By Bond Collective Staff
As a manager, CEO, or executive, have you been wondering what is a satellite office? Is it different than a branch office? The answer to that last question is no. A satellite office and branch office are essentially the same thing under different names.
But, more to the point, what is a satellite office? What are its benefits? And what should you consider when opening one?
What Is A Satellite Office?
A satellite office is an additional location (a branch) of a larger company that is physically separate from the business’s main (or first) office. Companies large and small are choosing to establish satellite offices in different areas, different cities, different regions, or different countries.
Why would they do this, and why should you consider it as well? Because of the many benefits associated with investigating the question, “What is a satellite office?”.
What Are The Benefits Of A Satellite Office?
Efficient Customer Service
Customer service is essential to the success of your business. So establishing a satellite office where those customers are can go a long way toward building your brand in their eyes. A satellite office can also help close the gap between customers in one time zone and your customer service employees in another.
Recruitment
A satellite office can help your company gain access to an entirely new talent pool. If your main office is on the west coast, it can be difficult to get the talent you need to move all the way across the country.
With a satellite office, you can hire the right people for the job without making them travel thousands of miles to do it.
Connection To Local Customer Base
When your team members can live and work in the same area as the people who pay for your product or service, they will have firsthand knowledge of the issues that are important to those customers.
Your business will better understand the customers’ needs, desires, and lifestyle because your employees will have those same concerns. That can establish a strong connection between you and your customers and transform your business from a faceless company to a very relatable friend.
Address Recognition
A reputable address — one that customers, clients, and investors recognize — goes a long way toward improving the perception of your company.
New Markets
Another benefit of investigating the question, “What is a satellite office?” is the accessibility of new markets. Establishing a satellite office in a different region gives you the opportunity to learn more about what these potential customers need.
That can then inform your decisions about how to position your brand for maximum success.
Networking
Business is all about who you know. So why not position your business where the movers and shakers in your industry are? A satellite office gives your business access to people and resources that can influence your company’s future and change the way it operates.
But setting up a satellite office isn’t just about picking the first space that comes along. Later on in this article, we’ll discuss a number of key factors to consider when opening an additional location in another area.
Reduced Commute Time
Commute time is a very real issue that you and your employees face on a daily basis. Long commutes can negatively affect your team’s energy levels, focus, engagement, and productivity.
Establishing a satellite office in a coworking space like Bond Collective can significantly reduce the amount of time it takes for team members to get to work. That can translate to more work done, higher motivation, less conflict in the workplace, and a happier team.
For example, a company from the West Coast set up a satellite office in the Flatiron district of New York City. As the team in this location continued to grow, they found that many of their employees were commuting from across the East River — a one-way trip that ranged from an hour to several hours depending on a variety of factors.
The company decided to establish a second satellite office on the other side of the river in Brooklyn. This drastically reduced commute times for many of its team members and put them in a better frame of mind for the hours they worked.
Collaboration
Many businesses contend with collaboration whether they manage a distributed team, some employees work from home, or everyone reports to a private office in a leased space.
When team members work in a bubble like this with limited perspectives, creativity can take a hit and your business can stagnate.
Opening a satellite office in a coworking space allows your team to collaborate with people from other industries, backgrounds, skill sets, and cultures.
Even if it’s just a quick conversation at the coffee machine, this type of collaboration can be invaluable for stimulating the imagination, innovation, and vision of your employees.
This inspiration will then trickle back from the satellite office to your main office through teamwork, interactions, and discussions.
Top 7 Things To Consider When Opening A Satellite Office
1) Location, Location, Location
The three most important factors in real estate (and satellite office expansion) are location, location, location. Is your office close to public transportation, restaurants, and other necessities? Is it easy to get to? What does the neighborhood around your satellite office look like?
Neighborhood may not seem like a critical factor, but it can play a crucial role in the success of your new location. Be sure to consider all the variables about location when choosing where to establish a satellite office.
One of the many benefits of positioning your satellite office at Bond Collective is the reputable and impressive locations of our properties in New York City, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia.
2) Cost
Many businesses looking to open a satellite office find the perfect space but fail to factor in the occupancy costs. This is what you pay (in addition to your rent or mortgage) for the infrastructure that makes work possible.
Before committing to a satellite office space, consider how much it will cost to run vital services, such as:
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Water
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Gas
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Electric
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Internet
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Heating
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Cooling
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Cleaning
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Maintenance
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Repairs
Unlike a satellite office in a standalone building, at Bond Collective, all the costs mentioned above are included in one low monthly fee.
3) Infrastructure
We mentioned the importance of infrastructure costs in section two, but let’s talk about those services specifically. Getting the infrastructure you need in your satellite office can be a time-consuming and difficult task.
There’s not one company you call to get everything turned on or installed. Be sure to consider how this will affect your employees and your team members when they’re separated from the main office on their own.
At Bond Collective, you don’t have to go through the time and expense of setting up the infrastructure your business needs just to be able to work. We provide all of these crucial services, including:
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Tech support
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Security
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Repairs
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Wiring
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Internet
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Kitchen
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Electric
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Office management
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Heating
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Cooling
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Maintenance
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Cleaning
A satellite office at Bond Collective is a turnkey workspace solution. Your team doesn’t have to worry about the infrastructure and who to call when the internet goes down. All they have to do is focus on making your business successful.
4) Flexibility
Opening a satellite office in another city can be a risky proposition, and the issue of flexibility quickly becomes a major concern. Will you need to dissolve the satellite office in a year or two? Will you need to expand the amount of space you use if things go well?
Locking yourself into a conventional lease can make the answers to these questions very difficult. And even the best planning can’t always provide you with an accurate estimate.
But the flexible terms at Bond Collective don’t lock you into a multi-year contract that might leave you stuck. Our terms go month by month. That preserves your flexibility, allowing your business to pivot in a different direction when necessary.
5) Accessibility
Many businesses don’t consider accessibility an important factor when it comes to their main office or even their satellite office. But for employees faced with long commutes, access to several different transportation options can mean the difference between being late and being early.
In some markets, the only way to get to the office is by car. In larger markets, employees may have the option of taking the bus as well. In other markets, team members can walk, ride a bike, hire a cab, take the bus, or catch a train.
It all depends on where your office is located. When scouting for your next satellite office, be sure to identify locations with plenty of accessibility options.
Your employees, customers, and clients will all appreciate how easy it is to get to your location. That translates to better business all around.
6) Amenities
The ideal satellite office isn’t just about the space in which your team works. While having the right desks and chairs — along with enough room to spread out — is essential for your team’s success, the way they work is also influenced by the available amenities.
Some coworking spaces only provide one or two amenities, while others go above and beyond the industry standard in order to give your team exactly what it needs to do their best work all the time.
Look for services such as:
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Guest reception
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Available conference rooms
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Mail and package service
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Porter service
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Bike storage
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Free printing
Some top-tier coworking spaces also offer free refreshments such as fruit, snacks, spa water, coffee, and even craft beer to keep your team fueled and fresh when the work gets difficult.
7) Logistics Between Offices
Though your satellite office and main office may be separated by tens, hundreds, or thousands of miles, your teams will still need to work closely to make your business a success.
If your business is content with keeping in contact via virtual meeting, a solid internet connection may be all you need.
But if your two locations still need to work together in physical proximity or if you constantly need to transfer products between offices, it’s essential to pay attention to the logistics between offices when choosing your satellite location.
This goes back to accessibility, but in a way that applies to moving people and things between your two locations rather than how easy it is for your employees to get to work.
Is A Satellite Office Right For Your Business?
Though there are many benefits to setting up a second location, many owners and managers still wonder, “Is a satellite office right for our business?” The answer will depend on your business’s unique goals and circumstances.
By-and-large, though, most companies that open a satellite office (or multiple satellite offices) fall into one of these three categories:
1) Businesses Growing In Size
Space is a major concern for businesses that are growing rapidly.
Nine times out of 10, those businesses don’t want to move their entire operation to a new site because they’re already in a great location and don’t see the benefit of subjecting their team to an office move.
Opening a satellite office in another part of town allows growing businesses to hold on to the benefits of their existing space. It also allows them to hire more staff to accommodate the extra work.
And when that satellite office is based in a coworking space like Bond Collective, management doesn’t have to worry about outfitting and maintaining a brand new private space — all of that is done for them.
Or, if your business has completely outgrown its existing space and is planning on moving to a new office, a satellite office in a coworking space can provide a stable and consistent place for your team to work while the move is in progress.
That way, you don’t disrupt the necessary work that got your business to this point in the first place.
2) Businesses Striving To Form Partnerships
Many businesses find that forming partnerships with other businesses can build up both organizations and set them on the road to long-term success. In many cases, though, it’s very difficult to maintain these relationships from a long way away.
Being in close physical proximity to each other makes solidifying and sustaining the partnership much easier. A satellite office is ideal in this situation.
Your business can send a small team to the new location — or hire a new team — to cultivate the partnership while your main workforce continues to grow your business in its original location.
Once the relationship is solid, your business has the flexibility to retain the satellite office, move the team back to your main office, or send them to another satellite office entirely.
Harnessing the power of the satellite office in this way gives your business the option to move teams to where they will do the most good for the company.
3) Businesses Looking For Top Talent
Finding top talent for your business can be an extremely difficult task. The right person for the job may live on the other side of the country and be reluctant to make such a big move.
Yes, they could work from home, but your business might lose the benefits of collaboration and teamwork that come from working face-to-face.
In these cases, it’s actually easier to set up a satellite office in a coworking space like Bond Collective and nurture a new team with top talent from that area.
In fact, for just pennies on the dollar compared to maintaining your own private office, your business can establish satellite offices in major markets across the United States and tap the talent pool in that neighborhood, city, state, and even region.
Bond Collective Can Accommodate Your Satellite Office
At Bond Collective, we’ve worked with companies large and small to provide the best satellite office space in the business.
Some companies, like Ashfield Healthcare and Ample Hills Creamery, opened a satellite office within the same state as their headquarters. Other companies, like Paramount Pictures and Mozilla, traveled all the way across the country to open a satellite office at Bond Collective.
Why did they choose us for their satellite office needs? Because of our numerous prime locations within New York City and Brooklyn, our low monthly fees, our ability to accommodate any size team, our state-of-the-art infrastructure, and the option to increase or decrease their workspace footprint on a month-to-month basis.
They also chose us for our unsurpassed amenities, such as:
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24-hour access
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Custom build-outs
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Guest reception and greeting
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Luxurious furnishings
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Access to small and large conference rooms
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Mail service
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Black-and-white printing
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Daily on-site cleaning
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Photo & sound studio (at Gowanus location)
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Private meeting rooms & phone booths
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Complimentary fresh fruit
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Complimentary beer, coffee, and tea
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Weekly warm cookies as well as tasty treats and beverages for purchase
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Bike storage
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Networking events
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Curated events
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Rooftop lounge
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Pet-friendly spaces
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Office showers
Whether it’s across the state or across the country, whether it’s for a single individual or a team of several hundred, Bond Collective can get you set up in a satellite office in a matter of days instead of the months it would take to arrange a conventional lease.
Visit any one of Bond Collective’s many locations in the United States, including workspaces in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. Or call us today to find out more about setting up a satellite office.
And while you’re at it, schedule a tour to experience first-hand how the boutique work environments at Bond Collective can benefit your business.