Great question to throw out there, John. Honestly I don't worry too much about "corporate" versions of coworking spaces cropping up. I consider coworking to be on the front of a serious wave of change regarding how work is done around the world. The cool part about traditional coworking spaces is that they offer up something unique (aka have a specific niche in the market) - community. You can't just capitalize that and sell it via a franchise model. It just doesn't work that way. Each space has it's own character and own personality out there which is directly related to the market (or neighborhood) it sits in. So in that sense I do take a (perhaps naive) level of solace in the fact that coworking spaces are on to something special. Jacob (my business partner) would say that it's the same reason independent, local coffee shops still have a place and a market out there - they offer up something special. If all people wanted was straight-up coffee and to walk back out the door, we'd all just go to McDonald's for a cheap cup and call it a day. But the truth of the matter is that people want to invest their dollars in something good that makes sense and makes them feel good at the end of the day. I'd put coworking spaces in that category of business.
So to answer your questions: [1] No. [2] Yes. Executive suite companies have existed for a long time (such as Regis and others), and will continue to exist. We should look at this to some extent as a positive - it is encouraging to be part of a shifting work market. Coworking spaces stand to benefit from the rise in knowledge of "alternative" office spaces in the world. Again, I may just have rosy-colored goggles on, but it feels true to me. [3] Yes. But some might just not call it coworking. ;) Hope that helps! Susan __ Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation www.officenomads.com - 206-323-6500 On Mar 19, 11:54 am, John Proffitt <[email protected]> wrote: > I was thinking about coworking today -- locations, designs, amenities and so > on -- and I got to thinking about the future of the business. > > It strikes me that someone will eventually come along and franchise or > corporatize the concept, assuming there's a profit to be made that's worth > pursuing for a big company. Worst case scenario, I can imagine Starbucks > making a slight strategic change and pursuing the coworking business as an > add-on to the coffee shop business. They could, with a little effort, buy up > space next to many of their existing locations and setup the spaces in a > coworking fashion rather than a cafe fashion. Charge for day-to-day access, > weekly, monthly, etc. I'm sure to corporate thinkers, a coworking space > looks just like any old office, only cheaper. > > I don't know if it would be profitable for a company like Starbucks to do > this, but they do seem to be well-positioned to make a move like this, given > their sizable retail presence. And coworking sites might look like a > not-insignificant threat to their existing business. > > What they couldn't replicate, of course, are the communities that accrete > around a coworking space and group of regulars. That's organic and needs a > "real" leader to facilitate it and grow it; it requires people to be in the > space and participating in the community regularly, and Starbucks couldn't > get that kind of loyalty, I'm sure. > > For those that have started a coworking biz or researched it more than I > have... > > [1] Are you concerned about copycat corporate businesses popping up? > [2] Has this already started happening in some areas? > [3] Could a "corporate" version of coworking even survive? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
