I have always found there to be great benefits to going to an office every day to work. An office makes it easier to separate our business from personal lives and adds some regularity to what can be a chaotic lifestyle. Working with others in your office (even if they are working for you) can help generate new ideas and keep you motivated.

Getting office space, especially when you are starting up, however can be expensive. Here are three ways that I got have gotten and given free office space to help my company grow:

1) Offer Computer Tech Support

As the saying goes, “you can’t get something for nothing.” The key to getting an asset like office space for free is offering an asset other than money in exchange for the space. Find something that you have an abundance of that you can offer in return. I got space in my first office by offering basic tech support services. I connected with a group of highly talented businessmen who were all in their 60s and 70s. They ran into a number of ongoing basic computer issues such as updating their virus software, fixing printer issues, and connecting to the Internet. They ended up having to hire experts to come in to fix their simple problems. I joined them, helped them solve their problems as they came up, and saved them money. For me it amounted to a couple of hours per week and got a great free office space out of it. I also learned from their experience and had a fantastic resource to draw on when I needed help for my business.

2) Become A Lead Generator

As I learned more about the business that these men were in, I started to help them bring in new leads. All I did was create a website with some content and made it SEO friendly. It tied in well with my business and was easy for me to do. New leads started calling and my office mates were sure glad I was working with them. As my business began to expand I needed more space. Because I was helping bring in revenue for my new friends, they did not want to lose me. I was able to bring three new people into the office space before we were busting at the seams. I had to move on from the opportunity but I did manage to get office space for four people to help me build my business until I could afford to get my own office.

3) Partner Up!
In February of 2006, tired of renting office space, we bought a building. It is two stories and has more space than we need at the moment. We bought it so there would be space to expand. Last summer we tried an experiment where we brought in a young entrepreneur who wanted to start a business for himself. We gave him free office space in return for writing a blog for us that documented the growth of his business. He got access to everything in our office as well as a collaborative group of people to bounce ideas off of. Unfortunately his business did not pan out and we abandoned the blog but it was a good relationship and I would be happy to do it again. I benefited from the blog as he added new content to my website. The key is to find a partner whose business you can benefit, offer a win-win situation, and get that office space you are looking for!

Evan Carmichael