OUAN502 - Pitch Perfect, Finding a Studio

One of the most important aspects of setting up the company outside of the branding and more to do with cost was finding a studio that catered to our needs and at a price we could afford as a start up studio. After looking at various spaces in Leeds, London and even places in other countries we decided that Leeds was by far the cheapest and we would look here. We spoke to Mike about the spaces in Leeds and he mentioned Duke Studios. Duke studios describes itself as, 'a Creative Space providing collaborative workspace, services and facilities for individuals and companies working in the creative industries.' What stood out to us after looking closer at the location was how flexible it was. You can rent studio spaces for any number of people and furthermore you can also hot desk, in other words, for a much cheaper price we wouldn't have a dedicated work space but would be able to have a place to work nonetheless and for much less money if cost became an issue. The pricing on the website was a little unclear so we emailed them to find out the specifics regarding the cost of a four person studio per month. The response we got at first was a little unclear as we weren't sure if it was £480 per person per month, or £480 for the cost of the studio space per month. After clarifying with the studio manager we discovered that the cost was per month and the cost itself included electricity and the vast majority of the bills we would have to pay. We found this to be a relatively low cost considering we wouldn't have to pay for things such as insurance or electricity, which we would be using a lot of. These factors combined with the location and how easy it would be made it our first choice for a studio space.

Following this, we thought that if the cost of £480 collectively each month becomes to much for us to afford as a start up company, we could utilise the other services that the studio provides or even downgrade to one of their other options. By this point we would be familiar with the studio so it wouldn't be too much of a transition. Furthermore, as we all would be hypothetically living in Leeds it would mean a short commute time to get to the studios location, and the cost of travel would be minimal. Overall the savings made through travel, bills, insurance and the ease of Duke Studios above all of the other locations we looked at made it ideal for our situation and we decided to go with it based on these reasons.