The cost of managing office spaces during the pandemic has increased exponentially, making organisations outsource office management to third-party providers, says Neetish Sarda, founder of Smartworks , a managed office provider to enterprises and MNCs.

Founded in April 2016, Smartworks reportedly raised $25 million from Singapore-based Keppel Land last November. The post-Covid world, Sarda maintains, will be all about expansion, acceleration and opportunities. “The industry will see some significant revival, and we remain bullish on the sector,” he says in an interview to Forbes India.

Also Read: Success Story of Young Businessman Neetish Sarda

Over the past two months, he claims Smartworks has leased more than 2 lakh sq ft to clients across locations from IT, BFSI, manufacturing, logistics and energy sectors. There is a lot of office space demand in the market as companies explore the hybrid model. “Owing to this demand, we are moving ahead with our expansion plans,” he adds. Edited excerpts:

When do you reckon people will come back to office and co-working hubs?

The pandemic-imposed ‘work from home’ led to cost savings for companies in terms of rent, maintenance, housekeeping and monthly overheads. But five months down, we see work-from-home fatigue setting in and companies reconsidering their office spaces, as work-from-home cannot be a permanent solution.

At Smartworks, we are witnessing a high demand from enterprises for smaller and distributed spaces across locations, owing to flexibility and mobility as they explore a hybrid model for the future. Some of our clients have already resumed work with a staggered workforce, and by the end of this year, we expect the occupancy to be around 35% to 40%.

The pandemic battered the concept of co-working. How do you see it panning out?

The health crisis has stressed the need for flexibility and agility. Post-Covid, co-working will play a critical role as organisations are planning a distributed workforce strategy, and require hybrid workplaces. While some companies are exploring the ‘Work near home’ policy, many are considering geographical diversification instead of a single, large office. Flexible workspaces or co-working spaces may become part of core strategy, considering the cost benefits, amenities and services under one roof, in the long run.

Covid-19 has accelerated the need for managed services. Companies want to concentrate more on their core competency and look forward to managed services providers to help them manage their office spaces and bring additional value-added services.

What sort of technology tweaks did you make to deal with the post-Covid world?

We were the first co-working player to introduce ‘Smart Mitri’—an artificial intelligence (AI) Humanoid for overall office and visitor management. To strengthen the link between workspace belonging and business performance, we have rolled out IoT-enabled meeting rooms, contactless visitor management systems, a robust mobile app, smart feedback platforms, parking management systems and digital pantry services. The idea is to reduce dependency on the workforce, and enable members to go contactless during the pandemic, keeping them literally ‘hands-off’ for daily support. This pandemic has taught us the tight correlation between technology and workforce interactions and performance.

During the initial lockdown phase, we revisited all our processes to ensure a safe and sanitised environment right from entry to exit. There has been a strict implementation of proactive measures to adhere to the social distancing norms, hygiene practices, temperature- screening and awareness. We have redesigned the offices to ensure spacing of desks and enhanced sanitisation measures. Our workspaces today have the latest new-age preventive measures such as sanitisation tunnels, for vehicles, foot paddles for touchless door opening and hygrometers for humidity control.

So you see a massive opportunity in post-Covid world?

Smartworks is one of India’s fastest-growing and leading flexible workspace provider to have become profitable and has clocked over Rs 100 crore in revenue in just three years of its operations. The company has been profitable for an entire year at the corporate level. Though the pandemic has slowed down our expansion and growth plans temporarily, we remain bullish on scaling our business.

Currently, we have a growing footprint of over 4 million Sq.ft, covering nine key markets. By the end of 2020, we aim to expand our footprint to 4.5 million sq. ft. We do anticipate a rebound in 2021 and believe the co-working market will see significant recovery as the trends are positive.

There is enough appetite for co-working space in the market. Continued infrastructure demand, future workspaces, distributed workforce and a safe and sanitised environment are the need of the hour and will drive market growth in the future as well. We believe the industry has reached a point where it will be more about quality than quantity.

The News is taken from Forbes India

Smartworks, the home-grown shared office space provider, will invest up to Rs 100 crore in expanding its presence in the national capital region (NCR), its founder Neetish Sarda told ET.

The company is in the final stages of acquiring 5 lakh sq ft in NCR.

“We are seeing a lot of traction in Noida so more than 90% of our future inventory will come in Noida. Our existing building is almost fully occupied so we are on the lookout for fresh property. The new asset should be ready by October,” said Sarda.

Also Read: Success Story of Young Businessman Neetish Sarda

According to a Knight Frank report, co-working operators took up spaces selectively across NCR in H2 2020.

From a 3% share in H1 2020’s total leasing, it increased to 12% in H2 2020.

Smartworks acquires the entire building and converts it into a coworking campus, unlike other coworking operators that usually acquire a floor or portions of a commercial building.

The company plans to have 3 million square feet of office space in NCR in three years.

“There is a lot of demand for shared space for the last few months. We have seen double-digit growth in leasing in nine cities we are present in. We expect this trend to continue and that is why we have aggressive plans for expansion,” said Sarda.

Co-working operators established office footprints in Delhi in locations such as Okhla and Defence Colony.

In Gurugram, it was Udyog Vihar, Qutub Plaza and Sector-45 that attracted coworking players.

According to a report by property consultant JLL, irrespective of several short-term disruptions and challenges, increased demand from large enterprises, will support the growth of the flex space market to more than 50 mn sq ft by 2023.

Source

Neetish Sarda, Founder of Smartworks — the managed and flexible office space provider — is eyeing ambitious expansion plans in the country, with the strategy to tap large companies paying off  for the firm.

Amid an upsurge in demand for such spaces  after the  pandemic and the trend expected to sustain, Smartworks expects this number to rise to 6 million square feet by the end of this fiscal year and 20 million sqft in the next 36 months.

Smartworks is looking to double its capacity in Bengal from 200,000sqft at present.

It is also targeting a presence in eastern cities  such as Ranchi, Patna and Bhubaneswar.

Also Read: Success Story of Young Businessman Neetish Sarda

“When we commenced operations, co-working was perceived as having small offices, a floor in a building catering to start-ups or SMEs. However, we realised that while co-working is a big segment, in India, the managed office space that caters to enterprises offers a bigger opportunity. So, we thought of creating a flexible model for such enterprises,’’ Neetish Sarda, founder of Smartworks, said.
This strategy has yielded results with Smartworks that commenced operations in 2016-17, turning profitable in 2019. It now has over 450 clients, 95 per cent of which are enterprises like Microsoft, Amazon, EY, Starbucks, and Samsung to name a few in different locations.

Sarda disclosed that while Smartworks raised Series A funding of $ 25 million from Keppel Land, Singapore in 2018-19, it may go for another round of equity infusion in the next financial year.

He admitted that the firm might also look at an initial public offering (IPO) though this may happen in the next three to four years.

His growth plans come at a time when corporates are seeking more flexible or managed offices (a workplace that is entirely managed by another operator), thanks to the pandemic.

“The pandemic had a seminal effect on how occupiers reviewed their real estate strategies. Given the still-evolving situation around return to the office and a hybrid workplace strategy, cost optimisation, specialised services, and flexibility are key perspectives for occupiers as they plan ahead,’’ says a CII-JLL report.

The report added that the flex space industry found the initial days of the pandemic tough and a still prevailing and extended work from home scenario continuing to impact center-level occupancies.

“The sector, however, has pivoted during this period as demand from enterprises and big corporates has seen a surge’’, it observed.

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