Brent, Sounds like you've got a great handle on the balance between reasonable business and the "best practices" we're all striving to achieve.
I just wanted to point out that it was important to us, as the founders of IndyHall, that it be a viable business as well because we did not have another business to fall back on; if the rent couldn't be paid, the community would suffer. Like I said, there's nothing wrong with the business being viable in fact I think that it's very important. I think the point I was trying to make and may have missed the mark on delivering is that asking US (the coworkign list) if it's a viable business model may prove deceptive, as it's the response from the community that you are set out to engage that will really give you your answer. But you don't need to hear that from me, it sounds like you've got a rockin' handle on how to make this work given the scenario you're presenting. As for your specific questions, that I can answer: 1) We had paid membership in every tier of our membership plan before we even signed a lease. Lots of work went into getting that kind of response, but it IS possible! 2) it doesn't need to be in a "cool" part of town, but accessibility may become an issue. I don't know anything about the topography of the area you are describing, but may coworking spaces try to be near high-foot traffic areas, or at least near public transit, as many of the folks you're trying to pull in are used to working from home and therefore, may not have cars. In cities like Orlando, that is a non issue because there is a sprawl and EVERYONE has a car. Their issue then becomes finding a location that's centralized to the sprawl, and reasonably affordable. The physical location challenges you face may vary. I don't think being in an office park is insurmountable, but i'd be interested to see what the reactions are. 3) the two favorite resources, in my opinion, of our members (besides the rockin' crew they get to work with day to day) are the conference room, and the lounge. Having a place to make business, business (for clients) and still find time to unwind during the day, having both ends of that spectrum in the same place is really appealing. Great question, I hope to get some more finite testimonials out of our members in the near future. 4) i'd say the biggest mistake I see repeatedly is NOT treating it like a business, in the aspect of sustainability (regardless of the community-first attitude I first presented). Like I said in my opening: if you cannot sustain, it's all for naught. One more bit I wanted to add...we've talked about future expansion of IndyHall into a rich media coworking space, similar to what you've described studio-wise. I'd like to stay in touch and find out more about your experiences, since it is something I'm genuinely interested in the unique challenges to sharing those types of resources. Cheers! -Alex On Jan 7, 2008 7:53 PM, GroovyBrent <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Alex Hillman <dangerouslyawesome <at> gmail.com> writes: > > > Brent, > > While I think you're asking the right questions, it's in the wrong > order. > > > > Before you are concerned with the financial viability, you should be > looking > to see if there is any existing community with a need for shared office > space, > or if there is a need for the community to be built around a shared > office. > > Hey Alex - > > I have gotten quite a bit of feedback that there is a need, and I've met > plenty > of people who said they like the atmosphere and the community that we > already > have in the building. As a production company, we have about 20 fun, > creative > individuals as built-in "anchors," about half of which are in the building > 40-hours per week. I've read through quite a bit of the archives, and > have seen > this "community first" discussion several times. > > I'm not looking to make a ton of money. Never was my point; my core > business is > supposed to take care of that for me. I'm just looking to keep my spare > square > footage occupied and generating revenue, and I'm looking to do it in a > manner > that is compatible with the community I already have in place. > > Let me provide an analogy from personal experience that makes me nervous > about > ignoring the financials, and going balls-out 'community first.' > > My father is a tremendous soccer fan. He plays soccer 3 nights a week, > all his > friends play soccer, they go to a local pub at 3 in the morning to watch > European soccer matches live, they go to local high schools to watch > soccer > (even when they don't know any of the kids playing), and he is part of a > huge > soccer community in San Diego. As a matter of fact, if you like soccer, > and you > live in San Diego, you would almost certainly recognize my father's name. > However, when my he took over ownership of a professional soccer > franchise, he > nearly lost his shirt (or nearly lost his cleats if you prefer to extend > the > analogy). Why? Because this tremendous, vibrant, close-knit, > soccer-loving > community didn't want to pay to see the games. They SAID they wanted to > pay to > see the games, but when it came time to pull the wallet out, their > response was > often "But we're soccer fans! We're a community! Can't you get us in for > free > or AT LEAST a discount?" > > It is all well and good to have a vibrant community, but if you can't pay > the > rent, that community will have no place to go (or more precisely will go > someplace else). It is my experience that in this web 2.0 world, people > often > don't feel they have to pay for community (I can't think of a single > successful > online community that currently survives as a pay-for-subscription model). > People *SAY* they understand that a business needs to pay the bills, but > when it > comes down to it, the free option wins out almost every time. > > So to rephrase my questions: > > 1) IN GENERAL, are owners of current co-working spaces finding that people > are > ACTUALLY pulling out their wallets to be a part of co-working communities? > From > what you're saying, it sounds like they are... > > 2) I have feedback that there is interest in a co-working space in San > Diego > (and one of my good friends and business associates at Digital Telepathy > have > just begun offering space). Is it OK if that space is a part of town that > is > generally office-park-ish, or do successful co-working spaces find that > they > need to be in a "COOL" part of town? > > 3) I have some ideas of the amenities that I want to provide, but I'm > looking > for feedback from current successful co-working operators as to what their > communities find appealing; what makes your community members say "oh > wow... > this is really nice to have!" and keeps them coming back? > > 4) Other than not planning for "community first," are there some > not-obvious > mistakes that successful (or better yet, UNsuccessful!) co-working spaces > have > made? And can you offer tips for avoiding those mistakes? > > Thanks! > -- > Brent Altomare > Executive Producer > Groovy Like a Movie > > > > > -- ----- -- ----- Alex Hillman web.developer.innovation.consultant vocal: 484.597.6256 digital: [EMAIL PROTECTED] | skype: dangerouslyawesome visual: www.weknowhtml.com | www.dangerouslyawesome.com local: www.indyhall.org --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
