Alternatives to Office?

skellington

I hope this is the right forum, but I am self employed and use a laptop all day, and just wondered if there were any alternatives to having my own office which seems a little overkill?

I work from home, and have a small office, but cabin fever can set in sometimes, being alone all day and working on my own, so just a change of scenery would be good..

As I can probably get away with just a laptop and phone, (but not really phone calls as such) I suddenly thought of using a library (as they usually have fast broadband etc) and are free to use for study etc.

But I thought I'd ask here as an alternative, to home (so no distractions etc) as a place I could set up laptop, and not disturb anyone, but without the cost of a full office (which would be overkill) and probably wouldn't use all day...

Never thought of this before but if anyone has any suggestions? I have heard of hot-desking as a new thing, but not sure what it is?

I would be quite mobile, but surely I can't be the only one who has this problem?

As mentioned I don't need to be shouting down a phone all day, disturbing others, or having meetings..

Thank you for any suggestions..

NYM

How about Shared Office Space?

Shared Offices..

skellington

Brilliant Idea, however as I am just up and running, I need somewhere cheap! but this is a great idea, for when I am more established..

As I am just a laptop, i suppose I could 'put down and set up' wherever there is a fast reliable internet connection / Fibre Broadband, so a Library would be good, even though I am still to try this...

But just wondered if there were any other working places/public spaces like this and as an alternative to this? (but preferably not McDonalds car park)

ThemeOne

If you do a search for "workspaces" in your local area you might find some cheaper office space, specifically designed and priced for startups and one-man businesses.

paddyrg

Coworker hubs exist around the country, they're like poor man's serviced offices. They're part cafe, part office, part meeting rooms, may have bike storage and showers, and you can buy packages to suit.

The Bath one is in an amazing location, £50/month gets you 12 hours, packages and benefits go up from there including use of their address for registered offices, etc. Some London hubs offer full virtual office services with your own landline number answered in your company name despite you hotdesking and swinging by for meetings

NYM

ThemeOne wrote: »

If you do a search for "workspaces" in your local area you might find some cheaper office space, specifically designed and priced for startups and one-man businesses.

That's an excellent solution

From the NearDesk site, it seems that desk space can be rented for as short a time as an hour for around £3 :cool:


Neardesk.com..

ACG

I do have an office, but its not somewhere I need to be everyday so I sometimes go to my local if I have a heavy admin day. Its normally pretty quiet during the day (school holidays aside).

I normally just grab a few brews, plug my laptop in and jobs a good'en.

phill99

Regus do a 'touchdown' office where you can hire a desk with wifi on an hourly basis. A number of local companies offer this service too, so ypu may wish to check providers local to you.

dacouch

JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book in a coffee shop

ThemeOne

Another bargain basement option for very occasional use might be hotel lobbies. Probably better than library / coffee shops if you have to make or receive phone calls, and for the price of a coffee or two the staff will probably give out the wifi password. They're also good if you have to meet with customers etc.

prowla

I was thinking Regus, but they may well be impersonal.

I went out to an event in London earlier in the year and I popped out for a coffee and found the coffee shop seemed to be an informal business meeting place.

Me though, I like the P&Q of working from home (though it's only a day or two a week).

Maybe there's a business idea there, though? A kindof internet cafe for business...