Friday, January 20, 2012

Shared Office

My partner and I have been quite busy the past few days. We were looking for a new head office. We had to do this since the present office we are currently occupying is still not yet done. Construction works are still on-going.

We wanted an office that can be used to meet prospective business partners and franchisees. We also wanted an office that can receive mails and accept deliveries for us. We don't intend to use the head office as a place where we would show our services. We have our four shops to do that.

Realizing that office space rental is one of the biggest expenses of any company or business, we had certain criteria that we are looking for when choosing an office. These are the following:
  • It must be accessible by every one.
  • The place must be conducive to conducting meetings and presentations.
  • The rent must be affordable enough so we can focus on expanding our services in our shops.
Luckily, a previous colleague emailed me a new concept in the Philippines. It is a shared office. It's a location where businessmen can use the facilities; which include the phone, Internet, tables and chairs, when they become a member. It is like having your own office without investing on utilities, construction and other equipment. Once you become a member, you can automatically use the facilities that the shared office have.

image from http://thedailyoverdose.blogspot.com/
Aside from saving so much on utilities and other expenses, you can also network with other businessmen who are members of the shared office and you can really save a lot on rent. The membership fee for the shared office is pnly Php6,000 per year or about Php500 per month. It's the price a couple of latte's in Starbucks.

The shared office is also located in the heart of Ortigas Center in Pasig. It is near malls and has ample parking space. You can view the write-up and photos of the shared office space here.

As an entrepreneur, it is vital that we learn to be able to lower our admin expenses so that we can increase our marketing budget. The marketing budget will help us in making our presence known to prospective clients and customers.