My pleasure. By the way, I love the idea that Danielle posted earlier in this thread that they would host anyone studying coworking as their thesis. I admittedly haven't discussed this with Geoff, but I'd encourage the same kind of thing at IndyHall.
One of our interns actually got his undergraduate in psychology and I'm honestly jealous of the lens he gets to look at IndyHall through. I know that I've learned immense amounts about communication, community, business dynamics, and more just by spending my days at IndyHall. ANYONE studying business, communication, or even seemingly unrelated fields like psychology, I'd recommend spending some time working from a coworking space. -Alex -- ----- -- ----- Alex Hillman im always developing something digital: [email protected] helpful: www.unstick.me visual: www.dangerouslyawesome.com local: www.indyhall.org On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:08 PM, Cameron <[email protected]> wrote: > > THANK YOU!!!! You guys are awesome! > > Alex, your detailed answers REALLY help! Thanks so much!! :) > > On Oct 29, 10:15 am, "scott anderson" > <[email protected]> wrote: > > This was an awesome answer. I am in St Cloud, MN and am currently just in > > the "looking into' stages of this coworking world. I love the idea & > think > > the possibilities could be endless. > > > > Again, > > > > Thanks for all the time and energy your put into your thoughts. > > > > It is greatly appreciated, > > > > Scott Anderson > > > > Statewide Property Inspections > > > > 320-761-2100 > > > > Webwww.statewidepropertyinspections.com > > <http://www.statewidepropertyinspections.com/> > > > > Bloghttp://statewide-homeinspections.blogspot.com/ <-----please click on > > the link > > > > p.s If you thought my services were worth your time and money, I would > > greatly appreciate a short testimoanial. A good word or two goes along > way > > when trying to grow my business. Thank you. > > > > _____ > > > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > > Behalf Of Alex Hillman > > Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 5:55 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: [Coworking] Re: MBA student: Confused about Profitability of > > Cowroking? > > > > Great questions, Cameron. > > > > First off, we're located in the downtown area of one of the top 10 > largest > > cities in the US. I'm glad you asked the question, because our business > > model is based on our location. Location is directly correlated to > > profitability, but in my mind, only in terms of how the business model > needs > > to adjust for location. This takes into account local economic climate, > but > > also local cultural needs. > > > > Sprawling cities have made coworking successful. I'd hope that Matthew > > Wettergreen from Caroline Collective chimes in about how they've dealt > with > > the sprawl of Houston. > > > > But more about us: > > > > Do you break even? > > > > The first office we opened in August 2007 was operationally break even in > ~7 > > months. When we grew into our new office in May of 2009, we operated at a > > loss for 4.5 months before achieving monthly breakeven. > > > > If you go beyond break even, is it by much? > > > > At our peak of utilization at our old office, IndyHall was generating > 100%+ > > of its monthly operating expenses in profit. So if it cost us $3500/month > to > > run the space, we brought in $7000/month to revenue. Our new space has > more > > than double the operating costs (nearly triple, in fact), but we haven't > had > > to adjust our rates. We achieved this by being thoughtful in managing our > > expenses, and keeping our costs simple and measurable. All profit for the > ~1 > > year of profitability was put back into paying back debt (which took ~12 > > months) and finding ways to improve the space (capital improvements, > other > > investments). > > > > Is there anyone who is experiencing growth even with the recession? > > > > We grew from 1800 sq ft to 4500 sq ft, and from ~45 paying members (14 > full > > time) to 90+ paying members (26 full time) between March and today. Our > 2nd > > biggest growth rate was in January of 2009, where our full time > membership > > nearly doubled. This pushed us into considering new space. > > > > What are your membership plans? > > > > http://indyhall.org/membership/ > > > > Does being profitable have to do with charging for extra services? > > > > We don't charge for anything other than membership. We occasionally make > a > > few bucks from hosting an event, but that's barely enough to register. > > > > Most of all, is this a business that one should approach with a mind > frame > > of making money or with one of > > community, or both? > > > > I think the answer is that the frame of mind we've operated under is > triple > > bottom line: > > Profit - profit, for us, is one half of our path to sustainability. If > the > > business side of IndyHall is not profitable, we don't have resources to > > invest in our community and we can't continue to grow to fulfill our > > mission. > > People - investing in our community is the other half. > > People leads to profit. Profit doesn't necessarily lead to people. > Involving > > the community in the operations of the business has been a part of our > > secret sauce. > > Place - investing in our city. This is at the core of our mission of > making > > Philadelphia a better place for people who want to make a living doing > > something they love. > > > > For the last 2+ years, our model has worked for us on at least three > fronts: > > > > 1) we've been profitable, twice. > > 2) we've grown to ~100 simultaneously paying members across all levels > > 3) we've been recognized by individuals, businesses, and representatives > of > > the city that our efforts and our community are a significant contributor > to > > the growth and visibility of a community in a city that wasn't otherwise > > known for technology, creative, or independent workers. > > > > -Alex > > > > -- > > ----- > > -- > > ----- > > Alex Hillman > > im always developing something > > digital: [email protected] > > helpful:www.unstick.me > > visual:www.dangerouslyawesome.com > > local:www.indyhall.org > > > > On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 3:31 PM, Cameron <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Hi all! > > > > First off, this is a fabulous group, and I love the coworking idea! > > > > I'm an MBA student and I need to choose a topic to write a > > profitability/feasibility analysis on for a class, and am interested > > in writing about this concept, but wondering about the profitability. > > > > I've researched a lot, and it seems like people have different > > answers... a lot say its not profitable since its the community aspect > > that's appealing, while others say it can be profitable if you do it > > right (what IS considered right is the question?). > > > > I don't want to start a repetitive post, but I would love to hear from > > those of you who have experience with running/owning a coworking spot. > > Do you break even? If you go beyond break even, is it by much? Is > > there anyone who is experiencing growth even with the recession? What > > are your membership plans? Does being profitable have to do with > > charging for extra services? Most of all, is this a business that one > > should approach with a mind frame of making money or with one of > > community, or both? > > > > Don't worry about answering EVERY question... I'm just trying to be as > > through as I can be in my research! I would be happy to post my > > findings once it's all done! :) > > > > Any help would be awesome! > > > > Thanks in advance! > > > > Cam :) > > > > image001.jpg > > 3KViewDownload > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. 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