Looking for office space has made this experience feel a lot more real. It’s about making real decisions with significant consequences. Working out of my home is not a practical option for me and so I am going to share my newly acquired wisdom about finding office space to set up a counselling practice.

Through my gap analysis, I was able to target the part of town in which I want to open a private practice. To get a sense of my options, I sent a brief email to professionals in the counselling, chiropractic, naturopath, massage therapy, and physiotherapy fields in that part of town to introduce myself, and to inquire if they had any space to rent. Not only was I very pleased with the number of responses, but also about the useful information I gained when meeting with many of these individuals.

This is what I learned about my options:

• I could give the proprietor a percentage of my revenue for the use of their space;
• some organizations rent office space on as little as a half day basis;
• there are property management companies that can broker my office space use;
• I can sign a lease with an existing business and have exclusive use of office space; and
• some professionals already in private practice augment their income by renting their office on a per use basis.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these options including the potential for referral, working within a multi-disciplinary environment, specific location, and the atmosphere of the actual space. I have been told that the most common mistake for new businesses is overextending financially during the start-up phase, and so in the end, I based my decision on the level of financial commitment each would involve. I chose the last option because it was the most flexible and had the lowest financial risk.

What other options have counsellors encountered who have found their office space?

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA