5 Reasons Shared Office Communities Kick Start Businesses

Many small businesses get their start in the CEO’s living room, basement or garage.Eventually, however, the company will need to move into a designated office space. Taking this step can be intimidating. Commercial real estate is a complicated venture, and if you are bootstrapping your business, you may be priced out of your target locations. A popular and viable alternative is a shared office community where multiple companies work together under the same roof.

Executive Space at Rock-Bottom Pricing

Who wouldn’t love to work out of a spacious office with efficient climate control, plush carpeting, modern amenities and plenty of free parking for all? Shared office communities make modern, comfortable office space accessible to even the smallest, newest companies. When businesses pool together and share space, the unattainable suddenly becomes attainable. Once in place, the sharing continues. Everyone can access conference rooms, copiers, printers, high-speed internet while keeping overhead costs manageable.

A Professional Space for Employees and Clients

When a new business operates from a home environment, meeting with clients can be tricky. Typically, those meetings are held in restaurants or coffee shops, or the client’s office. In extreme cases, many CEOs rent out a conference room. Shared office communities give small business a professional home base from which to operate, and provide a space they can be proud to show off to clients and potential new employees.

Built-In Opportunity for Networking and Strategic Partnerships

When companies work side-by-side in a shared office community, networking is inevitable. When you work under the same roof with other businesses, you will get to know new people and learn new things about the products and services they produce. Many times, companies that provide complimentary services develop long-term strategic partnerships from their close proximity.

Improve Creativity and Collaboration

Communities also benefit individual employees. In a small company, ideas can sometimes become stagnant. However, shared office space gives employees the chance to collaborate with a whole new group of people. When faced with a problem, team members can bounce ideas off of employees from other companies helping to establish a sense of community and camaraderie, while stimulating creative new ideas.

Shared Office Space Encourages Growth

There is solid proof that shared office communities can kick start businesses. According to WeWork, a shared office community where Reddit got its start, 63 percent of the companies in their communities reported growth, and almost three quarters of those companies reported growth of over 25 percent. The companies that share the space consider their offices to be a real-life LinkedIn, where businesses and individuals can learn from each other, benefit from one another’s expertise, and in many cases, grow together.If you run a new or expanding business in Western Pennsylvania that has outgrown your current workspace arrangement, contact the professional commercial real estate brokers at ACRES today. We can help you assess your needs to determine if a shared office community or, if your own office space, is your next logical step.