The world today is far more closer and connected than it was a decade ago. Work and home hits differently to the workforce today, where it translates into a more flexible, collaborative, and digital environment blending the boundaries of work and leisure. Furthermore, the entirety of 2020 added to the importance of working from the safe spaces of our homes, while working virtually together and being a remote workforce. For business owners, such measures had been a lifesaving way to help them survive the pandemic. Now as things are slowly reopening, they face the dilemma of choosing between the old office work settings and seeking out-of-office options, pliable in their costs, accommodation, and execution. For startup owners, looking out for such a convenient workspace isn’t as new as it is for the rest of the world, since around 45% of startups fail in their initial five years, and therefore for cost-cutting, they have traditionally been more open to cost saving options like remote work.
However, businesses still prefer to be located at a desirable address to put into their business cards, somewhere aesthetic and convenient to meet their clients. Then, of course, such out-of-office spaces need to provide scaling opportunities and coworking spaces. These locations need to be seamless for the business owners to be focused where they need to be – like setting up a solid website or partnering up with young startups. A coworking space in this regard goes the extra mile in ensuring all such requirements are met, while also providing a great environment for potential companies and passionate entrepreneurs to come together and build a strong, supportive community. But what exactly are the substances that ensure the success of any coworking space, irrespective of all other factors? Today we’re breaking it down, one at a time for you.
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Setting Your Space Apart
As per the GCUC reports, it’s expected there would be over 49,500 coworking spaces worldwide by 2022. For the market, all of the coworking rage will be at its peak, to the point where it may eventually become saturated. Currently, coworking spaces provide a viable option to businesses big and small for transitioning to a flexible work setting, or even for up and coming home-grown businesses. In such an environment, staying relevant can be a real challenge if you don’t provide benefits meaningful to your domain or coworkers – something that isn’t provided everywhere else. Therefore, you may need to get into the grimy details across all factors – be it more personalized interior designs or more thoughtful opportunities to network and interact with other business owners. It can even be about contributing qualitatively to your coworking community, which makes it more accessible and educative for beginners to reach out. Here’s how you can get started:
a. Coworking Community:
Perhaps one of the most intriguing phenomena that exists exclusively in a coworking space is the community. It is the common ground for like-minded people, having varying levels of experience and expertise to connect, discuss, and collaborate. While it may take time and effort to build a strong, vibrant community, it will be worth it, because that’ll be your MSP. A true community would comprise industry veterans, generation Z, millennials, and gen X, coming from different circumstances to contribute to the community. A community, especially a growing one,is also a safe environment, with a strong sense of belonging that can help you learn the fundamentals of pitching for your startup idea or understand the market demands from each other’s perspectives. Therefore, to have a positive space where one can grow their core skills is of higher value than just ‘space amenities’.
b. Hospitality:
Contrary to popular opinion, the term hospitality is often associated with the hotel and other service industries, but it is the key to the success of coworking spaces too. Once the space owners realize its importance, integrate, and capitalize on it, things go uphill from there. Remember that your members, guests, and visitors are the center of your facility, therefore, providing friendly, warm, and empathetic reception to all can build value into your client relationships. The same idea must resonate in your coworking space’s everyday operations as well as among your staff.
c. Facility:
Coworking spaces are also a successful real estate business, therefore it’s important to have effective space utilization, as much as the interior design. There’s more to coworking spaces than just common areas and personal pods. Especially today, when social distancing protocols are here to stay, having a well-thought-out space design is essential. Other factors like the coworking space location, its viability in terms of financial terms, and its maintenance also play a vital role in determining if a coworking space can thrive.
For most businesses and employees, coworking space means an abundance of space and power sockets, desks, and even high-speed internet. All of these elements convey your brand and must be managed effectively. You should also keep a look at the accessibility of the facility in terms of public transport and other means of conveyance for better mobility of your members.
d. Business elements:
At the end of the day, a successful coworking space is also a thriving business, which needs to grow and yield revenues. As a coworking space owner, you need to:
- Identify and generate different revenue streams that can act as the right balance between the risk involved as well as its potential growth.
- Reach out to investors, interested stake owners, who can help in raising funds, and contribute to the venture capital of your business for effective risk management.
Setting up a well-oiled business machine may take time, but is worth it. As a coworking space, it means providing value and seamless working circumstances to each individual.
Conclusion
Coworking works the best because coworkers thrive in a more supportive work environment than that of conventional offices. While coworking spaces come in all shapes and sizes, including incubators for budding startups to lavish, technologically-equipped workstations for growing businesses; both of them specialize in providing curated work experience. Having a vast community pool to utilize space creatively makes their mark towards taking a coworking space to newer heights. If you’re looking for coworking spaces that deliver such opportunities for startups, individuals, and businesses alike, here are some that we’d recommend:
This is a seed-stage accelerator program built specifically to help startups grow, along with their required mentorship, network, technology, and peripheral services. Their co-working spaces located across Gurgaon are perfect for fast-growing businesses and freelancers.
The Best Coworking Space in Kolkata by Zioks houses a thriving community of prominent business owners, entrepreneurs, and even beginners. Their innovative, technologically-enabled coworking spaces are a great resource to connect, collaborate, and grow.
They provide office space solutions to startups and solopreneurs who’re just starting out. Their inspiring coworking spaces are designed to keep you focused and brainstorm together with like-minded professionals.
