Are you a business owner struggling with the creeping inflation and skyrocketing energy prices?
Or perhaps you’re an employee working from home and facing significant utility bill increases?
While remote working has gained traction over the last couple of years, underpinned by strict lockdown rules and the need for people to achieve a better work-life balance, the recent inflationary spikes due to COVID-19-related supply chain disruptions and geopolitical factors has caused a significant increase in utility bills affecting remote workers and business owners.
In fact, a recent survey revealed that 30% of UK small business owners are actively looking to reduce their energy usage to minimise their running costs. What’s more, experts expect remote workers to have to fork out an additional £209 a month due to soaring energy costs.
Now, the good news is that there’s a way for both business owners and remote workers to save money on utility costs while enjoying a dynamic and innovative work environment; flexible workspaces.
What’s A Flexible Workspace?
A flexible workspace (or coworking space) is a shared and collaborative office space fitted with several desks and allows employees or self-employed business owners to work on separate projects while sharing equipment and ideas and creating bonds with like-minded individuals.
3 Benefits Of Coworking Spaces
1. Lower Costs
As a business owner, renting an entire office for your team permanently can cost you tens of thousands of dollars a year, if not more, including lease, cleaning costs, utility bills and the deposit. Coworking spaces offer fixed-rate renting options factoring all of these costs and ranging from daily passes to weekly or monthly memberships with an average cost of £168 a month. And if you’re a freelancer, you might have noticed an increase in your utility bills since you started freelancing. That’s because, while remote working might seem cheaper as you’re paying rent regardless, costs of energy and internet can quickly add up, making working from a coworking space much cheaper. Besides, tea and coffee are often included in the price, so you’ll be saving on this too!
2. Enhanced productivity
Research has shown that employees and freelancers working in coworking spaces experience higher happiness and greater productivity. That’s because working from home can feel lonely and isolating, leading to depression and decreased productivity. Shared office spaces, on the other hand, allow individuals to thrive among a supportive and collaborative community, create strong connections, collaborate and share ideas, thus improving their happiness and productivity.
3. Networking
Talking about collaboration, one of the biggest benefits of working from a flexible workspace is the opportunity to expand your network and collaborate with highly skilled individuals. You never know where a conversation may lead, and setting up camp from a coworking space where entrepreneurship and collaboration are key to success, might help you develop new business relationships and create synergies you wouldn’t have been able to experience if you only worked from home.
Looking For The Perfect Coworking Space?
At Flour Mill Dundee, we’re passionate about helping small business owners and remote workers thrive and succeed by providing them with comfortable, stylish and functional flexible workspaces. And we’ve also recently designed a new space that allows you to hold productive meetings and organise fantastic events to wow your customers and foster strong relationships.
So, if you’re looking for a flexible workspace with business owners or freelancers in mind, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’d love to discuss your needs and see how we can help!
