It’s no great surprise that the majority of all businesses are small and medium-sized businesses.  In fact, over 99% of all businesses are SMEs with a small group of massive corporations in there.  A lot of SMEs are really limited companies with no employees – or microbusinesses, but a lot of microbusinesses go on to grow, add more employees, and thrive.  This shift from a self-employed feel to a company culture often requires the need to rent an office space, but how many employees do you need to have before you look at renting an office space?

Business size to rent an office space

Microbusinesses often operate from a home, but in a lot of industries or where that isn’t possible they can still rent an office and there are a number of shared office spaces that either offer offices for 1-4 people or co-working spaces (or hotdesking).

Once you get to between 5 and 50 employees though, you’re going to struggle to maintain a team feeling without a regular base, even with a new leaning towards hybrid working and use of technology such as Zoom.  At present, this bracket makes up 10% of all SMEs.  This might not sound like this but that equals nearly half a million businesses that need an office, or need to look at renting an office space either now or in the near future.

How much space do you need for your team?

If your team is around the 4-6 mark and you’re looking to rent your first office, a space of around 260 square feet is a comfortable size to ensureOffice 5 - First Floor - 3 tannery house enough workspace and room to move around without it resembling the 1980’s style rabbit hutches of cubicles.

When you’re looking at different offices make sure you look beyond the square feet measurement and think about how the layout would work.  What equipment would you need to be able to fit in there – printers? Specialist packaging or stationary equipment?  Multiple screens for each desk?  Drawing out a rough diagram will give you an idea if the shape is right as well as the size for your business.  Take a tour of the available offices at the shared office space and see if there’s an ideal layout for you.

Rent office space in Surrey

If your business has got to a point where you need to get your first office, get in touch with SEND Business Centre for a range of different sized offices with flexible contracts and no hidden costs as well as free parking and super fast wifi, in a stunning yet easy to access area near Woking.