Everything you need to start your own business is on site

Have you decided to make that leap and start your own business? It’s an exciting time but also a challenging time, and it’s not just about finding clients who’ll pay you to do what you do best – you’ll also be challenged in different ways that you may not even have thought of yet…

So, what is it that you’ll need?

Professional working space

Many people starting out in business will work from home in order to save money. While this suits some people, others find it hard and it becomes difficult to extricate work life from home life. If you’re at home all day, you may well end up doing domestic chores instead of concentrating on your business. Friends and family may see you as being available at all times and expect to be able to interrupt you whenever it suits them. In the evenings, you may find yourself working long into the night to make up for time lost during the day, meaning you’ll be overtired, with consequent effects on your productivity.

If you have a professional office space to travel to, you are more likely to separate home life from your work life, which is healthier both in terms of state of mind and productivity. Entrepreneurs who work in serviced offices and coworking spaces like the UOE Hub find that being in a professional working atmosphere encourages them to knuckle down to their work, and they are consequently motivated to get more done.

A professional address

When you run a business, you need to be visible online so people know where to find you. That also means publishing your address on your website – this is not a necessity, but not having an address on a website can be interpreted as an indication that a company is not being transparent and completely honest. Clearly there are issues with publishing your home address on the internet, so this is a problem that is easily solved by hiring a desk or office in the UOE Hub.

If you do not want or need a base at the Hub, you can still use it as your Virtual Office, meaning you get a professional address but continue to work from home.

Meeting room for clients

When you work in a professional office environment like the UOE Hub, you will not need to worry about where to meet clients. There is an informal break out area, or you can hire the meeting room. Otherwise, you’re faced with the choice of inviting clients to your home – which many people feel uncomfortable doing – or meeting up in cafés or always travelling to your clients’ workplaces, which will take up a lot of your time not to mention the cost of travelling expenses.

Fast, reliable WiFi

When you are just setting out on your own, getting broadband that is fast enough and reliable enough for you to run your business is a huge investment. As a member of The Hub, you will simply be able to log on to our high speed broadband, the cost of which is included in your rental package. As it’s a dedicated leased line, there is the additional advantage that it will be less likely to go wrong – and even if it does, you can rely on us to chase our IT provider to get it back up and running in no time.

Office furniture

Every penny counts when you’re starting up a business. Fortunately, when you rent desk space in our coworking area, you won’t have to worry about investing in office furniture as this will be provided as part of your package. At the UOE Hub, high-quality ergonomic chairs and desks come as standard – all you have to do is move in!

Cleaning and maintenance

You’ll want to use every spare minute building up your new business, rather than on daily cleaning or general maintenance of your office space. At the UOE Hub, we take care of all of this for you – all we ask is that you put your mug in the dishwasher at the end of the day and treat the kitchen, bathrooms and public areas as if they were in your home.

Networking and business advice

When you’re working in a building full of entrepreneurs and small businesses, you’re bound to build up your own informal business network with UOE Hub co-workers. If you need help with something and aren’t sure what to do about it, just ask around! It’s very likely that someone else will have gone through something similar and will be willing to give you advice.

Also, the more you talk to the entrepreneurs around you, the more likely it is that you’ll find there are areas in which you can help each other – in fact, many people end up getting paid work from others in the building. So the professional working environment not only encourages productivity, it can also result in bigger profits!

Have we convinced you that getting a desk or private office at the Hub is a good idea? Book a guided tour to come and see it for yourself.