Almost every startup or new business in India is looking for a private office space. While the renting of commercial space is not an easy task, the increasing number of startups and ease of doing business has made the concept of co-working office space in India a very demanding business. The increased number of google searches with the keywords Office Spaces for Rent in Bangalore proves the point that companies are looking more towards Bangalore to setup their businesses.
Let us discuss on how to look for office space for rent in Bangalore and the checklist of things you need to take care before making a decision.
1. Location
When it comes to renting or buying anything related to real estate, the first and foremost metric to look at is location. You need to find a work place in good professional and pleasant area with accessibility to public transportation.
If your customers visits you often, you need to find a location with accessibility to good hotels as near as possible. Taking care of your business customers is the most important thing you would ever want.
While distance from airport is also a major factor, it is not feasible to get all facilities and accessibility in Bangalore if you are looking for places near new Bengaluru airport. Read find best real estate deals in India
You may also have to think if any hospitals are available near by to take care of your employees in case of any emergencies.
Koramangala, HSR, Indiranagar, Jayanagar, Maratahalli, Hebbal are the some of the good places where you may want to start your research.
2. Transportation
We all know about Bangalore traffic. Your employees would be exhausted if they have to spend lot of time in traffic. This would directly impact their productivity and would be difficult to stay until late nights especially for the female employees.
You need to provide night cab facilities if the location is not feasible for the female employees to travel during night times. Providing a night cab is not only expensive in terms of money, but also takes lot of time and resources to provide security, operating costs with the travel outsourcing company
3. Network and Bandwidth Support
Do some research on the kind of network connectivity (LAN and Internet) and bandwidth being provided. You need to look for the worst case scenarios.
Can it take the load especially when there is a production release and thousands of software jobs being run on huge data? What are the backup plans if there is a sudden loss of data or network connectivity?
Is the connectivity and bandwidth being shared with other companies? Is their network secured and not prone to any external attack from hackers?
4. Working Environment
The work environment plays a major role on the mindset and productivity of your employees. You should look for a place where there is no noise and no interruptions from employees of other companies.
Loud speakers are common at prayer places. Honking noises would be very irritating if the office is at a high traffic junction. Either you should avoid these kind of places or find a building with good acoustics that avoids outside noise.
5. Ambience and Customization
The better the ambience, the lesser the stress. Can you customize the ambience as per your requirements and company policies? Talk to them and get into an agreement.
6. Free and Paid Amenities
Companies who provide office spaces for rent and charge you per seat basis will also provide other amenities like wifi, power backup, cafetaria, private phone booth, parking etc.
You should not imagine that all of these are included by default. Make a list of all such amenities, which are free and which are paid. Ask for a bulk discount in advance for the paid amenities.
7. Co-working Conduct Policy
You should check the conduct policies like dress code and freedom offered at work. While some places are fine with shorts and chappals, others would have strict formal dress code policies.
8. Hidden Fee
The per seat fee is the not final amount you are going to pay. You should not get shocked with the bills you get for things like insurance, taxes, maintenance etc.
9. Upgrade Fee and Policies
Every startup or business starts with few employees and expands further. You may want to increase the number of seats and facilities being provided for your employees once you start seeing profits.
Find out in advance the feasibility to upgrade and the costs involved.
10. Supporting Devices
You need supporting devices like printers, scanners, internet kiosks, courier services etc in your day to day work life. You cannot ask your employees to run to a nearest printing shop to get their things done.
11. Security and Employee Safety Standards
Understand the security and safety standards including fire evacuation spots, elevation of the building, material used to construct the building, security cameras etc. You cannot take even 0.1% risk with the safety and security of your employees.
12. Extra Services
What are the extra services being provided? Some of the extra services provided by plug and play offices are meeting rooms, conference rooms with projectors, reception desk with a receptionist, telecom support, admin support, library, couriers handling, gym, sick room, medical room, prayer rooms, smoking rooms etc.
It is obvious that the more luxuries you want, the more you have to pay. Again, make a list of the necessary services and ask for a bulk discount in advance.
13. Community Events
Some of the office space providers conduct community events and games among all the staff working from their offices. Understand what kind of events they conduct and how often they do. You may also request them to conduct exclusive events for your staff.
Let us know if you are already aware of any other aspects one should take care before renting an office space in Bangalore. We will include those in this article.