% have indicated that they are more motivated since moving into a co-working space.

If you are in a traditional office setting, you will not have such an opportunity for all of the above.

4. Collaboration 

In a co-working environment, you will get to meet people from almost all walks of life and businesses. For example, if you are a startup, you may require a mobile app developer, an IT security specialist etc. As a member of a co-working office which possesses a highly collaborative environment, your chances of getting to know or landing such talent will be much higher.  You will also have access to businesses and entrepreneurs that may be experts in fields you and your team wish to know more about.

With participation in workshops and seminars conducted in co-working offices, this access has allowed greater innovation and productivity as one does not even have to step out of the office with everything done under one roof!

Having a private office in such an environment will allow the team both work independently and in parallel to that, having easy access to various opportunities to interact and share knowledge with other members.

 

5. Security

Even though theft in a co-working space is hardly heard of. One should never leave it to chance, especially when highly confidential data and information in your laptops or other devices are being compromised. Just imagine tons of work wasted and leakage of sensitive data that will be highly detrimental to any organizations or individuals.

With your own private office, you can just lock them up in your desks behind a locked door end of the day. This provides an additional layer of security which the larger premises already have.

Conclusion

Having private offices or office suites within co-working offices create ideal situations for teams from 2 persons to even 100 persons, looking to have both the benefits of a private office and network of a larger collaborative community. As shared offices and flexible workspace continue to disrupt traditional workplace models, we are likely to see more innovative spaces and ideas emerging.

One increasing trend we noticed -one of the most often asked requests are private offices or private office suites within a shared office environment. However, not every co-working office or shared office premise provide private offices. One needs to spend quite a lot of time and resources to source such space. We have been assisting businesses of all sizes to rent flexible offices and serviced offices in various cities in Asia, such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong since 2012.  Leave the work to us and just focus on your work! Contact us today for a free and non-obligatory discussion and let us know how we can help you!