Why New Businesses are Opting for Furnished Office Space in Colombo?

In today’s competitive global marketplace, money, time and effort are the key elements playing a vital role in driving businesses. With the furnished office space being perceived as a mainstream occupancy option suitable for companies of all sizes and nature, the furnished office industry is rapidly growing at an annual rate of 73% globally in the commercial office space.

Setting up a business isn’t an easy task and looking for an office to let it thrive is even more difficult. Buying an office space for rent and furnishing it is a time consuming and expensive task. Thankfully, entrepreneurs and business owners have fully furnished offices as an option to grow their businesses. Fully furnished offices provide a productive environment and flexible working conditions thus, offering features that appeal to the younger workforce. This is one of the most important reasons why young entrepreneurs in cosmopolitan cities like Colombo are opting for furnished office spaces.

Colombo is a gateway to Sri Lanka and is the largest city of the beautiful island. Home to a cluster of high-rise buildings and hotels, Colombo sits in a very powerful position as the administrative and economic centre of Sri Lanka. Being the economic centre, a number of furnished offices for rent in Colombo are available. Here are a few reasons why new businesses are opting for furnished office space in Colombo: 

• Affordable: Due to lack of funds, start-ups or small-scale enterprises seek measures that can save their expenses and help in boosting productivity. Buying an office space for rent and installing the required furniture and equipment needs a huge amount of money. Here is when fully furnished offices come into play. Ready to use office space in Colombo allows you to rent a space that is already equipped with comfortable furniture, office equipment, and a creative environment to let you enhance your productivity. Moreover, they are devoid of any hidden costs thus, helping you save money.
• Enhanced flexibility: Opting for a furnished office space for rent in Colombo eliminates the time required for setting up an office and moving in. Furthermore, they are suitable for all kinds of businesses and offer flexible working solutions that fit their needs. Therefore, furnished offices serve as the perfect option for businesses looking to scale up or down as per their requirements. 
• Constant professional presence: Luxury offices for rent in Colombo provide a working space equipped with modern design, world-class technology, and exceptional amenities. All these along with a prestigious business address help companies in maintaining a constant professional presence. In addition to this, having a distinguished physical address for your company instils a sense of trust among your clients and customers thus, enhancing the credibility of your business
• Finest business concierge services: The furnished office spaces in Colombo offer a full-service administration to empower businesses. They offer invaluable knowledge and support for seamless flow of operations. These in-house experts perform all the necessary tasks to let you focus on uplifting your business without any distractions. These include helping your team to settle in, ensuring the fulfilment of your business needs, and minimising disruptions through uninterrupted IT services, remote administrative assistance, and relocation expertise.
• No hassles: In order to accommodate new employees, it is very likely that an entrepreneur will need to upgrade his/her office space. Doing this in a traditional office space can be tricky and expensive. Whereas, in the case of furnished office spaces, one can easily move to larger suites on the expansion of the team without the hassle of moving in and furnishing all over again.

With every passing year, businesses are changing where and how they manage their operations. This not only creates an urgent need for a flexible workforce but also a flexible infrastructure. Hence, overall, we can say that the increase in demand for furnished office space among new businesses is seen to be fundamentally driven by the growing need for a productive environment offering flexible solutions to the rapidly changing business culture across the globe. Hence, a number of newly- emerging companies in countries like Colombo are rapidly adopting the concept of fully furnished offices over conventional offices to elevate their businesses.

How Virtual Office Space has Transformed the Way We Work?

The rapidly changing world of work demands a change in workplace culture too. A few decades ago, the thought of virtual offices was more of a concept than a reality. However, with the advancement in technology, virtual office space are gradually being embraced by several workplaces and that too at a rapid pace. 

With trends moving in favour of virtual offices, the day is not far when the future of workplaces will be dominated by virtual offices. The rising costs of real estate make the idea of renting an office space questionable, especially when you are starting a new company. Here is when virtual office spaces come into play.

Virtual office spaces make business services accessible through the internet, giving your company and your employees the freedom to work remotely without any disturbances. It can be defined as a unique concept of having an office space without actually having one. Some of the biggest changes likely to be seen in the workplaces of the future revolve around the workspace, methods of communication, and the way technologies are used to get work done. 

Bangalore is the heart of India’s information technology sector and demands offices that can offer productivity along with comfort to let employees experience peace of mind while carrying out their tasks. This has led to a rise in  virtual office spaces in Bangalore and its commercial sectors.

Here are the top 6 reasons why the emergence of virtual office spaces is changing the way we work: 

• Improves employee productivity: Virtual offices offer the advantage of choosing time and location as per your needs with the added benefit of working virtually from anywhere in the world. The only thing required is a good internet connection to communicate with clients or customers. Since there are no distractions involved in virtual offices, they help in enhancing employee productivity to a great extent.

• Access to a global network of talent: Virtual office spaces do not restrict you to hire local talent. Instead, they give you the freedom to hire resources from all around the world that fits in the category of the best candidate. This gives your company access to a global network of talent to choose from.

• Saves time: One of the best advantages associated with virtual office spaces is that you end up saving a lot of time due to the commuting time being saved. Travelling to work not only consumes time but also makes you feel exhausted by the end of the day.

• Helps you maintain a constant professional presence: Having a virtual office space in Bangalore lets you set up your business from anywhere in the world. It offers a distinguished address and an elevated business presence along with the freedom and flexibility to work wherever you want. The availability of a physical address not only helps in creating a professional image and building credibility for your business but also instils a sense of trust among your clients and customers.

• Makes business expansion easy: Opting to work in a virtual office makes the process of expanding your business very easy. This is because virtual offices do not require you to rent more space. Hence, virtual offices as a concept are best suited for companies that are growing. This gives them the freedom to scale up or down as per their needs.

• Analyses the quality of work rather than how it is produced: With virtual office spaces, there is no close supervision by a manager or supervisor. It is a concept that lays emphasis on the quality of work and not how it is produced. Such a practice helps in improving employee productivity.

In the present world, a company no longer needs walls to exist. Moreover, the concept of 9 to 5 is far gone. Nowadays, coworking spaces are offering flexible virtual office plans to help businesses build their empire from anywhere in the world with the help of high-end technologies and prominent business addresses. Virtual office spaces in Bangalore are thus, gaining popularity and are being adopted by businesses ranging on a scale of start-ups to multinational companies. Offering essential services like mail-handling and call-forwarding, a virtual office is truly an ideal solution for work-life integration.

The Changing Face of Coworking Space in the Times of Social Distancing

Could the aspects of coworking spaces and the amenities offered by them change post Coronavirus? As the lockdown eases and the restrictions are lifted, fewer employees will not be the only thing that one will notice on returning to workplaces. There are huge possibilities that your workstation, washrooms, or canteen area might also have undergone a significant change. With social distancing becoming the norm amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, workplaces are changing their dynamics to ensure a safe and healthy space for employees.

Any place or activity bringing together several people can play a significant role in spreading infection. Coworking offices encourage employees from different organizations to share a common space and work together. They are not only cost-effective but also provide good networking opportunities. With the rapid spread of COVID-19 infection, it is evident that the demand for coworking spaces wouldn’t be the same as it used to be. However, in order to build a safe and productive environment for employees, many leading coworking spaces are emerging stronger from the COVID-19 crisis through innovative ideas and design upgrades.

Here are few of the measures being adopted by coworking spaces in metropolitan cities to keep COVID-19 at bay: 

• Presence of 30% staff at a time or enhanced emphasis on shift-based timings: While working from home might seem a viable option to carry out daily operations of your workplace but certain drawbacks such as miscommunication, noise, weak connectivity, and so on can cause unnecessary delays in the fulfilment of tasks. Hence, it often becomes necessary to go to work in order to get a particular task fulfilled. However, due to the rise in Coronavirus cases, shift-based work timings are being implemented by shared offices in leading cities like Chennai so that safety and productivity are not compromised. Another option being considered by several coworking office spaces in Chennai is maintaining a 30% employee presence at a time while encouraging the rest of them to work from home.

• Change in workstations: The coworking spaces are now being thoroughly cleaned and several office furniture is being removed to make room for employees. Moreover, their pathways are also being marked with circles in order to ensure that the required distance is maintained. In addition to this, a number of coworking spaces in Chennai are also increasingly using physical barriers between desks to keep co-workers six-feet apart.

• Following social distancing at washrooms, elevators, and canteens: Office canteens are no longer going to be the same. Many coworking spaces are limiting the number of food stalls and are encouraging employees to bring their own lunch. Furthermore, tokens are being given to employees to open washroom doors along with a desk mat to lay on the desk before using it.

• Replacement of in-person meetings with virtual meetings: Despite employees being present in offices, most coworking spaces in Chennai are adopting the method of virtual meetings to interact with employees. This ensures the fulfilment of tasks without meeting people.

• Usage of contactless technology: Today’s world demands the implementation of high-end technologies to reduce physical contact. Several coworking spaces have started making use of these technologies. These include motion sensors, automatic elevators, digital payment methods, facial recognition apps, smart lighting solutions, ordering coffee and food through mobile devices, and so on. Along with these benefits, advanced technologies can also be used to remind employees of social distancing.

Demand for Variable Set-ups by New Businesses will Lead to a Rise in Coworking Spaces

Due to the impact of lockdown and the rapid spread of the COVID-19 infection, there is an urgent need to transform the existing coworking offices into spaces equipped with a six-feet rule. Several emerging businesses are preferring variable office set-ups over traditional set-ups as offered by coworking spaces. It is increasingly being a concept that will be in favour of companies looking to work remotely. Nowadays, many coworking office spaces in Chennai are offering employers ample boutique spaces so that social distancing can be followed efficiently. Moreover, they are also stocking up the workspace with sanitizers, disinfectants, gloves, and masks before reopening to ensure proper protection from infection.