Office space selection guide
helps you find your or your team's next office →
We created an office space guide to help you navigate the jungle of different office solutions when you're looking for a new office for you or your business.
Still not sure what kind of office space would best serve your business? Don't worry. At Boffice, we've had thousands of conversations with entrepreneurs and managers looking for office space. This page is the place where we've summarised our understanding of the concerns and questions you may have about choosing an office space.
If you can't find the answers to your questions about choosing an office space, you can contact us. We will be happy to help you through the process.
Check out the most common selection criteria for office space and the most important questions related to them below. You will also find withdrawals to our free markets.
1.What kind of office space is available?
There is no official classification of the different types of office solutions. The ever-changing needs of office users and new service providers keep the office space market in a constant state of flux. In addition, increased teleworking has increased the need for flexible space solutions. The following classification of office space will help you to understand what solutions are available in general:
Commercial and office space in the brick-and-mortar building
Office space in a large property owned and managed by a single landlord (a so-called office building)
Office hotel or coworking office space (one or more floors of office space where a company specialising in a particular activity rents smaller office space and offices). For example, Boffice.
Virtual operators that provide access to office and meeting facilities managed by operators in list 1-3. For example, Spacent.
2. Determine the size of the team that uses office space regularly and occasionally
Companies and teams that support full teleworking need to consider issues such as the following when choosing office space in relation to the size of the team/company.
Let's use as an example an expert company with 8 employees, of which six people live in the Helsinki metropolitan area and 2 people outside the Helsinki metropolitan area.
How many of your team use the office on a daily basis? Is it enough to provide desks for, say, four people instead of the whole team?
How many internal meetings are organised each day? On average, how many people from the office attend these meetings? Are meeting rooms available for these meetings?
Whether it is possible to expand the office space temporarily and/or permanently according to the changing needs of the team. Very often, the actual use of the office space will only become clear after the team has been using it for a few months.
How much does the location of the office space affect how comfortable and easy it is for the team to come to the office every day?
3. Location of office space is key to success
In consumer sales and marketing, three factors are considered more important than others. These are: location, location and location. These same three factors should also be carefully considered when choosing an office space.
One way of thinking about it is that modern office space can be seen as a service to employees, who can now do their work from almost anywhere. In this case, the location of the office space becomes a key criterion through the employee experience. If the office is difficult to reach or very far away, it is difficult to optimise the employee experience.
Office location isn't everything, but we encourage you to consider the importance of location through the experiences and insights of different team members.
Free office space for rent
Since you've decided to read this office space guide, you might also be interested in our selection of available office space. If you are not yet at that stage in your office search process, feel free to continue reading this guide.
4. Teleworking and choosing office space
The average amount of teleworking a team does per week and the choice of office space are significantly related in a few different ways. The choice of office space can directly and indirectly influence the amount of work done in the office and at home.
In many companies, the increase in teleworking has significantly reduced office occupancy rates. In this case, a smaller office may well be enough for a company in a changed situation. Optimising office size can save both money and the environment.
It is also worth considering how the location of the office and other factors may influence how often employees choose to work remotely.
In our experience, these issues should be weighed and discussed with the team before the final choice of office space.
5. Additional services for office space
When choosing an office space, it is also worth stopping to consider the additional services offered by the landlord. The need for these will vary depending on the size of the company, the industry and team preferences. Examples of additional services include:
Lobby services, events
Interior design and partial/replacement office furniture
Printing, IT and security services
Private, high-speed Internet access
For example, the most typical customers of Boffice locations are small teams of less than 10 people with limited need for additional services (e.g. lobby services, events). Many additional services have therefore been eliminated from our range and therefore from our prices. Find out more about the additional services available for Boffice offices here.
6. Pricing and contract models in office leases
The types of contracts for office space can be roughly divided into three categories:
One-year fixed-term contracts: for example, commercial and office space on the ground floor of a building is usually rented on a one-year fixed-term contract, after which the lease continues for an indefinite period.
Multi-year leases: for example, office space in a larger property owned and managed by a single landlord is usually leased for a year or years in advance.
Indefinite, short notice (1-3 months) contracts: for example, in office hotels and coworking spaces, office space is often available on short notice of 1-3 months.
You should always carefully read the terms and conditions and lease agreements when renting office space. It is also worth paying attention to whether a fixed-term contract is automatically renewed at a predetermined time.
Available office space in Helsinki
Since you've read this office space guide all the way to here, you might be interested in the office space in Helsinki that Boffice has to offer . If you are not yet at that stage in your office search process, feel free to continue reading this guide. Perhaps you will find your way back to our website or our office space when the time is right!
7. Office or workspace for receiving clients or for quiet work
When we talk to small businesses in particular about their choice of office, sometimes the office seeker stops to re-analyse their primary need for office space through the following questions:
Is there a need to receive customers?
Do you need to find a suitable space for concentrated work?
Or is the need possibly a combination of these?
We recommend that you consider this priority need in combination with the other factors outlined on this page in relation to the choice of office space.
8. The form and level of customer service provided by your office space partner
In general, it is quite difficult to find out the level of customer service from the landlord before you have rented an office space and have to sort out some problem situation with the landlord or the location management and maintenance party.
When choosing an office space, we recommend that you consider what level of customer service you expect from the landlord:
Do you expect to always receive personalised face-to-face service and hospitality?
Or is it enough that customer service is quickly available, and that the matter is dealt with as quickly as possible?
Free office space
Since you've read this office space guide all the way to here, you might be interested in the office space available at Boffice.
Premises in Helsinki
Offices Tampere
Office premises Espoo
Offices Espoo
You can also continue reading this guide. Maybe you'll find your way back to our offices when the time is right!
9. Prepare your office move carefully
Whether you're moving into your first office space or changing offices, it's a good idea to allow enough time for the move.
The best way to avoid forgetting and surprises when moving office space is to create a checklist for the move. At the very least, you should keep the following things in mind:
Packaging and protection of office supplies
Transfers and transport
Installation work
Furniture (discarded, recyclable, new)
Closing/opening of telecommunications connections
Updating contact details (websites, authorities, other digital services)