OK, the Tracy Virtual Office has been open since May 1 (I moved in in late March 2009). My plan was to give it one year.
My wife and I have decided to go past that even though the TVO is still making us dip all too regularly into our savings. Why? 1. We have a GREAT diverse core of members and a couple of "mascots" (their term) who have come to understand and love coworking.. 2. The past two months we have seen a marked increase in interest. (And now a local Executive Office location started calling themselves Tracy's Virtual Offices...interesting.). If everyone who has come in and expressed interest in the past 2 months signed up, we'd be making a profit now. 3. Commuters are starting to find us, and now the Air Quality board is starting to push (however weakly) "telecommuting" in the Central Valley...(Ricardo, we should chat!) In short..even though we are in small town commuter heaven, and a bedroom community, there are people out here (consultants, small business, and maybe even commuters) who can cowork....it is just a matter of, I THINK, hanging in there long enough. Kelly: Congratulations on breaking even! I agree with your double statement......but also double the satisfaction of finally doing what you love. :-) Happy Holidays to all.... Mike On 12/20/2009 6:01 AM, Kelly Brown wrote: > Hi, > there are so many factors that will determine success, failure, or > level of profitability. > > Not the least of which is location, location, location -- and the > dynamics of your local economy. > i.e. Akron, Ohio doesn't have as many freelancers& independents per > capita as say....Seattle, San Fran or NYC. > > That said - we're growing every month and people are excited about the > concept. > We've been at it 15 months and expect January to be our break-even > month....(wohhooo!) > > Someone once told me -- 'double the time, double the expense& half > the profit you expected -- that's the reality most businesses are > faced with the early years of its launch.' > > That has proven to be true for us. > We've had to adapt the model for a midwest sensibility about space& > privacy, while slowly introducing elements that our members can > embrace re: collaboration and education. > > So -- yeah -- i'm confident we'll be profitable. > And once we get there -- given the steadiness of growth -- it will be > very sustainable. > > Best of luck! > Kelly Brown > Office Space Coworking > www.officespacecoworking.com > > > On Dec 19, 1:23 pm, spacelogix<[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hello my name is Darryl and I have been working to start a coworking >> in the central part of North Carolina. After doing the standard >> business plan, financing, research marketing and site location >> scouting I feel that I am ready to launch. Now, the big question. How >> profitable and sustainable has this been for those in this group that >> have started a location? Important stuff I believe we would all agree. >> Thanks! >> > -- > > 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. > > > > -- Mike Pihlman TracyVirtualOffice "A Coworking Community" 95 W. 11th Street, Suite 203 Tracy, CA 95376 Mobile: 209-608-4340 Web: TracyVirtualOffice.com Twitter: @TracyVirtOffice Skype: tracyvirtualoffice1 -- 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.
