BUSINESS -- The office

Many brokers know from direct experience that it’s rarely that straightforward. But if you want or need to move out of a home office, a shop front is not the only option.

A company office can also provide numerous benefits, and for today’s broker, the investment can boost significantly their professionalism and differentiate them from their home or shop front-based competitors.

Many broker groups that chose to invest in office space are now reaping the rewards. Their reason might have been to ‘professionalise’ their image, to grow the business, to separate work life from home, to save on travel time or to facilitate meeting commitments with a centralised location.

A business decision

For Otto Dargan, director of Home Loan Experts, the decision was a necessity.

Mr Dargan’s home office had grown to 18 staff and even though Home Loan Experts had decided to move to an office, the team was occupied with day-to-day operations and had not yet made the move.

“Council was going to kick us out of my house,” says Mr Dargan. “It took an ultimatum from council to get us to move.”

He concedes he “left it way too late”, adding that brokerages with two to five staff could easily consider moving into an office.

So, it’s not just larger operations such as Home Loan Experts (which now has 20 staff) that can benefit from having a dedicated office space. Indeed, Michael Luca, principal of Love Home Loans views having an office as his only option.

“For me, there was never an option not to have an office,” he says. “Working from home never works for me.”

Love Home Loans shares branding with Love Property, a property investment company, so Mr Luca thought it would be prudent for the two also to share an office.

He now shares his office with Love Property’s Jason Snaddon, in Sydney’s Surry Hills.

Sam Ayliffe, director of FYI Group, also started from a small base.

FYI Group started in an office with Mr Ayliffe, Ben White and one assistant, and the space has now grown to house 11 staff.

“You don’t need to wait until you’re bigger to transition into an office,” he says.

“You will probably find that you will get more work done in less hours by separating yourself from your home environment and giving yourself the professional office to just go and work from.”

Work/life balance

Even though many brokers consider themselves on call 24/7 due to their commitment to clients and determination to find lending solutions, being able to maintain a balanced life is crucial. Having an office can help that.

“Work-life balance is really important,” Mr Luca says. “If I’ve got my laptop and work files there at home, I’m always looking at them. So it’s good to structure your life and draw the line.”

Mr Ayliffe agrees that separating work from home and family life was a large driver behind FYI Group’s decision to use an office.

“One of the reasons we decided on having an office is to avoid distractions from home,” he says. “Ben had a young family when we started and I have one now, so it also limited interruptions.

“I find that by having an office, you actually completely switch into business mode. Doing eight hours in an office is like doing 12 or 14 hours in a home office.”

Mr Luca says the office’s ability to separate work and home makes it all worthwhile

“It’s not a huge office space, but I think for my sanity it’s probably worth every dollar.”

Professionalism and branding

Having an office can also help with marketing, branding and creating a professional appearance.

David Johnston, director of Property Planning Australia, was always trying to build a professional brand. Having an office, he says, was essential to achieving this goal.

Running an office, he adds, also helps impress clients and increases the appearance of professionalism: “Hopefully, it’s more than just appearance, but certainly the appearance of professionalism is an important factor,” he says.

Home Loan Experts’ Otto Dargan agrees, noting that this helps convert clients.

“Customers see an active workplace when they visit us and they know we aren’t amateurs,” he says. “Customers who come to our office almost always apply for a loan through us.”

Having a tangible and accessible space from which to run your business has also helped FYI Group to increase rapport with clients and build a brand.

“You’re giving your client somewhere to come and have a formal meeting,” says Mr Ayliffe. “When they come in, they feel like they’re a part of something.

“It also means that the customer feels you’re here to stay.”

Good for staff

Staff as well as clients can benefit from working in an office environment, according to Mr Dargan, who notes that camaraderie among his team has increased.

“Our staff feel like they’re part of a ‘real business’ and a team,” he says. “They take their work more seriously.”

“We all work together, so we can share ideas,” adds David Brell, managing director of Smartmove. “It improves communication, it improves the social aspect, it allows our BDM contacts to deal with our whole team in one go.

“It makes it efficient and easy for them.”

Having all staff together can also help balance workloads and alleviate stress, according to Mr Brell.

“It allows us to balance the workload. So if someone’s frantically busy and a new lead comes in, you can pass it on to someone else. So it delivers better customer service.”

Costs and considerations

“There’s no doubt that having a professional office has more overheads, but that’s just the cost of doing business,” Mr Ayliffe says.

FYI Group has approximately $5,000 per month in regular overheads, which Mr Ayliffe regards as “very, very reasonable”.

Meanwhile, while Smartmove actually owns the floor of the building from which the business operates there are still other costs: air conditioning, electricity, commercial cleaning and other business expenses.

“You’re paying commercial prices – commercial cleaning costs, commercial electricity costs, commercial telephone costs,” Mr Brell says. “Our electricity, for example, is $20,000 a year. That’s a lot more than someone would pay working from home.”

Mr Dargan pays around $65,000 per year in rent, parking and other office expenses – which he would not incur working from home.

Yet both Mr Brell and Mr Dargan say that having an office is beneficial in terms of economies of scale and helps save money in areas such as travel and increased productivity.

David Johnston of Property Planning Australia agrees, adding that the benefits are so extensive that the costs are just part of the package.

“I think the biggest negative of having an office is the cost. It’s great for perceptions of professionalism. It’s great for team work. It means that every potential client has invested time to come to your office, which helps you filter out the time wasters,” Mr Johnston said.

“Offices also potentially save a lot of wasted time on the road, particularly in capital cities. I really can’t see any other negatives.”