The Complete Guide on How Startups Can Create an Office Space

Many discussions are happening around remote, in-office, and hybrid work models. Now it is your time to become part of the talks with your startup and decide what’s best for you. 

The past two years have changed the world completely, primarily affecting the work conditions around the world. Especially for the United States workforce, things are getting fierce every day. Employees are quitting in bulk, people are putting efforts into launching their dream business, and most workers are not bowing down to strict in-office requirements.

Most of the new companies want to follow remote work. However, it might not be a feasible option for the workers who prefer working in a traditional office setting. On the other hand, hybrid work culture has been a successful business model since the emergence of pandemic routines. Mixed working standards allow companies to benefit from cost-saving methods while encouraging a healthy work and life balance for the employees.

So now, this leads us to the question of how startups can successfully bring a hybrid work model into the big picture. A startup will not be in a position to risk productivity gains; therefore, it needs to identify all the pros and cons of hybrid work models.  

However, before we look into the changing work mode for startups, you have to learn some exciting and not-so-exciting facts about startups.

• Unfortunately, 90 percent of all startups fail
• 10 percent fail within the first year
• Across all the industries, the startup’s failure rate is similar
• The main reasons for the failure are user-unfriendly products, poor marketing efforts, product troubles, and cost issues
• You might have financial problems, but 1 in 3 businesses starts with less than $5,000

Nevertheless, we have some tips to help you maintain flexibility and productivity in a hybrid setting. Here are some ways to consider a hybrid workspace, culture, and a lot more for your startup.  

Start Working on Your Office Space

When starting your startup journey, you might come across requirements that involve a lot of money. However, one of the most significant business expenses is creating an office space.

Creating a workspace in your home requires not only money but also some research. Once you begin purchasing stuff for your home office, you will come across types of furniture that are either too big or too small for your workspace.

The good part is that companies like Hubble and GomSpace have made the choices easier for remote and hybrid business owners. The companies have rolled out solutions for startups to use AI to visualize various workspace scenarios and find the perfect fit for themselves. Startup owners can build a safe, affordable, and efficient workspace through this AI-enabled solution.

Besides the remote work setting, another term has gained popularity: co-working spaces. As we said above, most workers are looking forward to a hybrid work situation that helps them enjoy in-person collaboration some days and keep the work-life balance on other days. Hubble offers a flexible subscription plan to access the co-working spaces. The co-working spaces help startups find office spaces on an as-needed basis. 

More Reasons Why Co-Working Spaces Make Sense for Start-ups

Co-working spaces are, in many ways, exactly how you think they should be. The spaces are all about free coffees, ping-pong or foosball tables, couches for logging, and lots of millennials working together creatively. This kind of amenities is a new thing. Still, the increase in demand shows it is the first thing young workers are jumping towards.

So, suppose you want to take a unique turn in your startup voyage, bring more productivity to work, or make the workspace more exciting. In that case, you might consider renting a co-working space for your hybrid startup. Here is a list of benefits that comes with co-working spaces for startups:

The Affordability

Sure, the rents are not so “affordable,” but you can find many options that will not cost you a fortune on a per-square-foot basis. Startup owners are all about budget. If you are new to the journey, you have to spend some time deciding on a budget for everything you are doing with your office. 

The first thing is setting up a budget to rent a co-working space. Again sometimes, you might have to extend your budget to manage more employees in a hybrid workspace. Still, it will become affordable in a long-term office lease.

Scalable as Your Business Grows 

For startups and small businesses, nothing is static. However, once you put your hard-earned money into creating an office space, you might not be able to cater to a larger team once it grows. On the other hand, a co-working space is flexible and can accommodate more people. If you currently have five employees but might need a space for 10 in the coming month, a co-working space can solve your problem. You have to request a larger area, and you might just be shifted to a larger space down the hall. It is as simple as we talk about it.

Co-working Space Owners Know Exactly What You Need

Co-working spaces deal with a lot of startups. They are well-knowledgeable as to what makes startup businesses’ operations easier. Co-working spaces are not only familiar with what you need, but they offer varieties of services that can help your business grow. 

A Lot of Networking

The young and tech-savvy generation has a lot to offer companies and startups—however, these brilliant and sharp minds are not easy to handle. The young workers are well aware of what they need in the workspace and how they need them. The demands include work-life balance, positive work culture, and networking opportunities. 

Workers do not appreciate the isolation of remote working standards. Nor do they understand the restrictions of networking and simply bonding with colleagues in an old-fashioned office environment. Here is where a co-working space helps. A co-working space not only caters to the young demographics’ demand for networking but also is open to an incredibly diverse audience.

With networking skills, young workers can come across several new opportunities. On the other hand, co-working spaces are an excellent spot for your startup as well. You can use the space to interact with other people working there and tell them about your business. After all, word of mouth is one of the oldest and the most effective marketing tactic. The networking opportunities in a coworking space are perfect for your business’s exposure. 

The Undeniable Positive Vibes

Startup life can be physiologically challenging. There is no going around the fact that an entrepreneur has to go through financial inconvenience, networking challenges, and more. There will be times when you might feel disappointed shadowing all your plans with your startup. There also can be times when you drop all your goals and missions and call it quits with your new journey. 

This is the time when you have to invest in a co-working space. A co-working space is dedicated to hard-working and intelligent people. Similar to you, you will meet young workers struggling with identical challenges. You might as well come across people that have battled depression, isolation, and stress in their startup journey. 

Sitting with such people, understanding their journey, and communicating, you find more lessons and regain the lost enthusiasm. Of course, this is not something you can cherish in a home-office setting or complete on-site work.

Suppose you are convinced to find a suitable co-working space for you in your time. In that case, you can jump to further learning on how to run a startup, especially in a pandemic era.

Attendance Policies Should Be Transparent and Trackable

 For startups, office attendance can be a tricky factor. Therefore, before you decide to tweak anything in your work policies, you have to plan how you will handle office attendance. For this, you might need to know the needs of your team, and you have to give space to your employees to put forward their suggestions before you finalize the plan.

Suppose you are not going on board with a co-working space for now. In that case, you will be offering remote work for some days to your employees. Remember that not every employee has high-speed internet service at home. Therefore, you have to choose a proper time tracking system instead of judging your employees’ activity or inactivity based on a standard time of online availability.

The excellent part is that several phone and internet bundles providers offer affordable services for remote workers. Take Cox bundles, for example. Cox provides a good number of phone, TV, and internet bundles to its customers. Its customers can enjoy video chat, emails, and more with a 50 Mbps internet connection. 

Not only this, but Cox offers over 75 entertainment channels along with an unlimited calling feature. This and a lot more start with a bundle at $112.99 per month for 12 monthly service agreement. Cox also offers COX servicio al cliente en Espanol for the Spanish speakers. 

As far as a time tracking system is concerned, this system can be used in offices and for remote workers. It makes it easier for business owners to track employees’ productivity and later put forward the metrics to boost their morale.

The essential tip here is to be clear and transparent about the tracking system or any other method you use for hybrid work attendance. Make sure your employees are not surprised at the end of the month about your attendance policies. If you are thinking of hiding the guidelines, you might erupt in confusion and frustration among your workers.

Create a Supportive Office Environment

These days, employers are working hard on creating a positive work culture. Before the pandemic, office culture was probably the most unconcerned factor for business owners and leads. However, amid the pandemic work situation, employees voiced their concerns over why they do not feel like returning to the office after experiencing work from home. The most talked-about problems in an office setting in times when employees were resigning in significant numbers were non-flexible working hours, strict deadlines, office politics, and more.

Now that you are at the beginning of your startup journey, you should try to implement everything excellent and beneficial into your office or workspace. The future of comfortable work culture includes making the office a space where your employees feel comfortable and motivated and do not consider it a boring chore or punishment. There are many ways to create healthy and collaborative office spaces that encourage flexible working standards.

Keep in mind that flexible working standards are no longer a luxury. Instead, employees believe it is a necessity, just like salary. Several collaborative conference spaces cater to virtual and in-person meetings. These spaces make it easier for everyone to focus on the projects and have healthy discussions.

Conclusion

Beginning with your startup journey can be daunting. In the business world, you will have several challenges waiting for you. Not only you but also your teammates might also come across networking and connectivity challenges. 

The good part is that a good ISP (the one mentioned earlier) helps overcome the connectivity issues. Usually, you will have to make some relevant changes to grab the best talent out there in this fierce market. You can start by looking for a co-working space, try to curate a healthy work culture, and make sure your attendance policies and patterns are clear. While all of this is necessary for creating a productive hybrid startup, it is crucial to ensure that workers are comfortable giving their input suggestions.