Hi Tyler! They could never replace Joel's valuable experience, but I just wanted to point out a couple of articles Shareable.net published on this subject. All incorporate the perspectives and experience of rural coworking space owners from around the world. Enjoy!
How To Start A Rural Coworking Community:http://www.shareable.net/blog/ how-to-start-a-rural-coworking-community Coworking Provides A Haven For Rural Entrepreneurs: http://www.shareable.net/blog/coworking-provides-a-haven-for-rural-entrepreneurs Everything Solid Melts Into Jelly: Coworking In Rural England: http://www.shareable.net/blog/everything-solid-melts-into-jelly-coworking-in-rural-england Beth @gonecoworking On Mar 13, 12:42 pm, "Veel Hoeden- Where Many Hats Meet!" <[email protected]> wrote: > Our space is located in Pella, IA. Population 10,000. We've been in > business since October of 2010. Some other great "rural" spaces on here > too... you guys have thoughts? > > My thoughts on your questions below. > > Pricing- Our monthly "mobile member" pay $55 a month for 24-7 access to the > space. With that they get wifi, conference rooms, printer/fax/copier, and a > few other perks (see our site at veelhoeden.posterous.com). It's worked > very well. We started at $50 and only took a price increase after 12 months > to cover some overall costs of business and some inflation. We also have > leased space members for 4-6 offices. The bigger question is what you are > paying for your space. Paying $2500 a month, you'll need 50 mobile members > to just make rent, plus you have other expenses. Pay $500 and you could be > running with 10 (again, you'll have other spaces to cover, so you'll need > more). My point is, pricing is a derivative of expense, so until you know > your expenses you won't know what will fly. > > Sponsors- We discussed them early on, but with the exception of a few of our > events, we never pursued. Possible could include a local copy/print > business (you push all your big jobs to them), chamber of commerce (allow > members to use conference rooms if you are closer to their business), > college (allow their students access for free or reduced fee), or anyone > else with some ties to supporting small businesses in town. > > Colleges- We did partner with our local university and had them sponsor all > their Business students for one organizational fee. This was NOT a lot of > money ($500 or the equivalent of 10 mobile members for one month), but our > intent was to build a partnership with them, not make crazy money. For > that, we have students come in and do research projects (win-win as they get > class work done, we usually get some project work done) and the occasional > drop in who wants to study or talk to businesses. They also come to our > networking events, which has been great for recruiting and securing interns, > as well as good for our businesses who may be hiring. > > Fulltime space- Again, we discussed, never implemented. Our clients either > didn't care where they sat or they wanted a lockable door/office of their > own. The one person I got ready to sell a > > "permanent" desk to ended up vanishing on me. That said, the biggest thing > is that they want some space to leave things, and in some case, a true > desktop computer to leave at the space (think engineer using CAD or other > specialized software). You may need to think about lockable lockers if this > is a need in your space, as they allow them to secure items without need > more furniture. > > Combo with Chamber- Explore this with Chamber first. Some Chamber will love > you. Others see you as competition. Regardless, a Chamber membership is a > money maker for them, so they may be hesitant to share that with you if they > don't see clear value. For example, if you chamber is vibrant and has > already courted some freelancers or mobile folks, maybe providing Chamber > members a discount off your mobile membership makes sense. I'm not sure what > you mean by "Chamber networking membership", but if that means your members > get to go to Chamber events without being members the Chamber is going to > have to see value in this (as possibly sniping new Chamber members from your > ranks) before they would consider it. Depending on the size of your town > this may or may not be feasible. > > My BIGGEST advice to you for a rural space, which is just as important in > other spaces but DEVASTATINGLY important in rural communities... > > Find your members... then find & start your space. If you need 10 to make > this fly, identify 25 and get as many to commit to the project as possible. > Get their input early on needs (to plan and manage your costs), get them to > help you pick out the space, get them to come up with their dream > environment, etc. In short, get their buy-in, both financially, but more > importantly, emotionally. They have to want this as bad (or worse) than you > do. But more importantly, they need to feel part of the community even as > you are building it. > > Want to fail at this quick in rural Americana? Start your space, sink in > costs for things that people "could" want, make it all nice and pretty... > then go out and find members. In the meantime, you are paying bills and > working alone while the clock ticks on how long you can operate at a loss. > And just so you know, unless you sleep on a cash-filled mattress, that clock > won't tick long. > > I wrote an article on this a year or so ago... you can find it > here.http://www.smallbizsurvival.com/2011/03/how-to-start-coworking-space-... > .html > > Regardless, you've made the best choice in coming here to research first. > You are years ahead of many of the rural owners I have talked to who are > building their empire in a vacuum (and quickly getting sucked into > annihilation by said vacuum). > > Would be happy to answer any questions you have. Love to see you explore > this for Idaho! > > Thanks & God Bless, > > Joel Bennett > > Chief Dreamchaser > > Veel Hoeden > > veelhoeden.posterous.com > > Join Us on Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/veelhoeden> ! > > <http://ink1003.com/p/tp/3ee1a6d9cb9fb511/url> Follow us on Twitter > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > > Behalf Of hssmedia > Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 12:54 PM > To: Coworking > Subject: [Coworking] Pricing Strategy for a Rural Development > > Hello, > > As I am still in the research phase to determine if my coworking space could > be viable in a smaller town in eastern Idaho, I had a few questions/thoughts > that I would appreciate some feedback and discussion with the experts: > > 1. Do you think a lower pricing strategy (possibly $50 a month for a monthly > membership, sitting anywhere) is a viable option? Could a coworking facility > be successful on that pricing strategy alone? Just $50, simple as that... > > 2. What are your thoughts on sponsors in your space? What value can I > promote to the potential sponsors/advertisers that would make them pay a fee > for advertising and resource space within the community? What value does my > coworking space have to the sponsors? > > 3. Have you ever considered partnerships and alliances with local > organizations and have them pay the fee and give access to their members. > For example, is it better to target the students of a local college, or go > directly to the college and secure a contract with the organization, which > in turn gives everyone access? > > 4. What is the standard principle for a full time desk? I envision a section > of my space for the full time desk that could be close to $100 a month. What > would one expect with a full time space? > > 5. Have any of you explored partnerships with organizations in the business > community? For example, partnering to offer a Chamber of Commerce Networking > membership with the purchase of a coworking membership? > > You guys are awesome! I look up to so many of you and want to bring this > type of innovation to my hometown! As I am only 21, but not an inexperienced > entrepreneur, I want to go in extremely prepared before I open my space! > > Thanks, > > Tyler Kraupp > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > > To post to this group, send email to <mailto:[email protected]> > [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > <mailto:[email protected]> > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group at > <http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en>http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > > > > image001.png > 26KViewDownload -- 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.
