Viability of a fashion retail business in Aldgate towers

Viability of a fashion retail business in Aldgate towers

Summary

The purpose of this report is to analyze the options of working from home over working at Wework’s Aldgate tower for a fashion retail company. From this report, the co-founders of the company will be able to understand and decide whether renting an office space is a viable choice and the impacts of such a decision to their business.

Introduction

The positioning of a business is a very important aspect in the success of a business. This is because it impacts on the public presence of the business, the walk-in-traffic, future income, room for expansion and elements such as staff morale. Wework’s Aldgate tower located in central London is a 17-storey glass tower with the office spaces occupying three floors with the offices having an open floor plan. The rent goes for £3,300 per month for an office with 6 seats. The neighborhood has good transport options and has two well-known landmarks nearby which makes it easy to locate and reachable. (“Coworking Office Aldgate Tower – 2 Leman St | WeWork”, 2018)

Discussion

It would be a good decision for the co-founders to rent office space in Wework’s Aldgate towers. This is because of its good location and the on-site services offered at the premise. It takes care of the following crucial element necessary for the success of a business.

1. Population and the prospective customers

It is important to consider the customers and how important their proximity is to the location of the business. For instance, Aldgate tower is situated in central London .It has nearby transit options of a Central line, District line, DLR, Overground, Northern line Hammersmith and City line, and circle line. Studies show that customers are inclined to patronize convenience stores located on the path of their daily routes. This presents Aldgate towers as an ideal spot since it is able to capture the commuters using the transit systems (“Coworking Office Aldgate Tower – 2 Leman St | WeWork”, 2018)

2. Accessibility and parking options

A proper business location should be easily accessible to the staff, customers and the suppliers. A fashion retail business often relies on frequent deliveries based on the dynamic nature of the fashion industry. It is therefore important to consider local transport links, particularly road networks and motorways. Aldgate towers enjoys a good proximity to local transmit options which can be used by the employees and the customers. (“Coworking Office Aldgate Tower – 2 Leman St | WeWork”, 2018) It is situated between Commercial Street and Leman Street. This makes it easily accessible to the business suppliers.it has a bicycle storage available which provides a parking option to the people using bicycles as a means of transport.

3. Location costs

It is important to consider the amount of base rent to be paid and other location-based costs involve when choosing a retail store location (Fox, 2018). This is crucial as it is used in determining the viability of a business to survive and pay its bills. At Wework’s Aldgate, the rent goes for £3,300 per month for a 6-seat office. Judging by the sale projections, the Co-founders should be able to determine whether they will be able to raise the rent amount

4. Visibility and the buildings infrastructure

According to Waters (2018), most fashion shops should be able to openly display its products so as to attract its customers. This is made easy by the glass windows at Aldgate since most passers-by are able to see the products hence are compelled to make purchases.

5. Proximity to other business and services

Wework’s Aldgate tower is located near landmarks such as Spital fields market which is an attraction site with luxury hotels and Brick Lane which is known to be a cultural center. This means that the business is able to benefit out of the traffic generated to and from these places in turn increasing the number of potential customers.

6. The site has a positive image and a good history

This helps in marketing the business .For instance, an enterprise located in London changes the perception of the business as it is seen as part of the finance and diverse culture of the area.

7. Growth plans of the business

A proper business location should be one that easily accommodates future plans of expansion of the business. (Fox, 2018).At Aldgate towers, it provides office room for up-to about 50 seats. This makes it a viable location of a business projecting to expand.

It is important for a business to establish a bricks and mortar presence in the market. (Vanderkam, 2018). This is important to the business since it can be used to store the stock, house the workers or provide a physical brand presence to the customers .At Wework’s Aldgate towers, there are several building amenities including micro roasted coffee, fruit water, unique common areas (designed for comfort, creativity and productivity) and many more. This in turn improves the employee’s happiness. Some of the advantages of setting up office work space as compared to having the workers working from home include;

1. There are fewer non-work related distractions. According to Vanderkam, (2018), this ensures that the productivity of the workers is not affected since all the time spent in the office is actually spent on work. The workers are therefore able to get more done in less time which in turns leads to increased productivity.
2. People can actually see when the business is open. Since the business is a fashion retail business, it will be necessary for people to constantly come in a have a look at the various clothes and fashion trends on offer. This cannot be achieved in the case where workers are working from home. The workers are also able to dictate when they are available rather than have other people dictate when they are available. . (Vanderkam, 2018)
3. Working from the office can improve creativity of the workers (The Staff of Entrepreneur Media, 2018). The six staff members are able to share ideas or come up with new ideas as compared to when they are working from home .This leads to further innovations and improvement in creativity leading to an increase in productivity of the workers.
4. According to The Staff of Entrepreneur Media (2018), It becomes easier to manage the business when the workers are working from an office. It is easier streamlining the activities of the business when the workers are located in one location as compared to when the workers are situated in their various homes.
5. There is easier communication and trust can be built between the workers themselves and the co-founders. When workers are working from home, there may be a possible breakdown in communication and team ethic. It also becomes hard to trust the work rate of employees working from home. This negatively affects productivity levels.

Conclusion

It is clear that having the six workers to work from Wework’s Aldgate tower will improve the productivity of the business. It will also make it easier for the co-founders of the fashion retail company to manage the business. However, it would be advisable to make such a decision after carefully analyzing the sales projections and carrying out a feasibility study to determine the chances of success of the business in Aldgate towers.

References

Coworking Office Aldgate Tower – 2 Leman St | WeWork. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.wework.com/buildings/aldgate-tower–london

Fox, J. (2018). Six factors to consider when choosing a location for your business. Retrieved

From https://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/six-factors-consider-when-choosing-location-your-

business

Waters, S. (2018). Question to Ask When Opening a Retail Store. Retrieved from

https://www.thebalancesmb.com/choosing-a-retail-store-location-2890245

The Staff of Entrepreneur Media, I. (2018). 10 Things to Consider When Choosing a Location for Your Business. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/299849

VANDERKAM, LAURA. "Http://Fortune.Com". Fortune, 2018,

http://fortune.com/2013/07/22/home-vs-office-where-should-you-work. Accessed 21 Nov 2018.