How to make money on coworking?
For several years now, we have been living in a new regime – the pandemic has become a severe test for both business centers and organizations. Many of us have worked in the office all our lives: sometimes it was convenient for us, and sometimes the employer insisted on it. Recently, directors and founders of companies had to test a new mode – to work remotely. Some liked it, and they stayed to work from home, and some opened co-working spaces and figured out how to make money on them.
But what is coworking? It's an office-style workspace designed specifically for those who can work from anywhere in the world. The tenant will find everything they need here: from a printer to a meeting room or a conference room.
Now such real estate is not only recently, but also in other European countries. It is popular with individual entrepreneurs and those who travel a lot. Now, anywhere in the world there is a place where you can focus and finish all your work tasks.
Such places existed a decade earlier, and COVID-19 was just a catalyst: the history of coworking spaces dates back to 2005. Pioneer, San Francisco-based programmer Brad Newberg, has created a flexible, no-frills, but well-equipped workplace. There were no entertainment events, but informal business trainings were held.
Three years later, co-working spaces appeared recently: Aleksey Glazkov became the founder of the first Western analogue. Oddly enough, the first such office with the name "Tower" was launched in the Urals, several thousand kilometers from the capital. A few months later, analogues appeared in Moscow – now it is in the TOP-10 European cities in terms of the number of such zones.
Services, advantages and disadvantages of coworking spaces
Leasing of workplaces is the main service of such spaces. By renting a place, a person gets everything necessary for comfort: high-speed Internet, stationery, office equipment. In addition, some spaces have meeting rooms and meeting rooms. The list of services in coworking spaces is very different, often depending on the price.
Among them are usually:
- parking (in some cases);
- technology: sometimes computers, always printers and scanners;
- water, tea, coffee, snacks;
- luggage storage for personal belongings.
Some provide 24/7 access, others organize learning events, and others create private lounges. The list of services depends on the audience the platform creator is targeting. In large centers there are additional services: accounting, courier delivery, etc.
The main advantages of coworking: low price compared to an office, flexible lease terms, the opportunity to meet like-minded people. In addition, there is no need to independently monitor the state of technology and there are no distractions that interfere with us at home. There is only one drawback: most of them are located in the city center, so you have to spend time on the road.
How to make money on coworking?
Coworking space is an attractive business idea for those who have purchased or are about to purchase commercial real estate. Such a space is comfortable and thoughtful, it can be called the office of the future. There are more and more people who start their own business or work remotely, but cannot focus on tasks at home. Places like these centers will help solve their problems. The cost of implementing the idea is from 1 million.
If you would like to open a co-working space, consider a few important points:
- Pay attention to the quality of real estate – this is the most important point. It is desirable that the premises be located in buildings near the metro or public transport stops. If we talk about planning, then a popular option is Open Space, that is, a space without division into offices.
- Look for places near grocery stores, banks, cafes and other infrastructure nearby. Think about how to make up for its lack: for example, install vending machines.
- Take care of the interior and furniture: now they are becoming very significant.
- Monitor competitors: the market is growing rapidly, which means that new chips appear almost daily. Find something new that will be useful to the audience.
- Find high-quality equipment, do not save on the Internet, zone the premises. Try to take into account the details, give people the functionality they want to pay for.
- Select reliable staff: the starting team consists of an administrator, a system administrator, an accountant, a marketer and a janitor.