We started off in the attic of my house for two reasons. First because it would buy us some hey-we-started-in-an-attic street credibility. And second because it would save us some money.
After half a year, the startup was having two interns and I was having a second baby, so we had to move. We looked at office spaces. Free advice: do not rent an office space! You want to pay for services. You do not want to pay for square meters (or square feet, if you please). Finally, we ended up at our current location, a full service business center.
Our office is cleaned regularly, trashcan cleaned and recycle bin emptied. When we are on the road, our incoming (land line) phone calls are answered, our FedEx deliveries and certified mails are taken care of. If the lights or the heating is broken, help is already on its way. The receptionists of the business center can provide services as management assistant, on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Last week, we ran out of black toner for our laser printer. This could be a major problem to a company that is just about to have a meeting with a VC. A quick mail to the front desk with the PDF took care of the problem: our document was printed on their color laserjet. Does it cost extra to have stuff printed for you? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely!
The same day I ordered a new toner cartridge online, which was delivered to our office the next day. As any HP customers might know, you are encouraged to put your old cartridges back in your new box and send them to HP by mail. I've done that before: go to the post office, wait in line, wait for the post officer to print a large label and stick it on your box, say thank you, get back to the office. Not very productive, and HP makes extra money from me standing in line at the post office. Turns out we have a big box in our building: I just throw in my cartridges, somebody else collects the box and the value of the empty cartridge goes to a charity. Big time saver.
I have one roll of "normal" post stamps. Anything out of the ordinary (too heavy, too big, international,...) is handled by the business center's front desk at a small surplus charge over the post stamp's cost. I don't have to know all the silly rates for international mail (or look them up every time) and I don't have to buy seven different post stamp values.
Bottom line: first, outsource your computer stuff, second move to a business center that offers you good and flexible support. That way, you can concentrate on building your business.
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