Finding 100,000 square feet of office space to lease in Metro Detroit is no problem. There is no shortage of commercial real-estate agents who would show that sort of square footage to a large company interested in moving. Finding 1,000 square feet for a small business carving out its niche in the marketplace, not so easy.
That's why Guy Scavone II created
SmallOfficeSearch.com a year ago. The Royal Oak-based start-up specializes in helping pair small offices spaces between 100 square feet and 3,000 square feet with people who only want a little work area away from home and their favorite coffee shop.
The website launched six months ago and has helped sign at least 50 leases so far, according to Scavone. "We're signing up new people to 200 square feet to 2,900 square feet," he says. "Not a day goes by when we don't find someone new."
He adds that the people signing these leases run the gamut of small business, start-ups, attorneys, artists, and a wide variety of professionals looking to get out of their home office and local coffee shop. All of these leases have been in Oakland County, but Scavone and his team of three people are working to spread the small office love to the rest of Metro Detroit.
"We're pushing Washtenaw and Wayne counties, too, but everything has been in Oakland County so far," Scavone says. He adds that he is aiming to make SmallOfficeSearch.com a household name in real-estate circles across the state within the next year.
Scavone has also convinced one of his landlord clients to offer free office space on a short-term basis. The idea is to help spread the word about both the website and the commercial space. "This is going to help us, the building and the people in the buildng," Scavone says. "Maybe in six months this person's business makes it to the next level and he can pay now."
Source: Guy Scavone II, founder & CEO of SmallOfficeSearch.com
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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