From Home to Rented Office

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It is a big day for Cloudit Bookkeeping today.

I have finally stepped outside my comfort zone and moved from my bright and rather white home office to my first ‘grown up’ rented space in Severalls Industrial Park. Those who know me will know that adding overheads is not something I enjoy doing, if anything I’d rather cut them (maybe that’s why I like saving my clients money too). So why make the move?

Firstly, becoming an employer made me think of how to make the working environment better for all of us and being in an office where employees could come and go when I am not there made sense. It also gives us space to meet with clients, especially those who work from home themselves. Secondly, being at business premises is the step in the right direction to grow my practice and add staff in the future.

I have been looking for a serviced office for quite some time in Colchester and small offices get taken up very quickly. The pressure when something comes up is big and my advice for those who want to rent is to calculate the rent figure you can afford before you start looking and keep to it. This way you will ensure that you are not overstretching your finances and will negotiate harder to get the price right for you. Make sure you get all the additional costs of the office included, such as parking fees, broadband, telephone lines, business rates and anything else the landlords are going to charge you extra for or you will have to get yourself. Remember to include VAT figures, if you are not VAT registered in your calculations. Next, do some simple sums. Look at your last year’s net profit figure and subtract the annual rent amount. Does this leave you with enough for your own pay or will you have to add revenue to make it work. And if you were to increase your sales, what will be your gross profit figure and will it require additional staff and at what cost.

Get in touch if you need any help getting you figures together hello @clouditbookkeeping.co.uk or pop in to see us at our new office for a quick chat.