Small business owners who are looking to show their customers that they have a real office usually will not settle in until they can afford a private office space. Sometimes they will rent an office that may be private and totally theirs and fits their budget, but it is not in a location that best suits their clients. Finding an office solution that suits their budget and their business image does not need to be a struggle.
A shared office (or co-working office space) with many different companies sharing the same room as them may work to have the desired business address. But it may not work as a place to get their chores done. Having to use a different desk each time they visit can sometimes take a an adjustment period, thus costing them productivity time. A semi-private office that they only share with one other office tenant will give them the sense of familiarity from the time they walk in the door. This is especially true when they can sit down at their desk and their PC without having to set it up – they just need to turn it on. This truly is their office and they are only sharing it with one other business.
Most often, the businesses that are matched with other businesses that need semi-private office space, have different times that they need to access their semi-private office space. This means that one business may spend mostly mornings in the shared semi-private office, while another may only use it a few days a week in the afternoons. This arrangement will often be different, but work out when there is some communication between tenants.
For the most part, many businesses who share a semi-private office space will report that they often do not encounter the other business personnel on a regular basis. This works well for small business owners that need an office space, but also need a place that they can lock up client files.
Even when both businesses co-occupy a semi-private office space, a synergy usually develops. Each of the two businesses that are sharing the same office space will learn to work around the schedules of each. Both will learn how and when to give each other the space and time they need to work efficiently within the same office space.
Bottom line: Semi-private offices can be a much better solution for businesses that need a place to store their PC’s and business files, compared to operating in a co-working or an open shared office space.
