New Age Companies Choosing Office Furniture Renting over Buying In India, the market for rental of furniture is seen at around $800-850 million and it is growing every day
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Start-up culture has been revolutionizing all around the globe for the last few years. This culture has given rise to co-working or office-rental in India. Because of the budget constraints, the start-ups' plans for temporary setting in the beaning, where furniture rentals come in as a cost-effective alternative. Owning the furniture would not be the smart idea as of when the team grows, or they need to shift to the different office, the movement will cost a lot from their start-up savings, renting the furniture will help them in relocation as well.
The Current Analysis of the Market
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the sharing economy will generate potential revenue of $335 billion by 2025 globally. In India, just the market for rental of furniture is seen at around $800-850 million. Around 15% of furniture rental is for the corporate office furniture rental segment. Office furniture consists of furniture used in corporate office mainly tables and chairs. As rental companies also have the option of rent to buy, when the new companies finalize their permanent setting, they can buy the furniture they have been renting. Growth in the number of businesses stimulates the demand for office furniture. Moreover, as the unemployment rate falls, or as new small companies or startups comes, the demand for office furniture is anticipated to rise, as businesses require furniture for new employees
Multiple Choices
It is very necessary to have the right feel at work, to keep the motivation alive. This is one of the most important questions that comes one's mind after getting the office space. But, to kickstart the new business, they require to make every decision that fits their financial investment plans. Purchasing furniture in this scenario could be the wrong choice. It is always wiser to go for cost affecting option that is renting the office furniture instead, as it also helps to conserve the capital and at the same time gives multiple choices furniture to choose from.
Office Furniture rentals come with the range of options for furniture options for the lobby, reception, workstations, breakout /pantry areas, cafeteria, conference & training rooms, etc., Along with the options of customization as per your requirement.
Fewer Liabilities
The growth of any company is never predictable. Be it a startup or a small business enterprise, one can never know when the company faces fast-paced growth. At that time there is a sudden need for internal growth as well, in terms of the company size and team size. In such circumstances, furniture rental comes as a rescue and fill up your expanded space suiting your time and preference for furniture. Whereas, purchasing comes with lots of lead times in between. It's during this growth phases the companies also choose to relocate to bigger offices. Owning furniture could be a huge disadvantage at this time. It would cost you an extra amount just for shifting from one location to another. On the other hand, renting comes with the advantage of like it doesn't lock your money, it eases your shifting hassles and you have the choice of refreshing the furniture at your will.
With the growth or any change in the business, the preference of office settings also changes. Like today you are a small company or a start-up, you just want to have a setting for your team to work together, but as you develop you want to start defining your setting with a theme of what exactly you do. If you own the furniture you need to resale them and order the different ones, but how often would this be feasible? Renting can act as a hero in this case as well. You can keep changing the furniture as per your change in taste, whenever you want. For such cases, renting furniture is a great alternative for buying them.
There are also entrepreneurs who do not want to go for regular changes in their office, considering the change in their brand identity. For them, the renting companies come with an option of Rent to buy, through which you can own the furniture you have been renting for a while. After the period when you are sure that you can now have a permanent office and you won't be relocating to any place else, you can finally come you a conclusion of your office design and setting. Here furniture rental serves as the platform where you can experiment with few designs and then finally select the setting you are satisfied with and purchase the furniture you have been renting.