Why plug-and-play offices work well

Nakul Mathur

In November 2012, an Indian company erected a 10-storey structure in Mohali, Chandigarh within 48 hours! The news generated a lot of attention at that time with industry experts hailing it as a necessary invention to meet the rising demands of housing in the growing economies of China and India. With the burgeoning income of the middle classes, the concept of ready-to-move-in homes became popular, as owners did not want to go through the hassle of making a house from scratch. 

They let go of customisation and implementation of a particular vision for a pre-fitted house, as long as it is provided with all the necessary features of quality fittings, plumbing, wiring, electronics and often, even furniture. All one has to do is settle in. 

The popularity of ready-to-move-in homes has also encouraged stakeholders in the real estate domain to implement a similar idea in the business domain. Shared business centers, or plug-and-play offices, are multiple organisations working out of one, fully functional and fitted designated area. Furthermore, the prevalent business conditions are also facilitating the growth of these spaces, so much so, that they are being called ‘the future of global commercial infrastructure’.

Reasons for the development of plug-and-play centres in India

During the past five years, India has witnessed a massive development of start-ups and entrepreneurs from all across the country. Equipped with bright ideas but bootstrapping during the initial phase, these start-ups do not always have the requisite amount of cash to meet high rent expenditures each month. Plug-and-play offices are extremely useful in such a situation. They charge only for the amount of space and resources utilised, thus being much more cost-effective for businesses. 

Some serviced business centre providers even provide the option of complete customisation of services as well as infrastructure as required by the client. This ensures that meetings with prospective customers can be held in private as well as in a space that looks every bit like a professional and impressive conference area. 

Secondly, some organisations have realised the financial benefits of using co-working centers as compared to renting out an entire floor or a storey for a limited amount of resources. In fact, it amounts to almost 25-30 per cent of savings. Furthermore, much like owners of ready-to-move in homes are spared the hassles of going through the hardware, fittings and wiring process, opting for serviced office also helps organisations avoid the cost of extra fit outs, security, building maintenance, cleaning staff and other administrative problems. This helps entrepreneurs to focus on core areas responsible for growth of the business.

With shared office spaces, businesses get a better chance of networking as regular interaction happens in common areas such as cafeteria, meeting rooms, restrooms, etc. This is beneficial for start-ups as they benefit both from exchange of ideas and resources as well as intermingling with experienced veterans from well-established organizations.

Shared business centers provide a comprehensive array of services that ensure a level-playing field between start-ups and big organisations.  Offering complete functionality along with affordability, these officescan easily emerge as the next big-phenomenon that impacts India’s business ecosphere, and creates a strong framework based on mutual sharing of resources and an adaptive, well-equipped infrastructure. 

— The writer is MD, Avanta Business Centre, India