5 Things All Coworking Space Owners Should Know Right From the Start

The 21st century is the era of entrepreneurship. We are growing and developing at a rapid pace to let new businesses come up. One of the major challenges faced by budding entrepreneurs is the workspace. Finding a real estate property that suits their needs and also their budget to establish their office is more than a task. 

Coworking spaces have eased the task manifolds. They allow several small and big businesses to share a roof and cut on the costs for buying (leasing) an entire real estate property. As much as coworking spaces are a boon, as a new businessman, you might want to pay keen attention to a few factors.

1. Digital Marketing Plan

Digital marketing is one of the most important pillars on which the empire of your business rests. You can start with creating a customer persona that will help you identify your ideal customers from the list of customers you could be targeting. Set some practical and essential marketing goals for your team. Goals help you plan a strategy that makes working easier. Make sure your content is fresh and relevant. Content marketing is an important aspect and to accomplish it, blogging could be a good and profitable step. You must ensure that your customers do not face any trouble in contacting you. It could hinder their trust and interest in your company.

2. Renovation of the Place

As a new business, you might want to employ more and more millennials to bring freshness to the brand. It gets hard for entrepreneurs to work in monotonous-looking spaces, hence adding some vibrant colors to space could be a good idea. You might also want to invest in ergonomically designed furniture that allows your employees to feel comfortable. Decorating the flexible workspace with some indoor plants could make your members feel connected with nature. Good air fresheners are an important thing you might want to invest in. Lemon and jasmine could be some good flavors to add to your list.

3. Inspiration from Competitors

Your contemporaries could be the best teachers for you. You can learn not just from their achievements but also from their failures. There are many monitoring tools in the market nowadays that allow you to observe your competitors closely and learn better. 

You could analyze their work strategy, derive some good points and apply them to your workspace culture. You could also learn from the technology they could be using at the office. For example, simultaneous translation equipment is quite popular these days and has proved to be an important tool in meetings. It helps to translate sentences for those that do not understand the language that the meeting is being conducted in.

4. Finding the Right Location

When customers choose the right coworking space for their businesses, they consider several factors. 

• It’s important what you include in the package. Most coworking spaces offer not only a workspace but also some refreshments like coffee and snacks as part of the package. You can have several membership plans for customers to go through the options and choose the best package. 
• You must also keep the workspace environment encouraging networking. Here everything depends on the companies that rented your space. Try to attract people with similar interests that will make a good addition to the collaborative community.
• Location is an important factor you might want to consider. An office center that is surrounded by trees and greenery could be a good option, however, people will come there to work in the first turn, that’s why the closer your building is to the business center of the city with its transport hubs, cafes, shops, etc, the better.

5. Flexible Working Time

The coworking space should be open 24/7 so that you could provide flexible working time for your members. Such accessibility allows members to feel comfortable at the workplace and improves their productivity when they work at their preferred time.

Conclusion

Coworking spaces are a boon for small businesses and startups. However, there are several other factors that you might need to consider with your new flexible workspace. 

• Make sure you have a digital marketing strategy. A well-planned strategy can be drafted when you have practical goals. 
• Renovating the workplace could be a great idea. You might want to add some vibrant colors and indoor plants to the workspace to make it more cheerful. 
• Learn from your competitors. Analyze their work habits, strategies, and the technologies they use. 
• Choose a good location for your coworking space and make sure its environment is connections-friendly. 
• Make your coworking space accessible round-the-clock to allow your employees to work in their best spirits and with more productivity.

And the last but not the least critical point — get advice from mature coworking space operators to minimize your risks: How to Start a Coworking Space: Experts' Advice to Avoid Costly Mistakes.

The article was written by Pete Forbis. Pete is a business consultant with 7 years of experience. He is involved in organizing and executing assigned business projects on behalf of clients according to client’s requirements. He has a broad knowledge of the many facets of business and market forces, along with great problem-solving skills that enable him to provide solutions and recommendations that will increase business profitability and efficiency.