Hi Tony, While I am still in the process of setting up a space (in Melbourne, Aus) I can give you some insights into our progress and the advice I have received here previously.
We have currently signed a (multi-year) lease without having any members provide any commitment. In the early stages this seemed like a risky thing to do, but all my communications with interested people (which is so far getting near 50!) confirmed that no one wanted to commit to anything without physically seeing the space. Initially I was frustrated that I would have to be the one who makes the long term commitment on the lease while everyone else held back and waited. But when I was honest with myself I knew I would feel the same way. The reason we can make that long term commitment was that we had control over the location and layout of the space, where potential members didn't. What we did do (on a suggestion from someone in the group) was run an information night a few weeks back and got everyone together who has expressed interest. This worked very well as it allowed us to gauge each person's interest individually and face to face. It also allowed the potential members to get all the info they have been after from me, ask questions and provide us with feedback about their specific requirements. I would encourage you to do the same, maybe not even something so formal but instead meet down at the pub? Yes you do need to take a bit of a leap of faith to do it this way, but we felt happy based on the feedback from the info night that we would certainly have enough people to sustain a space once we officially opened the doors. Good luck! Daniel Bradby www.jtribe.com.au/openhub On Oct 11, 11:06 am, "Tony Bacigalupo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello all, > > I'm looking into what it would take to self-fund a new permanent coworking > space in NYC. > > To space owners who have gone through this already, I know some of you have > already had members lined up before you committed to a space. Did you ask > those members to commit to membership in writing with a deposit or anything > before signing your lease? > > I know of several people who are interested in joining, but I would want to > have some kind of dependable, quantifiable measure of interest before > committing to a lease. > > What have your experiences been in this capacity? > > Thanks! > Tony --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
