LONDON, ENGLAND, November 21, 2008
/24-7PressRelease/ -- Andrew Ferdinando and Simon Read of Hubworking.net think small businesses can make it through an economic downturn by downsizing their office space, going mobile and using rented meeting rooms.
Here are 7 reasons for UK small businesses to stop shelling out for an empty shell and use pay-as-you-go meeting rooms:
1. Are you wondering which costs to cut first as recession bites? After salaries, office space is the biggest expenditure for most businesses - and meeting rooms are by far the greediest guzzlers of square footage. Are you shelling out for empty space? According to September's UK cities monitor 2008 by estate agent Cushman & Wakefield a quarter of companies are now planning to reduce office space in order to cut costs. One-fifth intend to consolidate staff into one building, while almost 10% were considering moving to cheaper premises.
2. Flexible hours legislation, mobile working technology, the viability of home-working, electronic storage, flat screen monitors... it all means that in many industries office space is already massively under-utilised and meeting rooms are sitting empty much of the time. In light of the credit crunch, making the move towards having a partly or fully mobile or home-based workforce, is making more and more sense for small businesses.
3. Permanently working from home...? Think about it. No more costly commuting, no more office rental contract, no more utility bills, insurance, internet or phone bills. For one thing, you'd halve the time you spend on office admin. For another you'd see your overheads seriously plunge. And you'd also definitely be home in time for the plumber.
4. But even mobile workers and home-based employees need somewhere to meet clients, develop business and sustain face-to-face relationships. Noisy coffee shops and hotel lobbies are neither professional nor conducive to discussion and if you need to conduct a training session or presentation - forget it. No one truly absorbs more than his or her fair share of caffeine in your average Costa Coffee.
The affordable solution being seized upon by modern mobile workers is meeting room rental. And not just meeting rooms - seminar, workshop, conference and training suites of all sizes are all available by the hour based on simple price structures. At Hubworking's City venues you can even rent a fully serviced hot-desk in the same location to prepare for your meeting.
5. Even if you decide to keep your office, using rented meeting rooms or training suites, allows you to go for much smaller premises. Many businesses pay out for a 10-seater meeting room they use to capacity only once or twice a year. The rest of the time, two or three people are rattling around in there with half a dozen chairs each to choose from. With rented business venues you can hire the perfect-sized, purpose-designed room for your participants. And if you only need to meet for one hour, you only pay for an hour.
6. If you still want office space of your own, have you considered a change of postcode to reduce the bills? If you use rented meeting venues to get together with people, you would no longer need to base yourself in an accessible location. Choose a less expensive cubby-hole in the Back of Beyond to work in, but go for fully stocked, fully functional rented meeting rooms in EC1, EC2, EC3 or EC4 to impress clients and contacts. They'll be none the wiser...
7. One concern many new mobile workers or freelancers have is that they want to work from home but they're not sure how professional or desirable it is have '22 Acacia Avenue' on the letterhead. Fair enough. With Hubworking.net you can rent a mailing address or telephone answering service too.
The bottom line is that the credit crunch gives small businesses even more reasons to be footloose and office-free. Rented meeting rooms are one of the flexible working solutions on offer to mobile workers and smart businesses of all kinds.
For more information on our London business venues minutes from Liverpool Street or Monument, simple pricing structures and convenient service features that will help you stay professional and productive, call 0845 226 1150, email info@hubworking.net or go to our website http://www.hubworking.net
About Hubworking
Hubworking was created by Simon Read and Andrew Ferdinando because they were frustrated holding meetings in hotel lobbies and noisy coffee shops, and they couldn't find anywhere more professional to meet. Out of this need the Hubworking concept was born and the business now provides a convenient meeting venue for the modern mobile workforce.
# # #
