That would be a co-op, which is not necessarily how a coworking space needs to be financially structured.
Jerome ______________ BLANKSPACES "work wide open" www.blankspaces.com 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 323.330.9505 (office) On Aug 21, 2009, at 8:15 AM, Chad Ballantyne wrote: > We're still realy young in our progress, but I will offer > this....The co-work model as we see it is working with professional > people you like to work with, in a cool space, creating "things" > that make a difference in the community and the world, supporting a > responsible lifestyle and building community along the way. Or as > I've always said, "doing life together." The sustainability of the > space should be directly related to the profitability of the > members, I think. As each business grows and becomes more > successful due to great networks, resources and relationships, they > should intern give back to the "Mother" who gave birth to it all in > the first place. (I feel an illustration/word picture coming!!) I'd > like to see the rates stay consistent along the way, but encourage > the members to join in the marketing efforts to bring in more > members, to push people towards renting spaces, to develop classes > and clinics where they pay a percentage to the space for rent and > investment. The more the space "works" the more work comes in, the > more profit for the members and the space grows, thus continuing to > offer it's sustaining milk to all who suckle at it's life-giving > breasts!! See I told you it was coming!! > > Chad > www.thecreativespace.ca > > > > On 21-Aug-09, at 12:15 AM, jjaime wrote: > >> >> Working on the Lima, Peru Coworking space has made me think of how >> many possible options are to make a space self sustainable. >> So far I see that there's probably no right business model for a >> space, but just to think of ideas to make some cash along the way to >> keep the space open. For me the decission to open a Coworking Space >> is >> not to make a profit or money, but to start integrating the design, >> consulting and tech community here in Lima, as Tara points out is not >> about the money economics. But I surely want the space to be self >> sustainable and right now I'm brainstorming (alongside with my >> Coworking and Business Partners) ways in which the space can get some >> cash in order to have a couple of months of spare cash for the tough >> times. But like Alex Hillman said in his blog post and comment on >> other discussion here: there needs to be case studies in order to >> know >> what to do or at least use as a guide. >> >> For me what's most important in a Coworking space is the Passion that >> you put to build it and to promote it and make it sustainable. It's >> like a 'small business' in some form, you need to be there and hustle >> for sponsorhips, donations, memberships and work out a model that >> will >> work. That passion and higher purpose will make a space happen, not >> because of the money, but because you're creating a space for sharing >> ideas, thoughts, debates and learning. And also because you're >> innovating in the way freelancers and small teams work giving people >> and new approach to freelance-independent work. >> >> Jorge Jaime >> >> >> On Aug 20, 9:06 pm, Tara Hunt <[email protected]> wrote: >>> For me it has less to do with the money economics (CS has been >>> more of a >>> money suck than a money maker over the years) and more with the >>> social >>> economics. Coworking as a movement has been personally rewarding >>> for me as >>> has being part of Citizen Space. I meet all sorts of cool people, >>> get to >>> give back to my community and take pride in watching a movement >>> grow over >>> the world. >>> That's worth more than money to me...and I have a feeling that >>> many others >>> who are part of coworking are probably in it for the social and >>> personal >>> benefits over the monetary benefits. But I could be projecting... >>> >>> Tara >>> >>> p.s. Interesting to note that Bill and Dane sold Workspace a year >>> ago to >>> someone else who hasn't really reached out to the coworking >>> community like >>> Bill and Dane used to. I >>> haven't met Jayson nor his wife and hadn't stopped by Workspace >>> since >>> the transition. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 9:30 PM, Christian <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Having read about the impending closure of Workspace, I wanted to >>>> start a dialogue regarding the sustainability of coworking >>>> spaces. The >>>> reality for most coworking spaces is that the space itself does not >>>> provide reasonable income for the space owner. The situation for >>>> most >>>> spaces seems to be that either the space is a break even or >>>> slightly >>>> above water venture used as a primary office for the owners work, >>>> or >>>> the space is one that the owner would have occupied regardless of >>>> the >>>> other users, and coworking is a means of giving back and creating a >>>> beneficial environment while recouping some of the expenses you >>>> would >>>> have had anyway. >>> >>>> So, the real question is, can coworking BE a reasonable profit >>>> business. Do you think the business model allows for sustainable >>>> profit? If your design or programming firm begins to hemorrhage >>>> clients due to economic conditions, will your coworking space be >>>> sustainable? If you have a sustainable model, or are even making >>>> your >>>> living from the space itself, what are your suggestions for those >>>> that >>>> are not? >>> >>>> It seems to me that there IS an economic tipping point, where the >>>> expense of the space for the member is too much to justify the >>>> benefit >>>> of the space. How do we begin to gauge this? It will be different >>>> for >>>> all areas, certainly, but do you feel there are economic or >>>> activity >>>> indicators that can serve as a warning to a space owner that they >>>> are >>>> approaching a cost-benefit switch? >>> >>>> And I suppose the last question is, should we worry about it? Is >>>> the >>>> situation for Workspace unique enough that coworking as a whole >>>> will >>>> be free of impact from it? >>> >>> -- >>> tara 'missrogue' hunt >>> >>> Book: The Whuffie Factor (http://www.thewhuffiefactor.com) >>> Blog: HorsePigCow: Marketing Uncommon (http://horsepigcow.com) >>> Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/missrogue >>> phone: 514-679-2951 >> >> >> > > <rhubarblogo2.jpg> > > Chad Ballantyne > 705.252.2423 > [email protected] > www.rhubarbmedia.ca > > ΓΌ Please consider the environment before printing this email. > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
