On 7 Jan 2010, at 18:18, Woodie Neiss wrote: > 1) How important is ground location? Do you rely on "walk-by traffic" or > "office space on upper floors" works just as well since most other co-workers > find the place virally?
At Fly The Coop, we spread the word via our contacts. What we found when we surveyed where people wanted to be, was that location in terms of geography in the city was *essential*, followed by "feel/vibe" of the space. We had proposed a site just two miles from where we are now, about 5 minutes from the busiest bus route in Europe, and we had no takers. We offered something in the "trendy" Northern Quarter which has zero parking and is 10 minutes walk from major transport hubs, and we ended up with a waiting list. So, like all property: location, location, location. I think most people find this space being on a middle floor actually means it's a bit quieter, although in future we wouldn't discount handling some kind of walk-in facility, although we don't do that right now. > 2) Are credit checks standard and did you give a personal guarantee? Never did them, we just assumed people were good on their word and budgeted with the possibility of a %age going AWOL as part of the guarantee. > 3) How many months security deposit did you leave? We only ask for deposits for keys to the space (as losing them would involved changing 5 locks in total, and about 8 sets of keys). We were not asked to put a deposit down on the space we occupied (in fact we got a month free to refurb), so felt it was a little unfair to ask members to front up. That said, several members (myself included), loaned/donated the project a fair bit of cash to help ease early cashflow problems. > 4) Per the awesome suggestions on the board, we've got a core group of 5 that > are going to be residents. Should we collectively form an LLC or should one > of us (me) just take on the responsibility? I understand with more members > there's more people to agree on action. We created a member-owned Co-op. This has advantages and disadvantages. Co-ops are popular with community groups in the UK because: a) It means the capital is owned by members so there is no "profiteering" possible, all the excess we make (if we do), is pushed back into the project b) If the founders need to move on at some point, the members can continue so in theory disputes are much easier to resolve if somebody wants to walk away c) It gives a real shared ownership to the space which helps with everything from running the space to helping recruit new occupiers On the flip-side, in the UK we're registered as an I&PS which means regulation by the FSA. That's the UK version of the SEC. I don't know what the rules are elsewhere in the World, but such a configuration can mean a little bit more overhead in terms of admin, however because the members own it, it means it's easier to share out. -- Paul Robinson http://vagueware.com :: [email protected] :: +44 (0) 7740 465746 Vagueware Limited is registered in England/Wales, number 05700421 Registered Office: 3 Tivoli Place, Ilkley, W. Yorkshire, LS29 8SU Correspondence: 13 Crossland Road, Manchester, M21 9DU
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