Small Businesses Downsize Real Estate, Save Money

There's a downsizing trend under way at many small businesses: Moving to smaller offices because of shrinking staffs and as more workers telecommute.

Owners say they're saving money on real estate, office furniture and other expenses by letting employees work from home or by using independent contractors who don't work on-site. And those who have cut staffers obviously don't need to provide space for them.

Adrienne Giannone, CEO of Edge Electronics, has turned seven salespeople in Texas, Florida and California into telecommuters, enabling her to shut those offices. That helped her to expand her headquarters space in Bohemia, on New York's Long Island, and hire more employees there.

"I'd rather keep my people and not spend the money on the bricks and mortar," said Giannone, whose company sells electronics components and displays.

The workers weren't sure at first about working from home, but Giannone said they soon realized they were saving money and time by not commuting. "There's a big savings overall," she said.

Like many other owners, Giannone found that the Internet made it easy to keep in close touch with far-flung workers.

Many kinds of businesses can downsize their real estate by having more people work off-site. Employees whose job is to handle customer service calls can do that at home. So can writers or graphic artists. Anyone whose work is done in client offices probably doesn't need a permanent desk either, and should be able to share with other staffers who are also moving about.

The constant improvements over the years in technology have helped many kinds of businesses use less real estate. Law firms, for example, don't need to have the huge libraries filled with books that were crucial before cases and commentaries became available online. Machines like photocopiers and computers have become more compact. And software has made it possible for businesses to dispense with the typists and stenographers who were once office mainstays.