Establishing your head office or secondary establishment in a business centre is more professional.
This option is a more prestigious one in terms of image than using your private address, as well as being a safe bet to preserve your personal life. Needless to say that it’s also considerably cheaper and more flexible than renting or buying a place for your business.
Perhaps you have already thought about domiciling your enterprise in a business centre. The next thing you might be wondering about is how to make a good choice concerning the different offers you may have received from various centres.
In the following lines we will take a look at the main points to decide if a business centre is making a clear, helpful domiciliation proposal.
THE PREFECTURAL AUTHORISATION (AGRÉMENT PRÉFECTORAL)
Every business centre aiming at domiciling an enterprise must have the approval of the district prefecture of their registered address in order to represent a valid option to propose a contract to domicile your society. Failing to have such authorisation means that the domiciliation service is not legal, and thus the enterprise won’t be allowed to be registered under that address.
The prefectural authorisation number should be found in the site of the centre or in the contract they propose. Additionally, it’s necessary to include the “SIRET” (tax identification number) of the centre in the enterprise registry form. Not being able to find it should already raise some doubts. Additionally, it has to be renewed every 6 years, otherwise it’s, once again, not valid to have a registered address in the centre in question.
ARE THE PRICES CLEAR?
This is a question you should think about. If your domiciliation costs £ 10/month, there’s probably something wrong. Either it doesn’t include any service at all, which will be added as an extra, or the rate will increase after a certain amount of time, or the location isn’t what you would call idyllic, you name it. To avoid such bad surprises, you should trust a centre that offers a complete transparency as of their rates and which doesn’t have any trouble answering your questions concerning the services included, the overall opinion about your location, or the quality of your facilities in case of need, among others. A sneaky and evasive attitude is normally a red flag.
FOR HOW LONG WILL YOU BE ENGAGED TO THE BUSINESS CENTRE?
The minimum duration stipulated by law for a domiciliation service is 3 months. In the case of some centres, the contract they propose stipulate a minimum duration in which you will be engaged to them. If one of the advantages of business centres in general is their flexibility in terms of permanence, these agreements erase it away by establishing a minimum commitment. It’s normally the case for those planning on increasing their rates after their initial offer. The may also ask for a very high security deposit which, take for granted, you won’t have back in case of breach.
With Nikolsen the duration is the legal minimum and you can terminate your contract even on a three months notice, providing you all the freedom you want. You should never accept restrictive clauses.
WHAT IS THE ADDRESS AND APPEARANCE OF YOUR CENTRE?
When you decide to domicile your enterprise in a business centre, you’re quite possibly looking forwards getting a prestigious or well known address. In that regard, you will find out that business centres are quite often located in areas that are very renowned or in business districts. However, in bigger cities like Paris, even reputed districts have their good and bad zones, which you may not necessarily know, especially if you don’t reside there. In that regard, there is no harm in making a virtual visit to the location to draw your own conclusions.
Concerning the business centre itself, they should have a photo gallery or videos to see what the centre looks like. A lack of those could mean that the facilities aren’t in the best condition, it may be dark or noisy, or it might have old-fashioned devices and furniture. In the eventual case you have to meet your clients physically in France, you can rent a meeting room in the business centre, and perhaps it’s not the time for surprises. If available, you should take your time to read other users reviews to get an idea of the reputation of the centre.
DOES THE BUSINESS CENTRE OWN ITS PREMISES?
Most business centres aren’t the owners of their premises, but rather they’re renting them. Both options are perfectly valid from a legal point of view. However, the first one is always a safer bet. If you’re domiciled somewhere that is, in turn, renting their place, there’s a risk that, at some point, the landlord decides to sell the property, thus forcing you to change your registered address together with the business centre or having to find a new one on your own.
CONCLUSION
Establishing your registered address in a business centre is an optimal solution to start and develop your enterprise due to the advantages they present. However, it’s important to pose some questions to get a quality service and not just a centre that sees you as a means to make profit, disregarding the reputation they may give you and inflating the prices when convenient. Your business centre should be able to guide and assess you, and answer all the questions you have.