FaaS — provides executives with new ways to manage growth & transition
Each week those of us immersed in the local commercial real estate scene and monitoring business growth are acutely aware of headlines and crane watches announcing the latest successes in the market. Whether it be corporate moves, expansions, large funding rounds, or hiring frenzies it can be exhilarating to participate in and support these events.
With growth and forward progress come many, many moving parts for the teams charged with planning and implementing the necessary details driving change. The workplace teams at CORT quietly support much of the front-end activities in the busy transition process with our Furniture as a Service model (FaaS).
FaaS is a trend changing the way furniture is used in the workplace. Certainly savvy commercial real estate teams have been leveraging this tool for some time but today we see more and more company leaders, facilities and internal real estate executives reaching out to better understand how FaaS can solve problems, reduce risk and save money.
At the same time, we see shifts occurring all around us in how we consume services. The subscription economy is driving massive change to the infrastructure of so many businesses. A shift from ownership to access is playing a greater role in the workplace.
One of the most valuable strategies the FaaS model provides business leadership is the ability to remain asset-light during times of transition, and beyond.
Consider five scenarios where this approach is ideal.
- Densification
- Swing Space
- Conserving Capital
- Start-up & Early Stage
- Project-Based Initiatives
Densification
When an organization is succeeding, there is often a need for additional employees, more space and the ability to make decisions quickly is key. Purchasing more furniture isn’t always the best way to remedy this positive challenge but exploring a “furniture on-demand” approach is certainly worth consideration.
Swing Space
The traditional Swing Space has seen major upgrades in the past few years. Not only are these spaces tending to serve up a more aesthetically pleasing environment, but they have also moved away from the idea we can work in a dump until X happens. The war for talent is driving the need for flexible spaces to be hip. It makes sense. Hiring increases as the business grows. Employees have more options than ever and so the trend now leans towards leadership investing in comfortable temporary space. The need for the flex space might be project-driven, construction and TI related or simply a desire to remain asset-light, and align with brand and culture. Today “temporary or flexible” is defined as anything under three years.
Conserving Capital
The upside potential for a business to add dollars to the bottom line is tremendous with this application. An asset-light approach allows the organization to conserve capital and allocate costs to the operating expense. Freeing up capital coupled while increasing the flexibility that is so critical in today’s business environment, leaves more cash to invest in talent acquisition and developing the core business.
Startups & Early Stage
A Furniture as a Service approach is all about scalability and provides the ideal vehicle for Startups to launch and grow. Think about a scenario like this. A startup starts and they need furniture to launch. They grow and need more and/or different furniture. FaaS provides the necessary flexibility to scale while mitigating risk. If the goal is to build the entity and be acquired, the costs of outfitting the workplace remain flexible. The furniture can be returned, changed or moved as plans evolve.
Project-Based Initiatives
In nearly every major market in the US, we support field planning and satellite offices. It’s pretty simple. No one has a crystal ball and maintaining flexible options is especially critical in these situations.
It is exciting to collaborate with industry leaders as they lead the change in their organizations. Like anything new, the are hidden benefits that are simply worth exploring. FaaS is one of them. There will be a day when workplace assets will evolve into a combination of owned assets and flexible, changeable assets. Here’s a quick overview of Access vs Ownership
At CORT, we are literally in the middle of a perfect storm. We have millions and millions of dollars of furniture inventory available for clients to leverage in supporting the quickly changing landscape. Reach out if we can be of service.
Melanie Jones is a regional industry leader on the CORT Workplace team. Her mission is supporting change in the way furniture is used in the workplace with CORT’s Furniture as a Service (#FaaS) subscription-like model. @melanie_cort #FaaS #FurnitureasaService #subscriptioneconomy #flexspace #access #usership #sharingeconomy #innovation #assetlight #change
