How Regus Plans to Overtake WeWork in the Coworking Space
Have you ever heard of a company called Regus? What about one called We Work? If you haven’t, you might be wondering what these companies are all about. If you have heard of them, you’re probably wondering which one is better. More specifically, you might be curious as to how Regus plans to overtake WeWork in the coworking space. Here is a comparison of the two companies and why Regus might be better in the long run.
What Do They Do?
Suffice it to say, both companies provide work space that can be rented for companies of all sizes. It doesn’t matter if you’re running a small business and you only have a few employees or if you’re running something that’s much larger with a staff to match. Both companies have a number of office buildings located in various countries that you can rent for a fair price. In addition to being able to rent space out, certain basics are often provided so that you have a functioning office that allows you to focus more on the business at hand as opposed to spending almost all of your time trying to secure basic needs such as printers, office supplies and working telephone lines. The idea is that by renting one of these offices, you have a place that is ready-made, somewhere where you can safely conduct business without having to worry about whether or not the lack of a proper office could potentially have an impact on your ability to do business. It works relatively well for those individuals who started a business out of their own home and have since outgrown it.
A Ready-Made Office
Another benefit of using offices provided by either company is that as a business owner, you don’t have to go out and find office space on your own. It also means that you’re not forced to deal with everything else that goes with either purchasing a commercial building or renting an office on your own. For example, you don’t have to worry about securing insurance on your own or even making sure that you get all the utilities turned on. Instead, you have the opportunity to move into a space that’s ready to go. You can even start working from the office on day one, as there is virtually no set up time involved. It really serves as a game-changer for those individuals who desperately need an official office space, yet aren’t quite ready to commit to doing it all without the security and assistance that this type of system provides. As such, a lot of individuals who just can’t work outside of their homes anymore rent these types of offices.
Save Money on Real Estate
These days, when real estate is prohibitively expensive and businesses are already struggling to keep their heads above water, having something like Regus or WeWork at your fingertips can make all the difference in the world between staying in business or shutting the doors for good. That’s especially true when you consider how much it costs to rent a commercial building on your own, pay for insurance on it and your business and then pay for utilities on top of that. If you’re not careful, you wind up with these types of costs eating virtually all of your profits. That’s precisely why you have to use caution with such things. Both Regus and WeWork allow you to have what basically amounts to a security blanket for your business. That in turn gives you the opportunity to place your focus squarely where it needs to be, on growing your business and taking care of your customers.
Comparing Apples to Apples?
In order to better understand which company is superior, it’s important to compare them as directly as possible. Regus has been in this business for a long time, since 1989 in fact. Since that time, they’ve expanded their own business quite a lot. They now have offices in 120 different countries and the number of office locations they own has expanded to 3,500. One of the truly remarkable things about the company is that they allow you unfettered access to all of their office locations around the world. In order to rent one of their spaces, you purchase what amounts to a membership. That gives you access not only to the office that you normally work out of in your home location, but also any other office that they own, no matter where it is located. That gives you a great deal of flexibility when it comes to being able to do business in various locations.
Flexibility to Succeed
Think about it this way. Imagine that you are renting space from Regus for an office that allows you to run a small business out of the same town where you also live, yet you are thinking about moving to another location. Obviously, you’re probably worried about how this move might impact your business, as most business owners stay up nights worrying about such things. After all, you’ve put a great deal of time and effort in on growing your business and while it doesn’t always happen this way, moving to a different location can sometimes make you feel like you’re starting all over again. If you have a membership with Regus, you have the opportunity to utilize an office in the town where you’re considering moving to, as well as your home base. It doesn’t cost you any additional funds and it gives you a chance to try things out in both locations in order to either see how it goes or potentially even grow your business in the new location before you officially make the move. That provides a level of security that is hard to beat. In reality, the peace of mind that comes with having this type of flexibility is invaluable in and of itself.
What About WeWork?
By comparison, WeWork is much smaller than Regus. They haven’t been in business nearly as long, having opened their first office only about 10 years ago. As a result, they don’t have nearly as many office spaces open, at least not yet. Right now, they have offices in 37 different countries, 650 of them to be exact. They also have a rather strong presence in some countries, such as the United States, Brazil and India. However, they don’t always have a strong presence in other areas like Regus does. It’s also worth noting that you might typically sign up for something known as the hot desk. It gives you an opportunity to work out of the central most location in the office, but only on a first-come first-serve basis. In other words, real estate is at a premium with WeWork and if someone else gets to the best location first, you simply have to deal with whatever is left. That said, you can also sign up for a private office that remains reserved for you and you alone. It will obviously cost you more money to have this type of office as opposed to working out of a single desk. In either case, WeWork provides package handling services and other basic office duties as part of the package, as does Regus. WeWork is often geared more toward individuals who are involved with startups or freelancers. The idea is to provide a place that is truly collaborative in nature, where everyone can come together and bounce ideas off of one another. On the other hand, Regus has a habit of creating office space that is a bit more traditional in nature. It’s also interesting to note that WeWork typically partners with other businesses in the area, especially gyms and nearby restaurants. That means that you might be able to get a gym membership or get your lunch at a discounted price, just by virtue of the fact that you’re in the right place at the right time. While these types of services may not be important to everyone, it is a definite advantage for others.
The Cost
If you’re like most people, you’re desperate to know one thing. How much do both companies charge for their services? There’s no doubt about it, Regus is more economical than WeWork, sometimes by quite a lot. However, there is no simple cut-and-dried answer because each company charges a different rate based on the type of rental agreement you have as well as the particular location of the building itself. Furthermore, Regus does not include pricing on their website. Therefore, you have to have a particular location in mind and then contact them over the telephone in order to get a quote. That said, you can roughly gauge the prices that Regus charges based on the amount of money that you would spend for an office owned by WeWork in a similar area.
Breaking it Down
Say you’re in Manhattan and you’re renting a hot desk from WeWork. Remembering that their price varies for each individual location, you can find pricing options for a Manhattan office on West 25th Street that charges $560 per month for a hot desk. By the same token, that same office charges about $100 per month more for a dedicated desk. If you really want to kick things up a notch and rent a private office, you’re looking at just over $1,000 a month. One thing that you have to remember is that they also charge per person. This is the price you will pay if you’re the only person there. If you have employees who are also working out of the space, they charge the same rate for every single person that uses the office, regardless if they are there every day or only once a month. On the other hand, Regus charges roughly 10% less on average. Sometimes, they might charge as much as 15% less, depending on the particular location in question.
Knowledge Is Key
There’s no doubt about it, being knowledgeable enough to run an office effectively means a lot in the business world, even when the only thing you’re doing is renting out office space. It’s important to remember that where both WeWork and Regus are concerned, you’re not just renting out space. You’re actually renting out a place to do business that is supposed to be able to help you every step of the way. That’s why it’s so vitally important that you choose carefully according to your needs. Most people agree that Regus is more professional than WeWork, creating a work space that is also more professional. The overwhelming majority of people who have decided to couple with Regus, especially those who have also had experience with WeWork, say that Regus is far more knowledgeable when it comes to knowing what people actually need. Since this type of knowledge is vitally important for success in any capacity, it only stands to reason that individuals who have been running a business for some time would probably decide to couple with Regus. That is especially true for those who pride themselves on their ability to run a serious business in the more traditional sense. Does that mean that everything about WeWork should just be taken with a grain of salt because they aren’t professional enough to get the job done? In reality, it doesn’t mean that at all. However, it does mean that you should tailor your choices based on the type of business that you are operating. For example, a tech startup or someone who is doing freelance work based around the Arts might choose WeWork because it’s well-suited to these types of businesses. On the other hand, someone that is selling insurance and has been in business for a decade or more will probably be far more comfortable partnering with Regus.
At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that both Regus and WeWork have a place in the business world. They’re very different from one another in many respects, but they also have a lot of similarities. Just as different businesses attract different types of clients, both Regus and WeWork typically have their own demographic when it comes to their customer base. As a result, it’s crucial that you choose the one that best fits your needs, even if that isn’t what fits the needs of someone else. Only then will you truly be able to choose the one that will help you grow your business in the most effective manner. As far as Regus’ plan to overtake WeWork is concerned, it all comes down to the simple fact that there are more businesses that work in the more traditional sense than there are tech startups and freelance businesses. As a result, they are poised to remain firmly in the top spot as a collaborative work space.
