It can be incredibly stressful for small start-up and growing businesses to research what they need to be looking out for when finding an office, and what they need to keep on top of as a tenant. This has become even more true as the rate of change within the business world has increased, making it even more complicated to juggle both your business and the building management.
Why fixed-term contracts don’t suit entrepreneurs
Most traditional formal leases are definitely not suited for entrepreneurs who are just joining the business world, as they are normally fixed term and start from around three years; this is clearly far from ideal for a business that is constantly growing from day one.
When you are starting out in business, there are three likely ways in which your company will develop:
- You may have a real talent for growing your business and you may be one of the success stories
- Your business may fail (fingers crossed this isn’t you!)
- Your business may tick over, staying in a micro or small state.
In only one of these scenarios, will a fixed-term lease work for you - number 3. If your business takes off, not being able to take on more staff because you are tied into the lease on your start-up office is going to restrict your rate of growth. If the worst were to happen, as the person who signed the lease, you would still be responsible for paying the rent, even if the premises are empty, until the end of the lease or such a time as the lease is sold.
Additional problems with commercial leases
There are other reasons why commercial leases are stacked in favour of the property owner, and against the ambitious entrepreneur. Many of them require you to pay the rent quarterly in advance for the full term of the lease. You will probably have to pay a service charge, over which you will have little or no control. You may also have to fulfill a number of responsibilities, such as maintaining security.
How CapitalSpace is different
We understand just how difficult most commercial property leases are for business owners, which is why we don’t ask you to tie yourself into one. Instead, we have simple monthly licenses, which have won the Crystal Award from the Plain English Campaign for being clearly written and easy to understand. They’re flexible, because we know you may need to scale up or down at short notice. What’s more, we take away the headaches of managing your business accommodation, such as maintaining security, and we include them in our transparent fees, so you aren’t stung by any unexpected overheads.
