With more than 216,000 new businesses or startups launched in the last year alone, office buildings and landlords now need to create an environment which is start-up friendly and will appeal to new businesses and freelancers.

The rise of coworking spaces has become a hot place for startups to congregate too, but general offices can also attract start-ups and new business in the same way, using our tips below.

Open spaces

A startups environment should create a feeling of open space and not limiting people to confined desks and walls. Startup offices are all about collaboration and the opportunity for different people to meet and bounce ideas off each other, often finding partnerships and creating new relationships as a result.

London office agents, Pilcher London, explain that “For creative industries and startups across fashion, media and tech, they need to have a feeling of open space to encourage creativity and bring about good ideas.”

Many coworking spaces allow tenants to work at a different desk every day, to ensure no repetitiveness and to promote a dynamic working environment.

Good breakout areas

Having good social areas and places to have a break is very important in a startup office. Having different furniture from armchairs, long couches, reclining chairs, bean bags and chill out areas – are very popular to encourage thinking and mindfulness.

Many offices that attract startups have pool tables, table football, ping pong or arcade games – giving people a good quality break and an opportunity to socialise too.

Start-ups look for fully equipped kitchens behind just kettles and microwaves and also having things like stoves and ovens are useful for startup workers that prefer to work in the evenings or put in the late shifts. Having a fully stocked fridge with both free and paid drinks available is a very popular addition and also the ability to buy snacks and other food without having to leave the office.

Kitchens can be designed using unique materials such as cladding, to ensure they are durable, sustainable and easily wipeable – and able to handle high traffic areas.

Different size offices

Rather than having traditional office sizes, office landlords need to accommodate the changing growth of start-ups, whether they scale up or scale down. Having rooms which cater from 2-50 people can be useful, allowing start-ups to hire more people or reduce size if they need to.

While the open space areas might work for small teams, you may need a quick solution if the team of 5 quickly becomes 10 or 20. So offices should have the capacity to add extra chairs and desks if need be, and be able to take away temporary walls and doors in case companies want more space.

Flexible payment terms

Since the number of staff working for startups regularly change, you need to offer flexible payment terms for customers. You should try to appeal to the one man bands and freelancers who want to rent a desk, and also the large start-up of 25 or 50 people that may want more space.

Membership fees can be a good way to manage cash flow and get regular money into the office’s business bank account, and also having a pay as you go options or costs per renting a desk, can be a good way to be flexible for the customers but also maximise revenue.