My name's Mike, and I am thinking about starting a space in Bel Air, MD - which is about 25 miles from the hipper parts of Baltimore where you'd expect our first local coworking facility to emerge.
I need to disclose right up front that my idea is a hybrid of coworking and a more commercial space. I have a space in mind, 3700+ square feet, close to coffee shops, restaurants, and many local and county government offices. I also intend that if this happens, I will purchase the property outright and create the working environment to be a very serious shared business space. I also intend to move my own home office into the space and to enjoy the benefits of coworking myself. I'm a totally solo independent contractor, no secretary, just me and my computer in the basement, working from home and traveling all over the country several times per week to do field work and on-site consulting. I'd like to create a space for people like myself who would enjoy getting out of the house, segregating work from home life, being close to restaurants, having a good meeting space, etc. I'd also like to make a profit since I'd be investing a significant amount of my own cash that could otherwise be put into something else that would easily pay for the modest office space I need. I imagine a place where a few anchor coworkers could have private offices and signage out front, and where we could accommodate all kinds of people from coffee shop nomads looking for a table and a wifi hot spot, to sales people working with local government procurement, to out-of-town attorneys here for business that requires a dignified space in which to park their briefcases for a few hours. Maybe I'm talking about buying more space than I need, and looking for people to lease what I don't need, or about going into a new business as a commercial space landlord - but I do feel that this can be a space for creative networking, relief from the isolation of being a solo act, and a possible community business cafe atmosphere. The thing that really puzzles me in all of the really hip looking coworking projects I'm reading about is that they look a bit anarchic, and there is no discussion at all of who is paying for the real estate or how. Is some trustafarian rich kid setting these things up on daddy's money for their friends to play in, or what? Are there some kind of liberally endowed grants involved? So much of it looks like care free kids set free to play at working while someone else pays the bills. It seems to be all about freedom and good times, and there's all this talk about "openness," but nobody's talking "openly" that much about how these get funded. Some discussions even seem to question whether it is legitimate for someone to make money on it. My objectives would be to create a both a profitable office sharing enterprise, and to create a space that would benefit the "non- community" of solo home workers in my area by creating a community for them. I also see it as giving something to the local community by providing an environment that may encourage and support others who need such a place to work. If I'm barking up the wrong tree here at the coworking group, somebody just tell me. Maybe I'm just too old and out of touch to understand the lingo that's being slung around, but I think that when it comes to the real estate and utility bills for fixed location coworking, "sustainable" probably also means "solvent." Unless there's a rich daddy who isn't watching the checkbook, there's got to be somebody who is expecting more money to come in than goes out, and that it pays better than a savings account in the long run. Or, maybe there's somebody who has an unmarketable space who is donating it to a non- profit for a better write off? Let's have some of that openness and transparency that I keep hearing about on the subject of how coworking facilities are being funded. If somebody isn't at breaking even or making a few bucks, it isn't about hugging friends and saving the whales while drinking coffee, it's about what can a "coworker" get for free from someone else. That used to be called free-loading. (Don't I sound like Mr. Lebowski? "Are you employed, sir!?") So, forgive me if I came into the discussion a little too bluntly. I'm, thinking about investing in an idea that I think is really great, that could benefit a lot of people who really need work space, a social life, and opportunities that they don't have by working in their basement or spare bedroom. I'd like it to also benefit the community at large by encouraging creative, enterprising people to do productive things. Would I be asking too much to have it pay me for the time I put into it, and to pay me a 6% annual return on my cash investment? Even if it didn't come for a year or two down the road, that would be fine. If you're in the area, and if you haven't already written me off as totally uncool, drop me a line or two back if you're interested. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
