Start Ups - Thinking About Premises?

For most business start ups there are many important decisions to be made but perhaps one of the most crucial is the choice of premises, making the wrong choice could have a negative impact on the business and prove costly.
So what are the issues you need to consider:-
- you need to find the best location for your premises by considering the individual needs of your business,does it require space, good transport links, high footfall etc.
- you need to decide the size of premises you need, ideally you need to find premises that are'nt too big so that you are paying for space you don't need and also the flexibility by not committing for too long.
- you will have included an amount for premises in your business plan, this should be your guide as to how much you should pay, again there is a trade off between having expensive premises with facilities you don't need (boardroom??)and cheap premises which give a poor impression to customers and future employees.
- the type of agreement you agree to is also important, the two most popular are leases and licences, the terms of each may vary but the important issues are the length of time you are committing to, your responsibilities under the agreement and the protection you have against unreasonable acts by the other party.

Right...
Now that some of the issues have been outlined let us have a look at a potential solution to finding start up premises, organisations offer shared workspace to start up businesses, in addition there are other benefits that are designed to help the businesses through the crucial early stages, benefits such as:-
- advice, training in sales, marketing, finance etc.. designed to help fill any skill gaps the entrepreneur may have.
- access to all the facilities the business centre may offer, meeting rooms, boardroom.
- shared central services, there will be a receptionist who will take messages for the various businesses, an IT function.
- the business centre will provide a great business image for the start up, allowing businesses to create a good impression with potential customers.
- there may well be an amount of informal networking between the businesses within the business centre.

There may well be other benefits to the business centre, but the important issue is the cost and the facilities / services on offer, it is certainly worth checking out what is available in your location. I have included a link to UKBI which is the professional body for The British Incubation Industry