Four things to do to find workspace

It can be a real headache finding the best workspace for your business. Here are 4 things to do to find the best workspace for your business.

One of the offerings we at Hackney Cooperative Developments offer to local residents is affordable workspaces. We currently offer, through Hackney Impact, free shared workspaces for 6 months at our offices in Woodberry Down.

Here are four things you can do to find the best workspace for your business:

Be clear and specific about your needs.

How many rooms do you need? What size (in square feet or meters) of space do you need? Is the space for administration and meetings or will you be using it for industrial production? Do you need plenty of light or would a basement do the job?

Understand the costs involved and be sure to budget for these.

Workspaces in Hackney and across London are very expensive. You are highly unlikely to get anything for free. You need to budget for the renting workspace.

There are other costs as well. Most workplaces charge service fees. Some are not easily accessible to public transport or cycles. Some places are noisy and smelly and would not suit your business needs. There may be significant fit-out costs to make the space a conducive workspace.

Not all workspace needs to be physical space.

It is increasingly clear, that many businesses can operate without a physical workspace. Many, if not most businesses, have staff working remotely for some of the week. Ask yourself, is it really necessary to rent a physical workspace? There is a coaching service available for free with Hackney Impact. Use tis service to help you think through the options.

Be prepared to be flexible while you work towards your workspace goals.

You might not be able to get the ideal workspace immediately. Think and plan around how you might incrementally develop your business to get the ideal workspace. Perhaps you might start with a shared workspace while you buid up your business cashflow to the point where you can pay for a more ideal workspace.

Contact Douglas Racionzer via email on d.racionzer@hcd.coop and let us help you fnd your workspace.