Renting vs Coworking—What is a better choice?

India has embarked on the journey of becoming a digital nation with a self-sufficient start-up culture. With new incentives and better policies, most businesses in the country are projected to grow exponentially. This government impetus for businesses and SMEs will also give birth to a new breed of innovators and entrepreneurs.

Every budding entrepreneur who is looking to set new benchmarks with their innovative ideas, services and products, has one thing in common–they are all looking at setting up an office. Creating a dedicated office space is a significant step towards giving a solid base to both the business and employees. Any employee’s top priority is to be at a workplace where he/she can be most productive. However, being at an early stage one might consider something smaller, cheaper or more flexible. This would lead you to choose between renting a coworking space or leasing an office. Finding it hard to make this decision? While you work in full throttle for your business idea to boom, we have narrowed down a few things that’ll provide you with some clarity about the challenges you might face if you are thinking about a coworking space as an option for your business space needs.

Stability Matters

If you are starting your business with a team of 15, you might think coworking as the perfect place to start off but gradually when your company starts growing, you’ll feel the need to have an individual office space. Reinvesting your time and money in searching and setting up everything again doesn’t sound too interesting, right? Also, coworking spaces are definitely not your pick if you are looking forward to a permanent office address, no matter how big or small. Instead of splurging money on a coworking space which you cannot even call entirely yours, renting an office offering a permanent office address seems to be a more sustainable option in the long run.

Branding

Branding is one thing that makes your business stand out among others, helping your business gain a unique brand identity. The ‘look and feel’ of your workplace is something that makes anyone instantly connect with your idea and values, be it a potential employee for an interview or a business client visiting you. Won’t you like to weave in your design and creativity to create something that represents solely you and your business? Well, coworking space won’t allow you to do that. From interior designs to a music playlist, everything will be as per coworking space or all the tenants collectively, nothing specifically of your choice. Thus, a personalized space becomes another prominent factor that makes you cherry pick a rented office space rather than a coworking space.

Google Listing

In the case of a coworking space, multiple offices might be registered on the same address and clients may find it difficult to locate your office. However, renting your own space allows you to list your business individually on Google Maps.

Ambiance and Distractions

More than half of high-performing employees say that they need a quiet space to be productive. Coworking spaces though aren’t always conducive to a quiet environment. Noise seems to be one of the prevalent challenges that its inhabitants face. The click-clacking of laptop keyboards, several business calls, the phone chimes and all the pings and dings can be a turn off for someone who prefers to work in a peaceful environment. Intentionally or not, baring your human capital to such a vast area where there would be several other distractions or vulnerabilities, can send an unknown invitation to unwanted distraction by default and make all your efforts go in vain.

Safety and Security

Although coworking spaces claim to follow strict security measures, it doesn’t prove to be as effective as it sounds. Different business domains might demand varied customers visiting the working space. Let’s say, there’s a tenant who repairs phone screens and has customers visiting him all through the week. We do understand that fellow tenants can have different requirements but exposure to such guests with no specific time boundations can embark a bit of safety risk. Isn’t it? While the members can come and go freely without real supervision, this leaves your work and personal items vulnerable too. Yes, coworking spaces are a trending option among start-ups and SMEs but are usually not chosen by firms which hold the confidentiality of data, employees and projects over the cheaper cost of coworking space.

Tech Headaches and Hassles

Almost 31% of coworking employees confess insufficient equipment to be one of the top challenges faced while working at coworking spaces. A coworking space might advertise all the latest technology, but don’t be surprised to know that Wi-Fi connections are not always running smoothly, or that audio/visual equipment you need urgently might not be available or no one would always be there to answer your tech queries in an emergency. A person using multiple monitors, lamps, chargers for phones might need multiple sockets to plug in their electronics. These things do have simple solutions like buying an extension cord but what’s the point of being in such a whack-a-mole loop when your attention is required for bigger or better things?

Limited Space

For example, an HR executive whose job is to make frequent interview calls may be unable to do so at his/her desk because of fellow teammates working there. He/she may try to find another space in the coworking office to make a call but may have trouble if the space is too small. Not only is this frustrating for the employee, but it also appears unprofessional to the person on the other end of the call if there is too much background noise.

How does the agreement work?

Operational models vary, with some coworking businesses charging daily, weekly, or monthly rent, while others selling memberships that allow the members to make use of the workspace and its amenities. Coworking spaces usually don’t offer long-term membership contracts or leases.

The Max Estates Opinion

We are not saying that coworking is a bad idea. However, after analyzing the current coworking options available in the market, we feel there are a fair number of challenges which can be hard to overcome for any business. Coworking as a concept might be working in foreign countries but it is certainly not in line with the basic work structure and requirements of businesses in India. We want you to look before you leap into finalizing an office space for your business. And to help you with all your office space needs, Max Estates Limited, the real estate arm of Max Group, is offering numerous commercial spaces for rent across India. Known for introducing state-of-the-art infrastructure into the Indian commercial renting space, Max has provided leading business organizations with luxurious office spaces at conservative prices. With zero capital investment, customizable design options, and keeping the quality of fundamental building methods intact, Max Group is acing the real estate world with the launch of its second commercial project in the heart of Delhi. For a peek into what this new project offers, check out – ​ maxhouse.in

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