Following our previous post about tips to rent office space in Beijing, here are a few additional tips on how you should be thinking when you are looking for the home of your company in China’s capital city.
First of all: visit the place. Do not rely on pictures, they only give an idea, but you have to see it for real before you move in. This is necessary to narrow down your search: the visits will give you an idea of what you want and what you don’t want.
When visiting, you should be especially cautious about your commute home, the kids school location, effective space, rental price, transportation (think about the employees: bus, subway) since distances can be huge in Beijing, the facilities around (restaurants), and above all the quality of the building: is it really top office space ?
Where are your clients ? Is it convenient for them to come here? Other details such as the internet connection it is a good quality one ? Take into account all the details about the rent to determine the effective rental price, is there additional fees (management), are they expensive ?
What is the usable space of the office, most of the time it is 70% of the total space. You should add 30% to the figure you are looking for in order to avoid trouble later on. Do you need meeting rooms, how many, what size ? How many workstations is there in the place you are visiting ?
For some activities, check the electric power supply, they vary sometimes. When is the lease actually starting ? What are the available layouts in the building you are visiting ? Is the office renovated and can it be renovated, under what conditions, what will the cost be ?
Try to determine the cost of renovation, the length of the renovation, when will you be able to move in ? Be careful about air conditioning fees, heating fees, housekeeping services, signage, termination clauses… What are the payment terms? Is there a deposit ?
Termination can be complicated. You should optimize it and avoid wasting money in the process. This implies company registration processes, they are to be followed carefully. Think about moving furniture, giving back the keys and how.
All these steps seem to be simple, nevertheless, they can be more complicated especially since you are in a foreign country. Everything can be simple, just get organized and follow the steps, or take a good agent…
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