Hi, This is an open request for stories, advice, warnings, inspirations, etc. on transitioning an individually-owned/managed coworking space to a collectively-owned and managed space.
I opened The Work Shop, a modest (in size and complexity) coworking space in downtown Davis, CA exactly 5 weeks ago, and it has been a huge success.... on a tiny scale: 7 fantastic people plus drop-ins, breaking even on monthly costs, lots of community interest/curiosity, we're a stop on the downtown art tour, and lots of future project ideas from the group. Part of the success is that what I hoped for has happened: People who have joined the project are excited about shaping its future, and are willing to share in the risks and responsibilities of owning and managing the space. Anyone have experience with exactly this process, or something like it, and have some wisdom to share? My concerns include: 1. losing some of the integrity/coherence of the physical space that come from one person's vision for how it should look and feel 2. finances... is there a fair way for me to be compensated, at least in part, for some of the time I put into setting the space up and getting it going - I took this on as a very bare-bones project with just the basics, but still it has been a huge time investment finding the right location, choosing a space with the right feeling, procuring desks, table, chairs, wi-fi, printer, scanner, water, fridge, microwave, doing some light carpentry, painting, and doing a lot of negotiating on the rent, outreach, answering questions, etc.). 3. making sure that people can join the space without a requirement that they take on coworking as another time-consuming project (people for whom coworking is first and foremost a reliable work space, away from other demands) Thanks! Vinci Daro daviscoworking.blogspot.com -- 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.
