Take a look around your office space – any empty conference rooms and cubicles could mean cash.
If yours is like many other businesses, there are cubicles and rooms that go unused for weeks, even months at a time.
Now some businesses are taking advantage of that kind of empty space and renting it out.
Freelancers, start-ups and small firms that need limited space are increasingly interested because it’s:
- cheaper than renting out completely vacant space, and
- there are no extra costs — water/sewage, heating/cooling/ventilation, lighting, wireless, etc.
Tenants can become more than just tenants
Besides the extra cash it can bring in, there are other benefits for renting out space:
- Networking and collaboration: You may find your next client or stumble upon a start-up vendor that provides a service that could help your business. People that work closely with your employees invariably strike up conversations and develop relationships. It’s the people you know and trust who often are the best fits for handling contract or vendor work for your business.
- Change of scenery for your employees: Bringing in fresh faces that are renting out space can help energize your employees. New people can also share their business experiences with your people.
- An opportunity to spruce up the office: You may need to refurbish vacant space for your new tenants. If so, it’s a perfect opportunity to improve the adjacent areas as well. The costs for new carpeting, paint work, new or refurbished furniture and the like are cheaper. And it might even be deductible as a business expense.
A little extra cash beats nothing
Online vendors are serving as the middlemen in office-sharing arrangements. One of the leading firms, ShareDesk.net, charges businesses a 15% commission fee for a successful booking.
ShareDesk’s CEO Kia Rahmani says what you can earn for a space depends on a number of factors. But as a starting benchmark, he says rates for spaces in high-cost cities like New York and San Francisco are going for about $250 a month and $20 a day.
Get the right kind of tenant or tenants in, and it can be a long-term success. Earning money on unused space may beat the alternative of cubes and offices just collecting dust.
Does sharing a working space at your office seem like a good opportunity? Let us know why or why not in the comments below.
