How can your scaling tech business align selecting the right workspace with growth plans?

A common challenge for scaling businesses is to select a workspace which is going to fit your growth plans as you increase headcount.

I get it….

🚀 You are growing rapidly

🚀 You’ve just invested your heart and soul in to your Series A round

🚀 Now you need to lead your business on a growth trajectory and before you know it, up comes your Series B round which will fuel more growth…

So, how do you match your workspace strategy to your firms scale up/hiring plans, when you’ll be at;

20 people this year?

50 people next year?

And maybe over 100 people in year 3?

Here’s some key bits of advice for you…

1.     Flexibility - Find the right landlord/Flexible operator partner

You’re apprehensive about committing to a long-term contract whilst you’re uncertain how many you’re going to grow by, therefore choose the right landlord OR flex operator.

There are some real gems out there who understand fast growth tech firms and will partner with you to facilitate your growth plans and provide a solid customer experience.

It’s typically those with an understanding of scale ups and a proven track record of accommodating high growth firms in their portfolio throughout their scale up phases that can give you the comfort you need.

The proof is in the pudding!

2.     Don’t use your investment to pay for an expensive fit out!

Whichever series of investment you’re going through, (especially in the early days) it’s important to keep cash in the business and invest in to people, tech, operations and growth - NOT an expensive fit-out, especially when you’re going to outgrow the space quickly.

There are plenty of spaces (including off market opportunities) out there which are fully fitted out. If not, it’s possible in most scenarios to agree for the landlord to absorb the cost and rentalise the payment over your tenure to keep cash flow strong!

3.     Deal Structure

> Pay as you grow

Take a larger space and structure the deal on a stepped rent which is aligned to your hiring plans. E.g. The first 6 months at X rent which then increases at month 12, month 18 etc. This means you’re not paying more than you need to.

> Option agreements

You can take option agreements which means you have a right to expand into adjacent space with first right of refusal on additional space.

4.      Establish what the future of work looks like at your business!

💻 Back to the office? Remote working? Hybrid working? If you don’t have open discussions with your teams it’s highly likely you don’t know their preference.

🏢How can you choose the right workspace if you don’t understand what your teams view on coming back in to the office is and how frequently they wish to work in the space?

🗣Invest the time in speaking with your team to understand how many times a week they will be in the office, if at all - there’s no point in incurring more costs on a larger workspace if your hybrid working model means you can take less space.