Many businesses start in the same place: at home.
Maybe it’s a laptop in the living room or a desk squeezed into your bedroom. In the early days, working from home makes sense. It keeps costs down, gives you flexibility and lets you kick your idea off the ground.
But what happens when your business starts to grow, and the space around it doesn’t always grow with it?
Outgrowing your setup
Outgrowing your space is not only about running out of physical space. Your business might need more from its surroundings.
Maybe you are developing a product and need access to equipment you cannot realistically have at home. You may need a space to test an idea, conduct hands-on experiments, analyse data, or a flexible environment that offers the best of both worlds.
Having access to flexible office and lab spaces, alongside specialist technology when you need it, can make the next stages of growth much easier without having to invest in everything yourself.
When it’s not just you and your laptop anymore
Growth usually brings more people into the picture. That could mean clients working with suppliers and freelancers or even bringing your first employee onboard.
Coffee shops and video calls are great, but there comes a point when having a professional space to meet, collaborate and hold conversations without the background noise and distractions can make all the difference.
There is also something to be said for simply being around other businesses. Collaboration can bring new conversations, connections and ideas that are much harder to come across when you are working alone at home.
Finding the right space for what comes next
There is not one point where every start up suddenly becomes ready for its own office. What you need from a workspace depends on what your business is and what you trying to do next.
For some, having a hot desk and somewhere professional to meet clients might be enough. For others, it could be needing a dedicated office, access to specialist technology or a space that combines both office and lab facilities.
That’s where having flexibility matters. At the 3M BIC, businesses can access different types of workspaces, facilities, and expertise as their needs change, without having to fit their business around one space.
Working from home might have been exactly what your start up needed to get going.
That does not mean it has to be where you grow.
Ready to give your business room to grow?
Explore flexible workspaces at 3M BIC and find the right space for what comes next. Office & Lab Space – 3M Buckley Innovation Centre
