The Long Tail of office portfolios

The concept of the 'Long Tail,' introduced by Chris Anderson, describes a business strategy where a large number of niche products, each with relatively low sales volume, collectively contribute to a significant portion of market share.

Large, distributed companies manage a varied portfolio of offices to maintain cost-effectiveness, sustainability, and alignment with company needs. We categorize this portfolio into different sizes using the following mental model.

• Large offices are traditionally leased over multi-year contracts and operated directly by the company or through outsourced facilities management services.

• Medium offices, often satellite offices for 50-300 people, follow a similar leasing approach.

• Small offices accommodate 5-50 people, representing a company's minimal but necessary presence in a location. These have traditionally also been secured through long-term leases.

• Extra small "offices" represent on-demand workspace consumption, including day passes and external meeting rooms.

Adapting the 'Long Tail' concept to the office industry, we recognize that a multitude of small office spaces, while each demands considerable operational effort, together account for a substantial share of overall expenses. This insight emphasizes the significance of efficiently managing these smaller spaces to mitigate total operational costs.

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Transforming the Long Tail

At Flowpass, we've observed a trend: companies are increasingly seeking to convert the long tail of their office portfolio into more flexible workspaces. This shift is driven by a few core challenges with the traditional alternative (multi-year commitment on a space that the company operate themselves): 

High operational load

You maintain a large number of supplier relationships with landlords and the fragmented processes for payments. You’ll manage facility management services for basic services like cleaning, IT, and coffee.

Rigid portfolio

Instead of attempting to forecast needs years ahead and committing to multi-year leases on smaller offices, you should subscribe to workspaces with more flexible terms. This approach allows you to remain agile. You can ensure your offices are always right-sized according to your needs. Rather than being oversized or undersized, you can conveniently adjust your workspaces to fit your current needs.

Consistently excellent employee experience

Maintaining a high-quality office experience across all locations is challenging. Achieving this consistently, especially in numerous smaller offices, can be even more difficult, impacting employee satisfaction and productivity.

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Streamlining Portfolio Management with Flowpass

Flowpass offers a solution specifically designed to address these challenges, enabling the transformation and efficient management of the long tail of office spaces:

Flexible over rigid

By shifting the long tail of workspace to options with more flexible terms, companies can remain agile, ensuring their office sizes are always perfectly matched to current needs, contrasting sharply with the constraints of multi-year lease commitments.

Simplified supplier and contract management

Our platform eases the burden of managing multiple suppliers across different regions, streamlining renewal processes and providing a comprehensive overview of the fragmented long-tail portfolio.

Unified payments and cost control

Flowpass consolidates all workspace consumption into a single invoice, significantly reducing the operational complexity associated with managing payments to multiple suppliers.

Enhanced portfolio analytics

Centralizing the management of the long-tail office space consumption on Flowpass enables unique analytics opportunities, offering insights into cost, utilization, and sustainability metrics.

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Conclusion

The shift towards flexible workspaces represents a significant transformation in how companies approach their office portfolios. Flowpass is at the forefront of this change, providing a platform that not only addresses the operational challenges of managing the long tail of office spaces but also enhances the agility and responsiveness of workspace strategies to meet the evolving needs of businesses. By adopting Flowpass, companies can ensure their workspaces are optimally sized, efficiently managed, and consistently deliver an excellent employee experience.