Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Small Business Office Suites & Broadband

Around Indianapolis, Scott Yeager is becoming extremely well known... at least, by his last name. Yeager Properties has become known for placing unique looking buildings, like the one to the right, in conspicuous locations around the city. The buildings are as unique inside as they are out, with wild colors, irregular contours, and a noticeably non-standard office look.

What's the point, you ask? Yeager caters to an eschelon of business tenants many commercial real estate owners hate to deal with--the young start-ups. His properties have appeal for small micro-enterprise by offering affordable small office suites for small teams, with availability for conference space and other professional services right on premise.

But complications arise when companies move in, set up a semi-permanent place of business, and then outgrow the space in a matter of years. For Scott, keeping his space leased out is obviously a concern--although his extremely recognizable brand and creatively unique space have led to waiting lists, not vacancy lists. But for the tenants themselves, the volatile stage of small business growth can have costly ramifications, too.

Years ago, I managed a new office in Indy. When we first moved out of an incubator space, where I spent less than a 6-month stint, I didn't realize the untold costs. To begin with, we needed new letterhead, new business cards, new stationary, new envelopes, not to mention new furniture and a costly move. But, you know that new line activation fee for my broadband... well, I had to pay it again. Twice in just 6 months really makes you feel it. I wish Accel Networks had been an option then.

After moving into a larger, permanent space, I have known other companies to spend weeks working from home or from Starbucks while broadband was waiting to get provisioned in the new space. So, Kudos to Scott and his enormously popular commercial office spaces for small business, but buyer beware on short-term leases. Accel Networks could save time and money for many of the small businesses.

Labels: Broadband, Small Business, Yeager Properties