This concept of co-working is a very attractive one – you get to work in a creative, dedicated work environment with other professionals, escape working alone in a home office, connect with others and network, avoid the coffee house distractions, get motivated and driven by the others sharing the workspace, and have flexibility and no commitment to traditional “work time”.

This past August, OfficeLinks debuted a product designed to provide knowledge workers with reduce office space costs while providing enterprise-grade technology and workplace infrastructure that enables and inspires collaboration: Co-Working Offices. Companies or individuals interested may try co-working FREE on Fridays at OfficeLinks’ locations in Chicago and New York.  The first of its kind, OfficeLinks’ program brings knowledge workers unprecedented opportunity to leverage the company’s fully furnished, staffed, and modern offices on a transactional basis, while also networking with like-minded business people.   OfficeLinks’ Co-Working program includes access to modern workstations, blazing-fast and free WIFI, as well as refreshments and snacks to fuel the brain.

Say goodbye to overhearing every soy latte ordered at the corner café and hello to working in an inspiring, modern workspace with other people just like you.  For more information about OfficeLinks’ Co-Working Offices in their Chicago (Willis Tower location) and New York (40 Wall Street, 1440 Broadway and 33 West 19^th Street) office locations, click here.

The W offers the elegance of a 4-star hotel with the convenience of being just a block away from the Willis Tower. As an OfficeLinks client, no matter if you office with us in Chicago, Chelsea, Wall Street or Bryant Park, you will have access to an exclusive, outstanding discount for the W’s “Wonderful” and “Spectacular” rooms.

Here are 5 easy steps for you to follow to book OfficeLinks’ discounted rooms at the W Hotel:

1. Go to www.whotels.com
2. Click “Book Now” Located on the right side of the screen
3. Select W Chicago Lakeshore or City Center and Enter Dates
4. Click “Travel Agents and Corp. Accts”; Enter in the number: (OfficeLinks clients may speak to their Center Manger to find out the secret code.)
5. Click “Find Rates”. If the OfficeLinks client rate is available, you will see it listed. If not you will see the best rates The W can offer to you during those days.

Offices where you’ll thrive and W Hotel rooms to rejuvenate, the perfect combination.

See for yourself why OfficeLinks forged a relationship with the impressive W Hotel by clicking here.

Thriving at OfficeLinks New York Officespace

The lesson from what’s happening in the restaurant world is one that can be applied to many businesses.  In order to navigate the difficult economy, companies must be humble and adjust to the times.  This was one of many important pieces of advice I received from Roddy Salazar of Interfax during a recent interview.  Interfax provides essential news and other information products, focusing mainly on Russia, countries of the former Soviet Union, China, and Central Europe, for decision-makers in politics and business.  Roddy opened his company’s first New York City office at OfficeLinks’ 40 Wall Street location in July 2007.  With a nimble business plan, Interfax is prevailing despite the obstacles.  Roddy, like many NYC restaurant owners, knows that client retention is key.  Here are some of Roddy’s pointers for client retention:

*Lose the arrogance.  Be humble.

*Move with the environment. Ensure your strategy is agile and adept to the current marketplace at all times.  

*Engage your clients.  Roddy shared with me that he pre empts the “we’re canceling our account” discussion by providing his clients with a powerful value-add.  Further, he went to each of his clients and assured them that there would not be an increase in the cost of their subscriptions.

*Provide a superior value proposition. People are extremely selective with their money.  Therefore, businesses must provide a superior value proposition (remember value proposition=benefits/cost) in order to have the edge over their competition.  Per Se recognized that the recession wasn’t going to stop people from eating but they needed to enhance their value proposition to beat out the competition at their particular price point.  Roddy knows the need for information is just as crucial as ever.  His challenge, and it appears that he has stepped up to the plate, is to create a powerful set of benefits that outweigh the cost.

With client retention in the front of their minds, Interfax is positioned to grow and capture opportunity.  My guess is that its competitors who struggle the most will be the ones who remain too rigid in their approach.  Right now, Roddy’s tips are extremely timely.  In fact, the interview made me think about what my own company, OfficeLinks, is doing lately to adjust to the current marketplace.  Similar to Interfax, we are focused on client retention.  OfficeLinks is continually inventing creative ways to improve our value proposition.  A good example is the recent launch of our CoWorking program, which enables mobile workers to take advantage of our state-of-the-art work environment.

Selecting the right Office Space in New York City, Chicago, or realistically anywhere, involves significant due diligence.  Since office related expenses are commonly the second largest cost to hit the bottom line, examine the complete spectrum of workplace options to ensure that you select the solution that is optimal for your business now and for tomorrow.

There are really four options to consider:  Traditional space, sublet space, business centers and home working.  In future blog posts, we will dissect each option in greater detail.  But, for now we will look at some core elements of the decision-making process.

Total Occupancy Cost:

When examining price, ensure you are including all the factors of this very complex equation. To be very clear, square foot pricing is not Total Cost of Occupancy.  Price per square foot is simply one factor.  At a very high level, consider all the costs for fitting out your office so that it is “business-ready” (don’t forget about the common areas including reception, meeting rooms etc…) and then running and managing that facility.  Then factor in that cost when the space is totally utilized and when it’s not. For expediency sake we’re proving a very high-level overview. In an upcoming blog post, we will address the true definition of Total Occupancy Costs. 

Other factors in your decision-making process should be:

Term of the agreement. In today’s dynamic marketplace your business needs to be agile.  Long-term, fixed leases do not enable business agility. There is a clear disconnect between what landlords and business owners need. Business Week quoted a stat that 50% of a typical company’s office space sits empty.  You can mitigate this risk with agreements that have flexible terms and allow you to expand and contract your office space according to business needs, which leads to the next thing to consider.

Rent increases.  Even with long-term leases, rent tends to increase.  So when you find an option with a shorter, less risky term, you want to cover yourself from potential rent hikes.  Ask for a clause that correlates rent increases to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).  With today’s marketplace, you can request a shorter term and ask for a rent freeze for the first year. Watch out for increases tied to “fair market valuations” and stick to CPI.

Building maintenance and utilities.  With every office comes office related bills – as the cost to actually run the business.  Remember to ask for a definitive list of what’s included and what additional charges you would have each month. If the services and utilities are all charged separately, you may see that your low rent price per square foot option is no longer a wise choice, which leads me to the next point.

Complete office and support package. You know how to run your business and each minute you are distracted from it negatively impacts your output.   To ensure you are optimizing each hour, select options where your office management is included in your monthly price.  Business Centers offer options for a receptionist to answer calls, to give a warm welcome to greet visitors and can even help arrange meetings as needed.  To many, these services immediately equate to savings in headcount or from utilizing that staff for business driving efforts.   Using shared business equipment cuts overhead and utilities are generally included in your monthly cost.  For many, the networking in such a shared business environment has lead to new revenue gains.  Finally, a long-term lease agreement that doesn’t support your dynamic business needs could prove devastating to your business.

Risk:

For most, running a real estate function is not a core competency.  Identifying the space where you want to office is one thing.  Forecasting the right amount of space so that you can optimize utilization, negotiating a 50+ page lease agreement, establishing a business-ready environment is another.  Making the wrong office decision can really be a noose around the neck of a business for years to come.  Consider all options that mitigate that risk.