Offices Wanted - A New Perspective
Have We Been Looking In The Wrong Direction? Should The Subtenant Be In The Driver's Seat?
We have always approached the individual office rental problem from the point of view of the sublessor. But what if we could also focus on those who are "looking for space" - the sublessees.
Rather than only displaying available spaces, we're going to try to advertise the individual attorney's requirement directly to the sublessor, and let the party that has extra space contact the person looking for space - rather than the other way around.
This involves providing a service to the party "looking". Providing a service revolves around receiving a fee. In this case we're going to reverse the normally expected fee from the "selling" party to the "buying" party. The advertiser pays the advertising fee. In the case of an Offices Wanted ad, the advertiser is the person who "wants" the space rather than the person that "has" the space.
It's not easy to shift perspectives in an entrenched industry, but from the consumer side we believe there is a demand for this type of service. So here's our proposal.
If you are an attorney looking for an office sublet within the premises of someone else's law firm, we invite you to advertise your requirements in a format where law firms with extra offices will respond to you. This will be a success fee based advertisement with no No gimmicks, no kidding, just do it yourself. The idea is to post an advertisement about YOU and with this bait in the water, wait for the firms that have extra offices to reach out to you through your ad.
Upon success we will charge you two (2) weeks rent and further, your satisfaction is guaranteed. The success fee is payable by you to us at the advertiser's sole discretion. We'll admit that nobody has ever used this option, but it is there if you decide you have a legitimate reason not to pay for the success of the ad.
Your identity is not revealed in your request for an office sublet - just your needs and a brief description of your practice and what you're looking for. You can specify the size, type of space, price range, location or even a specific building - and Principals will respond to you.
You decide whether or not to reveal your identity by responding or not - you control the situation and your needs are the currency guiding the communications.
This is not intended to turn the industry on its head, but rather offer a new way of looking at things that empowers the sublessee to be in control of the situation, rather than being controlled by the inventory or a broker or other intermediary.
If you're looking for an office sublet and would like to try your hand at managing your own destiny, take a look at our offices wanted section
If you need help putting your ad together you can call our office at 212.986.9100 for free help and advice. If you're ready to place your own ad you can do so here and be online in minutes.
If you are an independent professional you're probably used to doing things your own way. This is an opportunity to continue in that direction when you're looking for new office space within another law firm so that you can share the amenities and comradery and even drum up some new business from new sourcing within the "host" firm.